Free Intro to Product Management

INTRO TO
PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT
Wednesday, June 12, 13

WELCOME TO
GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
2INTRODUCTIONS

AGENDA 3
‣ Introductions all around
‣ What’s a product manager?
‣ Why PM matters
‣ Core skills of a PM
‣ Course info
‣ Q & A

MEET ALLISON.
INTRODUCTIONS

ABOUT GENERAL ASSEMBLY
INTRODUCTIONS

OUR CORE VALUES
INTRODUCTIONS

PEOPLE BEFORE THE
MACHINE.
CORE VALUES
While we value powerful ideas and innovative startups, the lifeblood of any
community is the individuals involved. We believe in empathy and reciprocity
— and that community can enable individual pursuits.

LEARNING BY DOING.
CORE VALUES
We believe that self-actualization is gained through applied, hands- on
experience. We are here not to seek or to hope for the future, but actively
construct it with our hands. If we get it wrong, we modify and try again; real
progress only comes through reflection and relentless iteration.

JOURNEY OVER
DESTINATION.
CORE VALUES
General Assembly is about the shared experience of fellow builders taking
risks — about embracing failure as much as success. When great companies
fail, they’re gone forever. When great people fail, they learn from their
experiences and go on to pursue new ventures with a greater chance of
success.

INTRODUCTIONS
MEET YOUR
INSTRUCTOR
10

INSTRUCTOR INTRODUCTION 11
‣ thomas@pun.io, @dapunster
‣ Apple: QuickTime, iChat, iTunes Store
‣ Y Combinator: Nowmov, Nowbox, Delight
THOMAS PUN

INTRODUCTION TO CLASSMATES 12
‣ Name
‣ What industry are you in right now?
‣ What are you most looking to take away from this course?
‣ What is your current favorite tech product?

PRODUCT MANAGER IS... 13
‣ Voice of the customers
‣ Gate keeper of the product
‣ CEO of the product

VOICE OF THE CUSTOMERS 14
‣ In-house customer
‣ Translate feedback into tangible actions

GATE KEEPER OF THE PRODUCT 15
‣ Determine feature list
‣ Use metrics to measure and iterate
‣ Balance between technical and business sides
‣ Determine if a feature is good enough to ship

CEO OF THE PRODUCT 16
‣ Sell the vision
‣ Motivate
‣ Communicate
‣ Make or break the product

WHY PRODUCT
MANAGEMENT MATTERS
17

WHY? 18
An entrepreneur is someone who creates new products and services
under conditions of extreme uncertainty. -- Eric Ries
‣ Universal skill set
‣ Build your own product
‣ Run the business side of a startup
‣ Career in product management
‣ Hard work but extremely rewarding

SO, WHAT DOES IT
TAKE?
19

CORE SKILLS 20
Understand your users and
analyze the market to build
a product that is both
desirable and viable
Develop metrics to
measure your success and
make tough decisions
Create a roadmap and
effectively manage
communication with all
stakeholders

LET’S BREAK IT DOWN
21

COURSE BREAKDOWN 1/2 22
‣ Product Management Fundamentals
‣ Process Types
‣ Business Model
‣ Market Sizing
‣ Testing, Validating and Building Products
‣ User Research
‣ Wireframing
‣ Storyboarding
‣ Usability Testing
‣ MVP

COURSE BREAKDOWN 2/2 23
‣ Ongoing Product Management
‣ Financial Modeling
‣ Product Roadmap
‣ Metrics
‣ Working with Stakeholders
‣ Stakeholders
‣ Tools
‣ Product Spec
‣ Pitching

PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
FUNDAMENTALS
24

PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CYCLE 25
Iden%fy(
Plan(
Develop(
Evaluate(
Launch(
Assess(
M
aintain(or(Kill(

PROCESS TYPES 26

ADDRESSABLE MARKET SIZE 28
49%
14%
15%
22%
Potential Customers
Expected Price
x
TOP DOWN BOTTOM UP

TESTING, VALIDATING &
BUILDING PRODUCTS
29

USER RESEARCH 30
Are they businesses? Consumers?
WHO ARE MY USERS?
Parents? Siblings? Friends?
Demographics?
Are they already sharing photos
on social media?
WHAT ARE THEIR HABITS?
Do they create content or just
share?
Mobile or Desktop?
WHERE ARE THEY
ACCESSING FROM?
Where do they spend time?
Is it a time of day?
WHEN DO THEY NEED
YOUR PRODUCT?
During a big moment in their
child’s life?
Do other products not meet those
needs?
WHY DO THEY NEED
YOUR PRODUCT?
Do other products exist to fit
their needs?
One time download?
HOW DO THEY ACCESS
YOUR PRODUCT?
Web App? iPhone app?

TYPES OF WIREFRAMES 31
SKETCH LO-FI HI-FI

STORYBOARDING 32
WHAT CAN YOU COMMUNICATE?
LAYOUT(WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE WHEN I...)
FLOW(WHAT COMES NEXT WHEN I...)
BEHAVIOR(WHAT HAPPENS WHEN...)

