What worked for me was transitioning to a “solution engineer” role. The name can vary but basically it’s consulting and integration to help clients use the product. Here I got an overview of the whole lifecycle of a product from a client perspective: their business problem, the need for a solution, the product fit and the sales process, then the integration challenges, user training, and hopefully a good reference and testimonial for securing the renewal and providing the marketing with material. There was always a “tension” between what the client wanted and what the product was doing, but learning how to understand their need and the appropriate answer (technical or not), and when does it really make sense to add a feature to a product was the key skill I learned to develop in that role. Participating in sales meetings was invaluable for starting a business later but maybe less relevant strictly for product management.