Break into Product Management from Any Background

Cohort-based Course

Explore your interest in product management and craft a personalized career plan inspired by real PMs from diverse backgrounds.

Previously at

Stanford University
Intuit
Pearson Higher Ed US
Chegg
Adobe

Course overview

From uncertain to inspired: Start your personalized PM career plan today!

We’ll answer all your questions about what it’s really like to be a product manager (PM)—especially in an industry being transformed by AI. Through an interactive case study, you’ll be introduced to Intuit's Design for Delight product development framework and practice key PM skills.


Next, we’ll explore real-life examples of professionals who have successfully transitioned into product management from diverse backgrounds. You’ll learn how to translate your skills and experiences into relevant PM qualifications and create a plan to address any gaps.


Finally, we will share strategies and resources to continue your development plan or begin your job search. By the end of the course, you’ll have a personalized, actionable plan for launching your product management or related career.


20% discount for current students, postdocs, and federal workers impacted by DOGE layoffs. Go to my website and request a discount code using my Contact form: www.lindsayoishi.com.


Note: This course does not provide in-depth guidance on applying or interviewing for product management roles. It is designed for individuals at an earlier stage in their Product Management journey—those who want to determine if PM is the right fit and, if so, prepare for future opportunities by creating a personalized, practical path. You’ll walk away with clear steps to build relevant skills, gain meaningful experience, and identify target companies and roles.

Who is this course for

01

Anyone with a non-technical background who's wondering if they could ever land a $150k+ Product Management job (yes, you can!)

02

PhD students & postdocs who want to explore paths outside of academia with more job opportunities, better compensation, and social impact

03

Federal employees and other workers impacted by recent layoffs who want a new career with long-term potential

What you’ll get out of this course

Get answers to all your burning questions about what it’s really like to be a product manager.

You can ask anything and I'll give you the truth with no BS. Product Management isn't everything it may seem like on LinkedIn, YouTube and TikTok. Let's real-talk compensation, work-life balance, career progression and more!

Understand the top paths to break into product management from any background, using real examples of PMs from diverse backgrounds.

With real-life stories, quantitative data, and several awesome guest speakers, you’ll gain confidence in your potential to break into Product Management, with the right attitude, willingness to develop new skills, and perseverance. 

Translate your experiences into relevant qualifications for product roles, and identify any gaps you need to fill.

This is where it gets real. Using your resume and experiences, we’ll map what you’ve done to what hiring managers are looking for and figure out what steps you’d need to take to land your first PM role.

Make a personalized plan with concrete next steps to pursue product management or a related career.

Using key concepts from the New York Times bestseller, Designing Your Life, you’ll create an exciting vision for your future. Then, you’ll practice “Bias Towards Action” by picking three specific things you can do immediately to make progress towards your goals.

This course includes

4 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

7 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

2 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

Jun 9—Jun 15

    Jun

    10

    Workshop: What is Product Management really like?

    Tue 6/1012:30 AM—2:00 AM (UTC)

    Assignment: Applying Design for Delight

    2 items

Week 2

Jun 16—Jun 19

    Jun

    17

    Workshop: Your path to Product Management

    Tue 6/1712:30 AM—2:00 AM (UTC)

    Assignment: My Odyssey Plan

    2 items

    Assignment: Informational Interview

    2 items

    Jun

    20

    Bonus: Live Q&A with PM Panel

    Fri 6/2012:30 AM—1:30 AM (UTC)
    Optional

Post-course

    Post course reflection

    2 items

    Post course resources

    1 item

Meet your instructor

Lindsay Oishi, PhD

Lindsay Oishi, PhD

Stanford-trained educator building products in Silicon Valley for 13+ years

Dr. Lindsay Oishi is an adult learning expert and product management leader who holds a Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from Stanford University, MA from Oxford University, and BA from Georgetown University. Dr. Oishi has researched and written about applying design thinking to modern careers at the Institute of Design at Stanford University, and her doctoral dissertation influenced core concepts in the New York Times Best-Selling book, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. ​​


She also has extensive business and technology experience as a product leader at companies spanning from Ed Tech startups to Big Tech. For the last four years, she has hired and managed Product Managers at Indeed, the world's #1 job site. She has launched major products serving millions of customers in a variety of domains, including HR Technology, online learning and AI-powered language assessments.

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Course schedule

2-4 hours per week

  • Friday Lunchtime Mixer

    12:15-1:00 PM PDT

    Meet your cohort and have fun learning about each other!

  • Monday evenings (2 live workshops)

    5:30-7:00 PM PDT

    Your learn from interactive activities, lively discussion, Q&A with experts, and inspiring guest speakers.

  • Thursday evening: PM Panel Q&A

    5:30-7:00 PM PDT

    Close out the course with a live panel Q&A with the instructor and a diverse range of Product Managers from a variety of backgrounds and industries. Get all your questions answered!

  • Weekly projects

    2 hours per week

    You'll get hands-on exploring Product Management methods used by top companies, and build an actionable plan to make progress towards your career goals right away.

Free resource

Mini-Workshop Worksheet

Want to try out a few of the key skills you'd use as a Product Manager? This mini-workshop worksheet gets you thinking about business goals, customer problems, new solution ideas, and prioritization -- all in 30 minutes! You can print this out and bring it to the Lightning Lesson where we'll go through each activity together.

Get this free resource

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Break into Product Management from Any Background