Product management into business development

I want to get into product management as well. From my research, you don't need a stepping stone to get into it, but it depends on the type of company.

Google and Apple, for example, require product managers to have a technical/engineering background. They hire new MBA's for "Product Marketing Management" positions. Amazon.com and Microsoft are companies that hire product managers straight out of business school without technical backgrounds.

The term "product management" itself is a vague one. For Google and Apple, I think it's more along the lines of product innovation and the actual development (coding, engineering, etc). An MBA would be useful here but only with the required technical background. The "product marketing manager" positions at these companies are only focused on marketing, differentiation, and entry strategies and are well matched for new MBAs.

For Amazon and Microsoft, it's a true "mini CEO" position where you would be responsible for the product from inception to production to marketing and can start right out of business school.

Schools to look at (IMHO):

1) Ross (management, marketing)
2) Texas (tech)
3) Duke (management, marketing)
4) Haas (tech, management, marketing)
5) Kellogg (management, marketing)
6) MIT (tech, management)
7) Stanford (tech, management, marketing)
8) Carnegie Mellon (tech)

All of these have either a great reputation as a tech MBA or a strong program in Management/Marketing. Stanford and Haas are the best for this type of job, but don't discount others on the list.