Product Management 101

In this lecture, we talk about market analysis and identifying market segments.

We look at how to profile market segments in this lecture.

In this activity, students can try profiling market segments for their own products.

The lecture focuses on the quantitative side of market segmentation - clarifying market size and growth.

In this activity, we'll practice determining market size and market share.

Test what you have learned about market analysis and market segmentation.

In this lecture, we discuss customer analysis - and why a deep and intuitive understanding of our customers is the foundation of excellent product management.

Ethnographic research - interviewing and observing customers in their office or home - is one of our best approaches for understanding needs and motivations.  In this lecture, we discuss how to conduct ethnographic research, and tips and tricks for success.

Let's do a practice interview with Uber, Lyft, or another ridesharing service

The Kano model is an excellent tool for analyzing customers needs.  In this lecture we discuss how to separate user needs into basic, performance and attractive needs.

We look at London-based publishing marketplace site Reedsy, and practice using the Kano model

The companies KeepTruckin and Steelcase do a nice job with customer research. In this lecture, we look at their work with electronic logging devices and office chairs.

Test your knowledge around customer analysis, ethnographic research and the Kano model.

In this lecture, we discuss why we should analyze competition, and talk about direct competition and disruptive technology

In this lecture, we look at analyzing direct competition, with a focus on competitors' revenue, market share, and longer-term trends

We focus on analyzing our direct competitors' strategy, strengths, weaknesses, gaps, and go-to-market approaches in this lecture.

In this lecture, we talk about competitive positioning, and using a competitive positioning matrix.

We look at side-by-side product comparisons of our products vs. competitors, and discuss competitive product teardowns. Competitive analysis templates are attached to this lecture.

Let's think about Omnitracs competitive analysis of new market entrant KeepTruckin

In this lecture, we dive into disruptive technology and why companies (and product managers) get blindsided.  We use Kodak as an historical example and autonomous vehicles (trucks and cars) as a current example.

We wrap up our lectures on competitive analysis, and talk about on-going competitive monitoring.

In this lecture, we discuss the importance of developing a product strategy, and begin to step through the process of creating a strategy - including product vision and objectives.

In this activity, students read the article by Hambrick and Fredrickson where they outline the concept of strategy diamonds.

In this lecture, we give an overview of the five elements of strategy that form the core of the "strategy diamonds" approach.

In this lecture, students begin applying the strategy diamonds approach to their product.

In this lecture, we discuss how to share your product strategy with your management team, and how to refine this over time.

Check what you have learned about strategy development.

In this lecture, we look at the importance of prioritizing a development team's work - for breakthrough products and competitive advantage.

OKRs are an important tool for guiding a development team's work - and empowering them in the process.

Students can use the attached templates, and create draft OKRs for their products.

In this lecture, we look at prioritizing engineering work using development buckets.

Roadmaps are a nice way to visualize product evolution over time, in line with product strategy.  They also come with some dangers to avoid.

In this activity, we look at an example of a small company struggling to get innovative products out the door.  As a product manager, what would you do?

Check what you have learned about prioritization and roadmapping

In this lecture, we look at the new product development process of "discovery and delivery" -  a process used by some of our best product development companies.

In this activity, we look at advice from Marty Cagan, Silicon Valley Product Group.

In this lecture, we look at the Stage-Gate model of new product development.

We look at two tools - UserVoice and WalkMe - that help with the discovery & delivery process.

In this lecture, we look at how a hospital compliance company, with a SaaS platform, applies the discovery & delivery method of new product development.

We practice discovery & delivery methods with Big Agnes backpacking tents

Test your knowledge about discovery & delivery.

We look at the importance of impactful launches in this lecture, together with launch priorities.

Learn from a best practice example, and think through how you can make your launches more impactful.

In this lecture, we look at how to create an effective launch plan.

Check what you have learned about creating effective product launches

In this lecture, we will look at value propositions for our products - and how we use these to clarify our key benefits and competitive differentiation.

Using a straight-forward template (with an example), you can craft a value proposition for your product in this activity.

In this lecture, we'll talk about how to create benefit trees - which are a useful way of mapping a hierarchy of product benefits.

We talk about the buyer's journey in this lecture - and how to tailor our communication for each step of this journey. 

Check what you have learned about positioning and communication

In this lecture, we look at the importance of pricing - and its impact on profitability.

We look at the "3C's" of pricing in this lecture - cost of product, competitive environment and customer value.

In this lecture, we look at the eight steps product managers go through to price a new product, or revise pricing for products in the market today.

In this activity, you can use a pricing worksheet to look at your own product pricing.

In this activity, we'll look at LinkedIn's pricing - and use the pricing concepts from these lectures to analyze LinkedIn's approach.

In this lecture, we'll look at "price setting" vs. "price getting" - and how to manage your discounts to improve profitability.

Test your newfound knowledge on pricing

In this lecture, we'll look at how to effectively enable our sales teams to sell our products.

In this activity, you'll read Rich Mironov's blog post on working with sales teams.

In this activity, you can craft a competitive selling-against tool for your product vs. a key competitor.

Test your knowledge on how to best enable sales teams.

In this lecture, we will look at using sales channels as partners to co-create customer value.

In this lecture, we'll look at adding new sales channels, and editing your current channels.

In this activity, we'll analyze HP's choice of sales channels for its inkjet cartridge business.

Test what you have learned about sales channels.

In this lecture, we will look at how to best manage product support issues.

Check what you have learned about product support.

In this lecture, we will look at growth strategies throughout the product lifecycle.

In this activity, we'll seek out growth opportunities for your product.

In this lecture, we will look at growth hacking - an experimental, data-driven approach to drive rapid growth.

In this lecture, we'll discuss the history of Udemy - and how the company found rapid growth.

Test what you have learned about finding growth as a product manager.

In this lecture, we will at obsoleting products that have declining sales, or no longer fit with your strategy.

In this activity, we will look at a case study for obsolescence - and determine if the product should be retired (or not).

Check what you have learned about obsolescence.

We'll talk through how - in the first 90 days - to set yourself up for longer-term success

We conclude the course in this lecture.

We discuss how to do effective video conference interviews of your customers (during this corona virus time). This lecture is from our new course "Insightful Customer Interviews for Product Managers." I've included the link to the course. Hope you'll join us!