Product Management Fundamentals

Product Management Fundamentals is a free crash course by Full Course. It is taught by an IT executive (former VP of Product, SVP, and CEO) who has hired hundreds of product professionals and led large product teams.

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It cover a wide array of topics from product strategy, planning, and launch to customer engagement and effective team collaboration. If you're looking for a comprehensive, cost-free introduction to product management, then this course is a great option.

This course is best for aspiring product managers looking into understanding the product role, but could not commit to a longer paid course.

Product Management Fundamentals has 16,000 likes on Youtube based from 770,000+ views.

What learners say:

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After spending 5 years in Product, this course holds one of the best-laid fundamentals about the Art of Product management.  Thank you so much for putting in the time to make this. It was brilliant and you deserve the accolades. - @vincentmayaki11

This course can be considered an introductory course to Co.Lab’s 4-week Sprint program and 8-week Bootcamp. It’s a good free course to start touching base with the rudimentary concepts of Product Management, and how a Product Manager functions and collaborates with others within the same organization

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After completing this course, it is recommended that you join Co.Lab's Product Management track to apply your learnings and build your own product with a cross-functional team consisting of developers, designer, and a mentor.

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Cost

This course is free on Youtube! It’s a great resource to have if you’re starting out in the product space and you’re trying to find out whether this role is a good fit for you. That being said, taking this course will only provide you with a high-level understanding of product management, owing also to being a limited 2-hour video.

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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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In this course, you will not get a certificate of completion nor a student portfolio. At Co.Lab, you will get both.

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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 program also has 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. the Sprint 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 are given a high-level explanation of basic product management concepts. This includes a broad discussion of the product life cycle, competitive analysis, resource allocation, product-market fit, and other central learnings such as the daily life of a product manager.

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Whereas in Co.Lab, you will learn about the fundamental concepts an entry-level Product Manager should know. You will also 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 program is the learning experience. Product Management Fundamentals is a self-paced program. Co.Lab's Product Sprint is a cohort-based program.

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While this course allows you to study the basics of a 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. It’s a good free watch-along resource, but its limited nature as a learning video naturally results in lesser learning depth.

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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 the Sprint program may be the best next step.