Class is in session

Product Leadership in Practice

5.0

(3 ratings)

·

5 Weeks

·

Cohort-based Course

The Chief Product Officer job is tough. With a small group of peers, you'll role play through real scenarios and practice hard situations.

Course overview

Practice the hard stuff before you're in the hot seat

[class enrollment by application only]


No lectures. What if you could practice the trickiest parts of being a product executive ahead of time and, in doing so, learn from an expert and your peers on other approaches? This class takes a realistic scenario and over 6 weeks forces you make those hard decisions and have those tough conversations.


You and your peers will play the CPO at a growth-stage software company. I play everyone else, from the CEO to a board member to C-suite peers to a PM reporting to you.


Instead of talking abstractly about what one might do, you're going to do it. We'll play it out and you'll get feedback from both me and your peers. In turn, you'll give feedback when someone else is in the hot seat: how might one do it differently?


Using Specific Scenarios for General Leadership Training

I don't believe we learn from theory nearly as well as do from practice. While the below 6 topics seem very specific, they are chosen to expose critical, and difficult, aspects of being a product executive. In working through these scenarios, you'll end up thinking through general leadership values and approaches.


What We'll Cover

In our scenario, you've just joined an exciting growth-stage software company. On your first day at work, the board announced that your business is merging with a competitor of similar size. Your new boss is the CEO of the other company, not the one who interviewed you. The new CEO has decided to keep you as the product leader and intends to integrate the two companies rather than run them separately. Now you have two product suites, two different teams with different cultures, and a whole bunch of new C-suite peers that you haven't spent any time with.


What You'll Have to Solve

1. Kick off as CPO at a new company with big strategic decisions looming, a roadmap is disarray, and a major acquisition just closed

2. Create a 30-60-90 day plan for the CEO

3. Handle fear and flight risk within your team around layoffs given the recent acquisition

4. Deliver a proposal to the CEO and CFO on a new structure + cost implications for your 60-person team (located on two sides of the ocean);

5. Decide how to handle a senior PM who's relationship with their team's engineering lead has gone bad

6. Handle a situation where a CxO peer is not performing and the lack of accountability is hurting your part of the business

7. Create an artifact to set expectations at the C-suite on product timelines; handle a CMO who is frustrated with your timelines and a VP of Sales who wants to control priorities.

8. Present to the board and/or individual board members, per the CEOs request


The Class

The class is capped at 10 people. We will meet for 75 minutes each week for six weeks, with an optional hour-long roundtable on Fridays. There will be prep materials to read going into each class, including the first one.


Who Can Take The Class?

You must be at one of the following levels in either prod mgt, design, or engineering: VP, Director, Principal, or GPM level (or about to move into one of those roles). Class is by application only.


There is a code of conduct below.

Who is this course for

01

To apply for the class, you must be VP, Director, Principal, or GPM level in product management or design.

02

Senior PMs or Designers with 6+ years of experience may apply and will be reviewed for fit on a case-by-case basis.

What you’ll get out of this course

Evolve your leadership style and learn from others

By having actual conversations, even if role-played, you'll think through your leadership values and get feedback on your style. You'll get to see how others might approach a situation and expand your perspective on what might be good and possible.

Improve how you communicate with C-Suite and Board members

We'll be practicing not just how you interact with your reports and other members of the company, but also other high-powered executives and board members in our mock company.

Prepare for the hard situations

We practice so that when a challenging situation hits, as it inevitably and constantly does, you're not seeing it for the first time. Instead, you've thought through possible approaches both from your own instincts as well from your cohort peers.

Build a trusted peer group

The class is by application-only. It's important that each cohort be made up of experienced practitioners who can learn from and help each other both during the class and into the future.

