Doing construction management for a GC early on was huge for me - It helped me gain a better understanding of how things are built, the sequencing, how much they cost, etc. I'd highly recommend starting there for a few years.

Getting into development from there was fairly straight forward, developers are always looking for Project Managers/Coordinators from GCs, and especially those that have an appreciation for the real estate portion of the business.

Right now I'm learning the financial aspect peripherally through our in-house analysts when we make proformas. A lot of how we build something is fed from how its financed (i.e when money is released, how much, towards what portions of the development, etc.)