USABILITY TESTING 33

34THE MVP PHILOSOPHY
THE LEAST AMOUNT OF WORK
YOU CAN DO TO
LEARN THE MOST OF
SOMETHING.
MINIMAL VIABLE PRODUCT

35RISKS & ASSUMPTIONS
RISKS & ASSUMPTIONS
WILL PEOPLE SEE ENOUGH VALUE TO SPEND MONEY ON THIS?
CAN I ATTAIN THE MATERIALS AND RESOURCES TO MAKE THIS?
CAN CONSUMERS EASILY REPLACE THIS
WITH A COMPETITOR?
CAN THESE SCALE: BE MADE QUICKLY
AND ON BUDGET?

DISSECTING FEATURES 36
BREAKING DOWN FEATURES

ONGOING
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
37

FINANCE BASICS 38
PROFIT
REVENUE
COST
VOLUME
PRICE
VARIABLE
COST
FIXED
COST
EXAMPLE PROFIT TREE

KPIS & CUSTOMER CYCLE 39
MEASURE YOUR CUSTOMER JOURNEY.
AARRRACQUISITION
ACTIVATION
RETENTION
REFERRAL
REVENUE

TIMELINES 40
PRODUCT ROADMAPS EVOLVE...
LAUNCH
PRODUCT/
MARKET
FIT
PRE-LAUNCH PRE-PRODUCT/
MARKET FIT
POST-PRODUCT/
MARKET FIT
Feature Prioritization Get to Product/Market Fit by:
Building
Measuring
Learning
Improve:
AARRR
OKRs

WORKING WITH
STAKEHOLDERS
41

STAKEHOLDER MAPPING 42
STAKEHOLDER GRID
LEVEL OF INTEREST
LEVELOFINFLUENCE
MEET THEIR NEEDS
(SATISFACTION)
KEY PLAYER
(MANAGE CLOSELY)
KEEP INFORMED
(SHOW CONSIDERATION)
MINIMAL EFFORT
(LEAST IMPORTANT)

PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES & TERMINOLOGY 43
<h1>PROGRAMMING LANGUAGES</h1>
<h2>FRONT-END WEB DEVELOPMENT</h2>
HTML: STRUCTURE & CONTENT (WHAT’S ON THE PAGE?);
CSS: STYLING (HOW DOES IT LOOK?);
JAVASCRIPT: RESPONSE & USER ACTIVITY (HOW DO YOU INTERACT?);
<h2>BACK-END WEB DEVELOPMENT</h2>
RUBY ON RAILS
PYTHON
PHP

INTRO TO PRODUCT SPEC 44
TYPES OF PRODUCT DOCUMENTS
WHY WHAT HOW
Market
Requirements Doc
(MRD)
Business
Requirements Doc
(BRD)
Product
Requirements Doc
(PRD)
Functional Spec Doc
(FSD)
Technical Spec
(TS)
Functional Spec Doc
(FSD)

What makes a slideshow particularly bad?
• Graphs and charts are usually PowerPoint presentation gold: They're visual, informative, and
hard to screw up. So, obviously, the more graphs and charts, the better--right? Like, say, 100
graphs and charts. And to sweeten that deal, let's put all 100 of 'em on one slide. What could go
wrong?
• Or rather, what couldn't go wrong? The whole PowerPoint presentation on lung cancer surgery
is pretty bad, but this slide showing 100 charts neatly stacked like coffins in a ten-by-ten array
takes the cake. Not only are the graphs so small as to be unreadable, but did we mention there
are 100 of them? Oh, and a slide heading that makes sense in English would've been nice
• But all kidding aside, I see two important advantages of using PowerPoint or some equivalent
visual medium when presenting ideas. By using PowerPoint slides I am engaging two of the
audiences’ senses – hearing and seeing. I recall reading somewhere that the more senses you
can engage, the more likely the audience will absorb and retain what you have to communicate.
• But more importantly, if I am clicking away my slides instead of burying my nose in the paper I
am reading, I can read the visual feedback and cues my audience is sending me. Am I
connecting and communicating or are people checking their tweets, text messages, emails,
surfing the net, etc.? Am I using jargon, acronyms, or terminology they are unfamiliar with? Do I
need to re-phrase or re-state a point I just made because it is not clear? Am I droning on too
long on a particular point?
• Are they all tired after a big lunch and about to fall asleep unless I raise my voice or energize
them? etc. etc. I also like to give the audience a copy of my slides in advance so they can jot
down questions next to the relevant slide, while the question is still fresh in their minds, or they
can make their own notes and comments in the margins.

READY TO GET YOUR HANDS DIRTY? 46
‣ Final project
‣ Learn by doing
‣ Apply knowledge from each
lesson
‣ Don’t (necessarily) need
your own idea

WHAT DOES IT MEAN
TO BE A GA STUDENT?
INTRODUCTIONS

• Outcome focused
• Practical, dynamic content
• Strong, diverse community of makers
• Personalized instruction and support
• 3 free classes to supplement your coursework
• Permanent access to all course resources
48GA STUDENT PERKS
COMMUNITY

• June 25th - August 29th, 2013
• Meets Tuesdays & Thursdays from 7-9pm
• Tuition is $25,000HKD
• Payment plans available
• No pre-requisites
• Class size is limited to 15
49
PRODUCT MANAGEMENT COURSE
THE DETAILS

Q&A
INTRODUCTION TO PROJECT MANAGEMENT 50

Free Intro to Product Management

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (19)

More from Allison Baum

More from Allison Baum (8)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Free Intro to Product Management