This course includes

12 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

In-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

Projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Sep 10—Sep 15

    Sep

    11

    Session 1: Kicking off as CPO at a new company

    Wed 9/114:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)

    Sep

    13

    Roundtable 1

    Fri 9/134:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

    CEO Ask: Your 30-60-90 plan

    1 item

Week 2

Sep 16—Sep 22

    Sep

    18

    Session 2: Your 30-60-90 day plan; Dealing with an org in fear

    Wed 9/184:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)

    Sep

    20

    Roundtable 2

    Fri 9/204:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

    Headcount Options

    1 item

Week 3

Sep 23—Sep 29

    Sep

    25

    Session 3: restructuring your team, solving inherited HR issues

    Wed 9/254:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)

    Sep

    27

    Roundtable 3

    Fri 9/274:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

Week 4

Sep 30—Oct 6

    Oct

    2

    Session 4: A PM-Eng relationship gone bad; Accountability outside of your organization

    Wed 10/24:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)

    Oct

    4

    Roundtable 4

    Fri 10/44:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

    Assignment: Setting Expectations

    1 item

Week 5

Oct 7—Oct 13

    Oct

    9

    Session 5: Setting expectations with the C-suite; navigating a complex relationships with a C-suite peers

    Wed 10/94:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)

    Oct

    11

    Roundtable 5

    Fri 10/114:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

    Pre-reading

    1 item

Week 6

Oct 14—Oct 15
    Nothing scheduled for this week

Post-course

    Oct

    16

    Session 6: The CEO puts you in the hot seat in front of the board of directors

    Wed 10/164:00 PM—5:15 PM (UTC)

    Oct

    18

    Roundtable 6

    Fri 10/184:00 PM—5:00 PM (UTC)
    Optional

    Summary of Key Takeaways

    0 items

5.0

(3 ratings)

What people are saying

        This course stands out for those looking to sharpen their skills as product leaders. The use of scenario and cohort-based learning keeps the content engaging and relevant. We incorporated real-world examples into the learning. I highly recommend it for its practical approach. I was able to apply what I had learned right away.
Miraj Chokshi

Miraj Chokshi

CPO, Carallel
        Giff’s case program was one of the highlights of my week. Being able to discuss business scenarios with a variety of voices has required me to challenge my own lens and push my way of thinking. It’s refreshing to be surrounded by such smart individuals who all come together with different perspectives to problem solve and analyze together.
Carolina Paula

Carolina Paula

Head of Design, Teachable
        It's not often that you get to work through large, impactful moments as a CPO; so it's hard to practice and get better at working through them. Giff has curated the cases and the cohort to create a relaxed, respectful, and productive environment.
Daniel Pardes

Daniel Pardes

VP of Product, Away
        I was looking for inspiration outside of work and for opportunities to learn from other talented product leaders in different industries. I benefited from listening to their insightful perspectives. It’s been a pleasure to learn from Giff. He brings focus and such skill at designing our discussions to draw out sharp insights and reflections.
Brian Orloff

Brian Orloff

Principal Product Mgr, Amazon
        Giff really bridges the gap between theory and real-world application. Instead of drowning us in abstract concepts and jargon, Giff would bring these vivid, relatable examples into the classroom. This approach made the subject matter come alive and helped us see its relevance in the real world. It wasn't just about memorizing facts.
Cindy Liang

Cindy Liang

Sr Product Mgr, EzCater

Meet your instructor

Giff Constable

Giff Constable

Giff Constable has coached hundreds of actual and aspiring product leaders as both a practicing executive and as a highly-rated teacher at NYU's Stern School of Business, Product Faculty, and also in private workshops to companies like Mayo Clinic, Priceline, Hearst, American Express, Steelcase, and many more.


Giff Constable was the Chief Product Officer at Meetup, the CEO of Neo Innovation, and VP of Product at Axial. He is also the author of Talking to Humans and Testing with Humans. Both books are used as core curriculum in university entrepreneurship and product programs around the world.


In 2021, Giff ran a version of this class as an experiment to test out a different approach to teaching and learning product leadership. The students — a diverse group of VPs of Product and GPMs — universally said it was the best professional educational experience they had ever had. He's thrilled to bring the format back to life on Maven.


A pattern of wavy dots

Be the first to know about upcoming cohorts

Product Leadership in Practice

Course schedule

2-3 hours per week

  • Pre-reading

    1 hour

    Before each class there will be pre-reading materials so that we can spend more time in action rather than reviewing context.

  • 6 Classes, Consecutive Wednesdays

    9:00am - 10:15am US Eastern


Frequently Asked Questions

What happens if I can’t make a live session?

Will these 6 topics we role-play help me become a better manager/leader in general?

Code of Conduct

A pattern of wavy dots

Be the first to know about upcoming cohorts

Product Leadership in Practice