A Product Manager's First 90 Days

Mainly focused on setting up neophyte Product Managers for success, A Product Manager's First 90 Days does a good job of utilizing modular learning techniques to break down the topic into digestible pieces. There’s a lot of information out there and advice overload is real. This course will help you understand your win conditions as a new Product Manager and avoid common pitfalls that plague the industry.

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The course touches upon how to divide your first 90 days in a way that maximizes your chance of establishing yourself as a sound and impactful voice inside your organization. From discovery and early wins, to establishing trust and going beyond your first 90 days, Product Pathways offers a good starting point to start your PM career.

This course is best for Product Managers who are looking for practical tips on structuring their first 90 days as a PM. It can also be taken by Sr. PMs and Heads of Product to help them strategize the onboarding experience of new Product Managers in their organizations.

There are no public reviews of this course.

This course can be considered supplementary coursework after Co.Lab’s Product Management track. While Co.Lab’s PM track is for beginners looking to get solid theoretical and practical foundations, this course is for recently employed Product Managers who are trying to navigate their first 90 days at work.

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Co.Lab focuses on providing you with real-work, cross-functional experience by building an MVP with developers, designer, and an industry mentor, whereas this course dives deeper into the details of actually running a product in a corporate environment.

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Cost

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This course costs $249 USD and is less expensive than Co.Lab’s Product Sprint ($500 USD) and Co.Lab’s Bootcamp ($3800 USD). That being said, a direct price comparison is not apples to oranges factoring in that these are providing fundamentally different offerings to separate audiences.

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Co.Lab is meant for new product learners so Sprint and Bootcamp are longer at 4 weeks and 8 weeks respectively. This course is for entry-level product managers and can be taken in 1 day considering that the course has 23 videos spanning for 4.5 hours, together with some downloadables and templates.

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Learning Outcomes

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Both this course and Co.Lab provide a certificate of completion. Although completing Co.lab will also give you a student portfolio at the end in the form of a working MVP.

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However, our focus at Co.Lab is to help learners gain confidence, credibility and tangible experience, beyond just the certificate. Portfolios with Co.Lab are just the end result - the work involves speaking to real users, doing market research, and potentially working with a team to build out a real MVP.

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Additionally, Co.Lab portfolio are hosted publicly for you to share with recruiters, hiring managers and supporters. You can check out other student portfolios here.

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Personal Brand Support

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Co.Lab’s programs are unique in that we focus on helping you stand out from the crowd, by building your personal brand and community online.

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Co.Lab's Sprint and Bootcamp programs also have a robust Build in Public program, where you get to share your wins and learnings to your professional network - ensuring you remain visible to recruiters and hiring managers.

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Lastly, both program grants you entry to an exclusive Discord community of tech professionals where you can get advice, networking opportunities, and referrals.

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Mentorship

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Co.Lab also has weekly mentor check-ins to ensure that you're guided appropriately by industry professionals. In fact, your spec in the Sprint & Bootcamp programs will be personally given feedback on by your mentors.

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It will also be published on Co.Lab's website and posted in Co.Lab's social accounts.

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There will also be an end-of-cohort celebration where top students get to present their product idea to the public.

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Curriculum Content

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In this course, you will learn how to build trust and establish a vision in your first 90 days as an entry-level Product Manager. It will also teach you how to identify common pitfalls when starting a new job, how to manage relationships and meet stakeholders for the first time, how to celebrate quick wins, and become an ideal new hire who can meet expectations early on.

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Whereas in Co.Lab, you will learn about the fundamental concepts an entry-level Product Manager should know. You will have the chance to apply your learnings, build your own spec, get a certificate of completion, and build an MVP with a cross-functional team in an agile environment.

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Self-paced vs Cohort-based Learning Experience

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This course is self-led and you have to go through the content on your own. There are 23 videos spread over 4.5 hours so it’s suggested you study them at your own pace and ensure that you have the self-motivation to complete it. What’s great about this though is that you get lifetime access after purchase. No need for any other fees, and it’s frequently updated.

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With Co.Lab's Product Management Sprint and Bootcamp program, you are in a cohort-based model with built-in accountability. You go through the program with other learners. You get to share your learnings, compare and contrast ideas, and provide you with real people who can be your sounding boards.

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Lastly, you decide as a team what kind of tools to use, when to meet (although there are designated check-in dates), and be generally in-charge of how to manage and lead a development team. If you are someone who thrives in a structured environment, then Co.Lab will be a great fit.