How to do a 6-month "Product MBA" almost for free
How to do a 6-month "Product MBA" almost for free
Find all links below and get started at any moment. Unlock the PM inside you.
Here’s how you can do a “Product MBA” in 6 months, and actually learn how to build and manage your first products, and do it at any tech company 👇 I am linking each suggestions to make it easy to get started.
Before diving in, a quick explanation:
Each month I’ve selected a combination of 1) books, 2) newsletter articles, 3) podcast episodes, 4) conversation topics and 5) online courses (disclaimer, I lead One Month PM and this is what I am pointing to).
I’ve also added a 6) “analysis challenge” to make you think through some successful products in different operating models.
To offer diverse viewpoints, I change the authors in each month, but you can rearrange the order as you see fit. The goal is to go broad, and create a weekly habit on those you enjoy the most. I recommend following them on any medium they share content.
I chose options to keep budgets as low as possible, without sacrificing valuable content.
Here’s also what I recommend you to do to guarantee as much knowledge absorption:
Newsletter/Article = Aim anywhere between a daily read to a weekly read. All recommendations have +20 great posts, giving you enough to cover the whole month.
Book = If you read 10 pages a day (including weekends), you’ll lock 300 pages/month, getting your monthly book read.
Podcast = Aim for a weekly podcast episode. Usually they are 50min-70 min. Get a 15 minute walk per day, and do your reps.
Conversation = Reach out 20/30 different PMs on Linkedin and invite them for 30 min conversations. Aim for anything between a weekly to a monthly chat. If you get more than 1/month, repeat the topic I am suggesting.
Online course = As I am recommending One Month PM, it’s Live-Learning, so make sure to show up on all sessions. It’s like a Personal Trainer.
Analysis challenge = Aim for 300-500 words analysing onboarding, business model, differentiating dynamics, competitive advantage and growth levers.
Here we go:
Month 1
✉ Newsletter: Lenny’s Newsletter by Lenny Rachitsky
📚 Book: Inspired by Marty Cagan.
🎙 Podcast: Product Thinking with Melissa Perri
👩🏫 Conversation topic: “What is the role of a Product Manager in a company and a Tech team?”
📽 Online Course: Product Manager Foundations at One Month PM
📝 Analysis challenge: Airbnb (Marketplace)
Month 2
✉ Newsletter: Ask Gib by Gibson Biddle
📚 Book: Continuous Discovery Habits by Teresa Torres
🎙 Podcast: Lenny’s Podcast by Lenny Rachitsky
👩🏫 Conversation topic: “How do you run customer and user discovery?”
📽 Online Course: Growth Product Management at One Month PM
📝 Analysis challenge: Revolut (Fintech)
Month 3
✉ Newsletter: The Beautiful Mess by John Cutler
📚 Book: Escaping the build trap by Melissa Perri
🎙 Podcast: The Product Podcast by Product School
👩🏫 Conversation topic: “How do you prioritise and what frameworks do you use?”
📽 Online Course: Data for Product Managers at One Month PM
📝 Analysis challenge: Shopify (Ecommerce)
Month 4
✉ Newsletter: SVPG by Marty Cagan
📚 Book: Sprint by Jake Knapp.
🎙 Podcast: 20Product by Harry Stebbings at 20VC
👩🏫 Conversation topic: “How do you build and manage your roadmaps?”
📽 Online Course: No Code Foundations at One Month PM
📝 Analysis challenge: Netflix (Consumer)
Month 5
✉ Newsletter: ProductTalk by Teresa Torres
🎙 Podcast: How I built this by Guy Raz
👩🏫 Conversation topic: “How do you manage stakeholders and management as a PM?”
📽 Online Course: AI Product Manager at One Month PM
📝 Analysis challenge: TikTok (Social)
Month 6
✉ Newsletter: High-Impact Product Management by Itamar Gilad
📚 Book: Empowered by Marty Cagan.
🎙 Podcast: The Product Experience by Mind the Product
👩🏫 Conversation topic: “How do you launch products and features and set them for success?”
📽 Online Course: Web3 PM at One Month PM
📝 Analysis challenge: Notion (B2B SaaS)
Are you up for the challenge in 2023?