B U S I N E S S Fundamentals of Product Management W ant a career that hones your hard and soft skills while helping create positive change in people’s lives? If so, product management—a highly influential and sought-after role in business today—might be right for you. This hands-on, beginner-level course will cover the core skills needed during the entire product management lifecycle. We will learn how to generate ideas; validate opportunities with market research and customer interviews; and craft an effective vision, strategy, and roadmap. Students will also learn to create effective product and UX (user experience) designs and iteratively get to product/market fit with an MVP (minimum viable product), while utilizing frameworks like AARRR (customer metrics) and Jobs to Be Done. We will explore how to define the right metrics and accelerate learning using techniques of continuous discovery and delivery. This course will also cover the collaborative aspects—working in Agile and Scrum teams, communicating and collaborating effectively with stakeholders, and writing effective product specifications and user stories. Students will actively participate throughout the course and gain hands-on experience with quizzes, assigned readings, and a project in product design to drive the learning home. You will finish the course knowing how to avoid common pitfalls and be empowered to truly succeed in the field of product management. k u na l pu n ja bi Product Management and Product Strategy Lead Kunal Punjabi is a product strategist who has led the conception, execution, go-to-market, and growth of several products, including Treat, Bills.com, and Freedom Debt Relief. He has led AI product strategy at Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), was senior director of product management at Freedom Financial Network, and currently serves as group product manager at Cerebral. He received an MS from Georgia Tech. BUS 62 W 10 weeks, June 26 – September 1 2 units, $810 Limit: 125 Refund Deadline: June 29 Course Format: Flex Online Why Minimum Viable Product Is No Longer Enough P roduct managers are familiar with the concept of a minimum viable product (MVP), a product with enough features to attract early-adopter customers and validate a product idea early in the development cycle. While MVP has helped companies focus on validating the riskiest assumptions, the approach has notable downsides, the most significant one being that alpha or beta versions of products often don’t engage users or create enough “love” to help the product grow. So what makes a product stick? Why do some prod- ucts, like many social media apps, gain initial interest yet fail to sustain long-term growth? Why are other products, such as personal productivity apps, early and “imperfect” yet able to attract loyal followers? This course provides a five-step framework for devel- oping a product that sticks. We will discuss where to concentrate when preparing to launch a new product and what to focus on when growing beyond the initial launch. We will focus on critical areas such as problem statements, user definitions, and iterative approaches. The course will include interactive classroom discus- sions, group projects, and deliberately selected guest speakers with real-world builder experience. While this course has no prerequisites, some product management experience will be beneficial. A desire to seek innovation in product building is essential. j i n z h a ng Director of Engineering, Meta Jin Zhang has extensive product management experi- ence with both startups and enterprises. Prior to Meta, she held product and engineering executive positions at Amazon, CA Technologies, Apigee, and IBM. She is a TEDx speaker and a frequent contributor to CIOReview magazine. Zhang received an MBA from Iowa State. BUS 285 Tuesdays, 6:30 – 8:30 pm (PT) 5 weeks, June 27 – August 1 No class on July 4 1 unit, $475 Refund Deadline: June 29 Course Format: Live Online 71 R EGIS T R AT IO N F O R AL L C O UR S ES B EGINS ON MONDAY, MAY 22, AT 8:30 A M (P T ) R EGIS T ER O NL INE AT C O NT INUINGSTU DIES.STA NFORD.EDU