Gavin Lee

AI Product Manager

Get Buy-In as a Technical PM: 3 Skills That Get You Heard

AI Product Manager at Squirro

PMs need buy-in from leaders outside their teams, so writing for different audiences is crucial.

Write and communicate with your audience top of mind

Technical PMs can tend to undersell their achievements - reframe them in terms of added value for different teams.

How to talk about your work to get recognition

Engineering leaders appreciate PMs who are technical - use this to your advantage and bridge PM and engineering teams.

Use your technical background to build trust

Stop executing others' roadmaps. Build a strategy that gets approved, speak the language of business, and win stakeholder buy-in.

VP Product. 500+ PMs Stuck to Strategic

Amazon

PayPal

Capital One

Coda

Brennan Collins

Product Executive. 
Coached 500+ PMs from Stuck to Strategic.

Summer Nights

Fall Break '26

( ⏰ Early enrollment 33% off promotion expires August 30th! Use code EARLY for discount ⏰)You are the product manager known for execution, but that reputation is also the reason you are handed roadmaps instead of being asked to decide on the strategy.The product manager with the most impact is the one who connects feature work to business outcomes and speaks the language of executive stakeholders.Most PMs were trained in one pillar of the job: delivery. Yet, when it's time for promotion, they are judged on all four: strategy, delivery, customer experience, and growth.For mid-level PMs, their success hinges entirely on making strategic decisions and communicating them persuasively. This course targets these two critical areas to amplify your product impact and accelerate your career.The Influential PM is a three-week, live, small-group cohort: six sessions with Brennan plus three office hours, where you practice every technique on your actual work with a group of peers who will sharpen your thinking.Every lesson is immediately applicable to your work, that same day.

Shift from executing roadmaps to owning the strategy behind them.

The Product Metrics Ladder

Stakeholder Navigation

Executive Communication

Hidden Incentives

Strategic Storytelling

Connect Research to Strategy

This course assumes you've been around product for a few years, regardless of the size of company.

Experience as a Product Manager, Product Owner, Strategist, or Founder

Students who use their real work in the exercises learn 10x more. "Out of work" students are encouraged to use prior products.

A real product and deliverables you can build upon in the course

If you have that, you're my kind of people. 

A passion for continuous learning and growth

Product Managers with 3 to 10 years of experience who are strong at shipping and want to move more into strategy

PMs who've been told to "be more strategic" while simultaneously being fed a roadmap of stakeholder demands

PMs who want more influence by speaking the language of executives with clarity, confidence, and persuasion

Build the project management skills that actually drive outcomes. Plan work, lead teams, align stakeholders, & execute without winging it.

 AI Project Leader, led 40+ AI rollouts

Microsoft

Pinterest

Deloitte

Justin Bateh, PhD

 AI Project Leader | PhD & PMP | Led 40+ AI Rollouts | Top 100 Maven Instructor

Cohort 4

Cohort 5

NOTE: This cohort is self-paced and fully asynchronous — no live calls. You get full course access on day one, with new content unlocking every Monday. Work through it at whatever pace fits your life.---Scope shifts and nobody tells you. Stakeholders go quiet until the worst possible moment. You're leading people who don't report to you, with zero authority to force anything.Over 20 years and 80+ projects, I found the people who actually deliver have mastered 3 power skills:<ol><li>aligning stakeholders before things derail,</li><li>leading teams without authority,</li><li>and making decisions without perfect information.</li></ol>This course installs all 3.You graduate with a system you can run:<ul><li>The 7-step Project Execution Framework™</li><li>A Project Alignment Snapshot</li><li>A Project Leadership Operating System</li><li>A Stakeholder Influence Playbook</li><li>250+ plug-and-play templates</li><li>70 stakeholder scenario scripts</li><li>Decision frameworks for moving fast</li><li>Interactive practice activities</li><li>PDU-Eligible Training (9 PDUs)</li></ul>Built for anyone accountable for getting work done: aspiring PMs, accidental PMs handed projects without the title, and current PMs who want a system they actually trust.

You're accountable for delivery,  but you're winging it on every project.

How To Build a Project Foundation That Doesn't Fall Apart

How To Make Real Decisions Without Waiting for Perfect Info

How To Lead Teams Without a Title or Org Chart Power

How To Influence Stakeholders Without Begging or Chasing

 This is not PMP or CAPM prep. We teach how to actually deliver projects, lead teams, and get work done in the real world.

You want to execute projects, not pass an exam

Built for anyone accountable for getting work done, with or without formal PM experience. No prior project management training required.


You run projects, lead teams, or own deliverables.

Most PM courses teach theory in isolation. We teach the leadership and execution skills that actually move projects forward.

You want power skills, not just frameworks and theory

Accidental Project Managers You deliver projects without the title and no system to lean on.

Professionals Transitioning Into Project Management You've managed work but never had formal PM training.

Leaders Accountable for Delivery You need your team to execute without you watching every step.

Your strategy is strong. The room still didn't get it. This workshop fixes that.

ex-Product Exec @Spryker, Commerce, eBay

Spryker Systems

BigCommerce

eBay Inc.

