Product Management 101

True to its name, Product Management 101 provides you with an ample foundation to start your Product Management journey. There’s a lot of emphasis on market analysis & analytics, product pricing, development cycle, and sales. Although there isn’t much discussion on asserting your voice as PM, cross-functional collaboration, and other similar ostensible industry realities — but that’s to be expected given the scope of the course as well as the limitation of MOOCs.

Overall, it’s still a great pick if you’re looking to explore core product management skills, discussions, and concepts.

The course is for incoming or aspiring PMs and PMs with less than 5 years of experience. It's a great option if you're just starting out in product management and want to gain a solid foundation in the field.

The Product Management 101 program by Todd Birzer has 4.6 stars on Udemy based from 17,000+ reviews.

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Learners have said:

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Easily understandable, the activities were really helpful in applying the lessons. The quizzes gave more insights whenever the wrong option was chosen. - Patricia Isabelle V.

This course can be considered as a preparatory coursework towards Co.Lab’s Product Management track. It’s a good introduction to product management strategy and learn about understanding the market, customer behavior, and appropriate product pricing. It’s also theory heavy and runs in contrast to Co.Lab which places heavy emphasis on its Learning by Doing principle, cohort-based learning, and community support.

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After completing this course, it is recommended that you join Co.Lab's 4-week Sprint program to solidify your product management foundations, then transfer your theoretical knowledge to practical skills by shipping a live product in a cross-functional team consisting of a UI/UX designer, software developers, and a pre-vetted industry mentor with the 8-week Bootcamp.

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Cost

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This course costs around 60$ at Udemy, although Udemy discounts the price from time to time. It includes lifetime access to the 5 hours video and 58 downloadable resources.

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On the other hand, Co.Lab’s Sprint costs $500 USD for a 4-week program and Bootcamp costs $3,800 USD for an 8-week program. Both offer a structured learning experience with peers, using an experiential learning model, where you graduate with the right skills to kickstart your career in product

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Learning Outcomes

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After taking the course, you will get a certificate of completion but not a a student portfolio. At Co.Lab, not only will you get a Certificate of Completion, but also a working student portfolio.

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However, our focus at Co.Lab is to help learners gain confidence, credibility and tangible experience, beyond just the certificate.

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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. our Product Management track 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.

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In fact, your spec in the Sprint & Bootcamp program will be personally given feedback on by your mentors. Student portfolios 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 mainly about product strategy & development, product lifecycle management, and market intelligence. What’s different about this course is that it target both aspiring product managers and product professionals with up to 5 years of experience.

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This means that while you get to learn more niche aspects of product management, they are also designed to be high level enough for newcomers to understand.

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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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What makes this course different from Co.Lab's Sprint and Bootcamp program is the learning experience. This course is a self-paced program. Co.Lab's Product Management track are cohort-based programs.

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While this course allows you to study aspects of the PM role with more flexibility since you will go through it at your own pace, it also means that you need to have the internal motivation to finish the course.

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With Co.Lab's Product Management Track 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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If you enjoy structured group learning, and struggle with self-paced individual programs, then Co.Lab may be a better fit for you.