PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT

We'll kick off with a lightning tour of product fundamentals. We'll look at what a product manager is (and isn't). Then we'll dig into the core of product thinking - defining the problem. We'll look at popular products across entertainment, fitness, gaming, e-Commerce and others and discuss: What is the product really solving for? What is its special sauce that differentiates it from the competition?

• Product fundamentals lightning tour
• What is a PM? (What isn't a PM?)
• Working on our core: Defining the problem
• Special sauce: Differentiators

Project #1

Throughout the course, you'll build a slide deck as a portfolio of your product thinking. Today you'll choose an existing product to use as an anchor for the rest of the course. Using your anchor product, create a slide that shows:

• (1) What is the core problem the product is solving?
• (2) Go Deeper: What's the special sauce that puts this product in a unique position to solve it?

Who is your customer? We'll talk about target markets and customer profiles, and how they can shape crucial decisions in a product. Once you know your core value proposition and your customer, we start on one of the best parts of being a PM - what would we build next? You'll dream up the next big feature for your anchor product and start understanding how big the opportunity is.

• Target markets and customer profiles
• Opportunity sizing
• Dreaming up the next big feature

Project #2

• (3) What's the next big feature for your anchor product?
• (4) Go Deeper: What's the size of that opportunity?

Every flavor of product management has the customer at its core. How do you know what your customers need? Today is all about decoding signals - what are your customers telling you every time they click, every time they query, every time they purchase. We'll look at how to divine signals from user research, logs and industry data. Finally, you'll apply these techniques to your new feature idea.

• User Research - How do you know what your customers need?
• Decoding signals - What are your users already telling you?

Project #3

• (5) Before you've built your feature, how do you know your customers want it?
• (6) Go Deeper: Once your feature is launched, what signals will tell you how good it is?

Product strategy can give PMs serious writer's block. We'll break down strategy vs vision, tactics and roadmaps, and talk about how strategy is related to the MVP (Minimum Viable Product). Finally, we'll work through how to define an MVP for your new feature.

• A strategy for product strategy
• Hitting the road(maps)
• Defining your MVP

Project #4

• (7) What's in your MVP?
• (8) Go Deeper: What's out?

Today is about product performance, the wonderful world of metrics. We'll cover key metrics used at billion-dollar tech companies and startups alike, including DAUs, MAUs, UUs, CSAT, CLV and other metrics acronyms that are common PM parlance. Most importantly, we'll look at one of the most critical questions for any product: What is the northstar metric?

• AMAs (Awesome Metrics Acronyms)
• Northstar metrics
• Proxy metrics

Project #5

• (9) What's the northstar metric for your feature? Why?
• (10) Go Deeper: What's the northstar metric for your broader anchor product?

You know your customer. You have your strategy and your roadmap, and you know what you'll use to measure success. Let's get to launching! We'll cover go-to-market plans for new products and features, talk about marketing, PR, distribution, and what can go wrong.

• Go-to-market plans
• Launching a product
• PR

Project #6

• (11) What's your broader GTM plan?
• (12) Go Deeper: What's the PR headline you're aiming for?

Launching a product is the beginning; now we make it better. Today we'll look at product optimization, including conversion funnels, guest modes and account creation, and the famous "leaky bucket". We'll also cover gamification, which is widely used in all kinds of products, not just games.

• Product optimization
• Conversion funnels
• Gamification

Project #7

• (13) What does gamification mean in your anchor product?
• (14) Go Deeper: What are your biggest leaky-bucket risks?

Today we'll look at the different flavors of PMing: consumer apps, B2B, platforms, research, software vs hardware, front-end vs back-end and others, and what would make someone amazing at each. We'll discuss the cross-functional team PMs interact with - Engineering, Design, Marketing, PR, Legal, Privacy, Policy, Research, Analytics, etc. What does each bring to the table, and who should be your new best friend? Finally, we'll turn to you as the product. What's your elevator pitch for yourself?

• The 31 Flavors of PMing
• Cross-functional fun
• You as the product

Project #8

• (15) The 1-slide resumé

One of the most frequent requests I get is how to prepare for a PM interview. Knowing what kinds of questions might be asked and having a framework for how to structure your thoughts can make the difference between getting the job or not. We'll discuss how to shine in the interview style done at top tech companies. This is a fantastic way to prepare for converting to your dream PM role.

• Common Question Types
• Amazing answers vs "meh" answers
• Building a response framework

Project #9

• (16) Record yourself giving a 2 minute response to our class interview question

This is serious PM-ing. We'll work on boiling it down, simplifying a complex message into a punchy narrative. Finally, we'll have a couple stories from my 20 years working in Silicon Valley tech, including some of the best "aha moments" and things I wish I'd known when I was first starting in Product.

• Boiling it down - the executive summary
• Punching it up
• Things I wish I'd known as a new PM