Elena Leonova

Founder & CPO, OneRank.io,  ex-CPO @ Spryker, VP of Product @ BigCommerce

Cohort 1

Cohort 2

You can build a sound strategy and still lose the room.Most product leaders aren't unclear. They're at the wrong altitude. They lead with user workflows when the board wants market opportunity. They walk in with 30 slides when the CEO has 5 minutes. They explain why the work matters when executives are deciding how much it's worth.The cost isn't a bad meeting. It's a worse career trajectory. Decisions move forward without you. Headcount goes elsewhere. Roadmaps get rewritten by people closer to the money.This workshop fixes one thing: how you communicate product strategy when the room is deciding whether to fund it, defend it, or push it back to next quarter. Four hours, hands-on, with live coaching from Elena. You leave with a rewritten exec update for a real situation in your own work — pressure-tested by your peers and critiqued live.This is not communication theory. It is what gets the yes.

Translate product strategy into the language executives decide in — capital allocation, risk, market opportunity. Land the yes.

Diagnose the altitude of your last exec update

Architect every update around the three executive questions

Pre-wire your decision room before the meeting starts

Pitch your real proposal under live pressure 

This is hands-on. Bring an actual situation from your work — board deck, exec update, strategy ask. No fictional case studies.

A real exec update or stuck proposal you need to nail. 

No prior coursework required, but you should already be operating in rooms where executives evaluate your judgment. This is not a foundation

Senior PM level or above. 

Block the calendar. The practice + critique element only happens live. Showing up at minute 30 will cost you the value.

Four hours uninterrupted. 

Senior &amp; Principal PMs whose strategic proposals keep getting translated, redirected, or politely ignored by the exec team.

Group PMs, Directors, VPs of Product who've lost — or nearly lost — a critical decision because the room didn't land as expected.

Product consultants and advisors who coach senior PMs through executive presentations and want a sharper toolkit for the altitude shift.

Engage any audience, explain complex ideas clearly, and present with confidence

Personal Branding Pioneer. Speaker.

Google

American Express

LinkedIn

L'Oreal Paris

Adobe

William Arruda

Personal Branding Pioneer. Author. Speaker. AI Enthusiast.

Brilliant ideas don't always succeed. More often than not, the challenge isn't the quality of the work. It's the ability to communicate that work in a way others can understand, appreciate, and act on.Technical professionals and project managers are frequently expected to present complex information to audiences with varying levels of expertise, from colleagues and clients to executives and stakeholders. Yet most engineers, scientists, IT professionals, project managers, and experts have never received formal training in presentation and communication skills.As a result, important ideas can get lost in excessive detail and presentations that overwhelm rather than engage. Great work goes unnoticed. Valuable recommendations are ignored. Opportunities for leadership and advancement are missed. The professionals who stand out are those who can translate complexity into clarity, connect with their audience, and inspire confidence in their ideas.Today, communication can be your competitive advantage. When you can present with confidence and impact, you become more influential, more visible, and better positioned for growth opportunities.

Brilliant ideas often fail when they're communicated poorly. Present with confidence to increase your influence and career opportunities.

Translate technical ideas into language anyone can understand.

Structure presentations that keep people engaged.

Present with confidence and executive presence.

Create compelling slides that support your message instead of distracting.

Make virtual presentations as exciting and engaging as their real-world cousins.

Turn expertise into influence and career opportunities.

Tech professionals, engineers, AI experts, scientists, and IT execs who want to share their brilliance with clarity and confidence.

Project managers and team leaders who want to amp up their presentation skills so they can increase their impact and influence.

Leaders and professionals who want to increase their career success and open themselves up to new opportunities.

Agentic AI

Coding with AI

AI Workflows

Claude Code

OpenClaw

Vibe Coding

AI Evals

AI Transformation

RAG & Search

AI for PMs

AI for Engineers

AI for Designers

AI for Marketers

AI for Founders

Product Sense

Product Discovery

User Research

Prototyping

Growth

Analytics

Tech Foundations

Strategy

Influence

Leadership

Career Growth

Machine Learning

LLM Ops

Context Eng

Security

System Design

Figma

Design Systems

Visual Design

Design Strategy

Automation

Content Marketing

Demand Gen

Go-to-Market

Product Marketing

Positioning

Social Media

Brand

B2B Marketing

SEO & AEO

AI for Leaders

AI Governance

Communication

Management

People Operations

Exec Presence

Storytelling

Goal-setting

Personal Brand

Fundraising

Everyone

Operators

Data Scientists

Business Analysts

User Researchers

Customer Success

Project Managers

HR Professionals

Sales People

Lawyers

Finance

Investors

Real Estate

Educators

Creators

Introduction: Getting Buy-in as a Technical PM

The Importance of Stakeholder Buy-in

Speaker's Background and Experience

Skill 1: Communicate with Your Audience in Mind

Example: Tailoring Your Message to Different Stakeholders

Practical Application: How to Frame Your Updates

Skill 2: Sell Your Work to Get Recognition

The Reality Behind Team Updates

How to Effectively "Sell" Your Product's Progress

Skill 3: Leverage Your Technical Background to Build Trust

Using AI to Upskill and Contribute to Technical Teams

Summary of the Three Key Skills

Q&A: The Most Valuable Skill for a PM

Conclusion and Final Remarks

Product managers who drive strategy, development, and launch of products.

Executive communication — presenting to boards, writing memos, running all-hands, and high-stakes messaging.

Persuading stakeholders, presenting ideas, and getting buy-in across an organization without formal authority.

Get Buy-In as a Technical PM: 3 Skills That Get You Heard

What you'll learn

Why this topic matters

You'll learn from

Gavin Lee