What advice would you give to someone transitioning from software to hardware product management?

First and foremost, HW & SW product management ultimately run on the same concepts - Customer needs and wants. You are still thinking about launching the right product for the market. You are still identifying pain points of a customer, and delivering what the market needs. So you already have a great deal of familiarity.

Now, familiarize yourself with the HW product development life cycle. Know that the time between making one prototype and making 100,000 can be more than a year, even if it seems simple. Get familiar with the deltas between HW & SW, such as

• Supply chain management (it can make or break your launch)

• Compliance certifications like FCC, UL, CE can be time consuming

• Product integrity testing can divulge new facts about your product - e.g. you may realize that your product behaves differently under extreme heat and humidity for extended periods and hence cannot be sold in say Singapore.

Prepare to be "student-always" and you will excel.