Corporate development > Product Management?

Been working in corporate development & strategy (work on both deals and corporate strategy) in a mid-cap publicly traded company for approximately three years. I am going to have the opportunity to make the move to product management if I so desire.

Product manager is something I have always been interested in, it is a market I know quite well (done a deal and processed several others) and I generally enjoy the industry at large. Also, product management/marketing are the “front-office” type roles within my industry.

I’m curious to hear anyone with experience or different perspectives on making this move. I am leaning towards taking it but it is a tough decision. Threw some random thoughts below.

Pros: Learning curve Closer to the products and customers, arguably more rewarding work Opens future leadership opportunities beyond finance Better hours Focusing on one market Still look at deals and own the strategy Become a subject matter expert Get away from modeling and ppt Really like the head of the business unit Better hours

Cons: Enjoy corporate development and strategy work Corp dev jobs are difficult to get, might not be able to get back in Don’t know that I will enjoy every aspect of the PM job Going to be acquisitive in the future Politically, finance has tried to get me to go over to their group a couple times Less visibility into the company and bigger picture issues

I’d love to hear others thoughts and experiences.