Level Up from Middle Manager to a Product Executive

2 Days

·

Cohort-based Course

Learn what it takes to break through to the product executive ranks at the best Silicon Valley companies.

Course overview

Course Overview

This course breaks down everything I've learnt and practiced as a product executive working at successful companies (e.g Coinbase, Airbnb, Instagram, Facebook) and by coaching 100s of successful product leaders in achieving their career goals.


Nobody ever got promoted to product executive ranks by mastering fancy-sounding tools:  You DO NOT need to master yet another cool-sounding framework (HEART, MOSCOW etc.), or a fancy process (Kanban etc.), or use a template from another company (Amazon’s memo template etc.) to rise to executive ranks. 


All these tools/templates/frameworks are just tactics that will only get you to first level manager (from an IC) at best - but to get beyond that, none of this will be a differentiator. Instead, what you need is a shift in perspective and a focus on more nuanced, softer skills -  and this course teaches you how.


A shift in mindset and perspective:  At more senior levels, everybody has mastered the hard skills of product management. Here are the key differentiators you will learn in this course that separate middle managers from executives:


-- How to make little bets in your career (either within your company or switching job by identifying the next rocket ship) to create the opportunity for 10x growth

-- How to build your internal brand and be known as the go-to-person that can tackle the toughest problems faced by your company 

-- How to win trust with your executives and peers so you continue to get increased scope and responsibilities

-- How to manage your manager and recruit them to be an advocate for your career

-- How to walk, talk, act like an executive and deliver outsized returns (before you get promoted to be an executive)

-- How to scale yourself and sustain peak performance (many highly ambitious people rise fast but then burn out)

-- How to build and operate a high performing team of product managers

-- And much more.  


In this course, you will learn how you too can develop and master these skills. You will get deep insights on how to navigate your career using the methods that I have personally used and coached 100s of successful product executives. The learnings from this course will shift your perspective and change your mindset about succeeding as a product executive. 


Designed for Experienced professionals: This course is designed for experienced middle managers looking for actionable advice that can help catapult them in their career journey. This course is NOT designed for early stage PMs, those aspiring to break into PMs. We won’t be covering the basic PM skills in this course.

Who is this course for

01

Ambitious Managers/GPMs, Directors, Sr Directors and VPs of Product at startups and large technology companies. 

02

Those looking for actionable learnings (not theory) from someone who has seen success at multiple companies and coached 100s of other leader

03

This course is not for early-career PMs or those aspiring to break into product. This course assumes a mastery of core product skills.

What you’ll get out of this course

How Product Management is evolving and how to craft your career path

Product management discipline is rapidly evolving.


We will cover strategies for positioning yourself for success, identifying the right jobs (internally or externally at a hyper growth company), how to increase your chances of getting promoted and avoiding common pitfalls.

How to master the critical skills for succeeding (with real world case studies)

What do you need to master critical skills like managing up, building a brand and creating allies to champion you?


We will cover these topics in-depth using real world examples (case study format) and hands-on exercises to personalize the learnings for you.

Get actionable advice - not theory - from my personal experience and through coaching 100s of leaders

I don’t share theoretical esoteric concepts - everything you learn in the course will be something you can implement the next day at work. 


You will learn everything that I have learnt by building my career as well as by coaching 100s of other product leaders to success.

Designed to meet your busy schedule

We have designed this course to adjust to your busy schedule - we will meet 2 days over 2 weekends (5 hours each day). You will have material to peruse on your own time (e.g recorded videos). There will be 90 mins of Q&A each day to ask any questions. Minimal pre-work needed.

Proven to work by senior executives at startup and FAANG companies

I developed this course material with deep consultation from my network of executives at top startups, FAANG companies, Founders and VCs. You will find the advice widely applicable no matter where you work.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Dec 2—Dec 3

What people are saying

        Sanchan brings truly deep insights into how great product leaders can make the challenging leap to becoming product executives. He understands and shares how product leaders can better connect with the core concerns of a business – both operationally and interpersonally (with founders, board members) .
Patrick McGregor

Patrick McGregor

Chief Product Officer, Crusoe (ex-Product Director at Coinbase, Google)
        Sanchan is an amazing mentor and coach. Not only does Sanchan know what it takes to be a successful product leader (he's been there, done that) but he gives you the straight, unfiltered truth. I have learned a lot from him and would highly recommend this course to anyone who is looking to turbocharge their career.
Michael Maczka

Michael Maczka

Group Product Manager, Coinbase (ex-LinkedIn)
        The path to executive leadership is vastly different than what most intuit early in their careers. Delivering great products and business impact is table stakes, but what’s often missed is the soft skills that need to be developed. His coaching has been invaluable for me. His frank, no-nonsense, without sugarcoating content is the best.
Roy Zhang

Roy Zhang

Group Product Manager, Coinbase (ex-Facebok, Airbnb)
        If you want to learn to become the ultimate product executive, Sanchan is the one to talk to. His insights and experience are invaluable for anyone who wants to succeed. He has succeded working with iconic CEOs (Chesky, Systrom, Armstrong) and I love how he translated his insights and war stories into practical lessons for rising product leaders.
Amritashwar Lal

Amritashwar Lal

CEO & Founder, ChefJoy (ex-Manager of Product at Instagram, Facebook, Apple)
        Sanchan really knows what he's talking about when it comes to leading product teams as an executive. His course is grounded in his hands-on experience leading and coaching product teams at storied Silicon Valley companies. He distills his learnings and will give you real talk while making things fun. Would highly, highly recommend this.
Alvin Hsia

Alvin Hsia

CEO & Founder, Shadow (ex-Airbnb, Udemy)
        Sanchan is a product executive who has scaled companies to 1000s of employees and billions in revenue. He has repeatable processes that you can apply to your career. Sanchan is the guru you're looking for to help advance your career.
Vishal Gupta

Vishal Gupta

Head of Product, Exchange @ Coinbase (ex- Goldman Sachs)

Meet your instructor

Sanchan S Saxena

Sanchan S Saxena

Former VP @ Coinbase; General Manager & Head of Product at Airbnb; Director of Product @ Instagram and Facebook

Sanchan has over 18+ years of experience leading product organizations at Coinbase, Airbnb, Instagram, Facebook, Microsoft.


  • Former Vice President @ Coinbase  
  • Ex-Head of Product at Airbnb where he grew the PM org from 40 people to over 200 PMs worldwide
  • Ex-General Manager at Airbnb (leading PM, Eng, Design and other cross functional teams of 600+ people with P&L responsibilities)
  • Head of Product @ Instagram where he helped the company achieve its first $1B in revenue, founded Instagram Shopping, and lead Creator and Business products used by billions of users worldwide.


Sanchan has led global teams (1000+ employees), managed P&Ls ($3B+ in annual revenue), coached and mentored 100s of product leaders in achieving career success.


Sanchan shares his thoughts on product, business and leadership on YouTube and Instagram.

A pattern of wavy dots

Be the first to know about upcoming cohorts

Level Up from Middle Manager to a Product Executive

Course schedule

8 hrs of live classes + Q&A with Sanchan

  • December 2nd, 2023

    9:00am - 1:00 pm PST

    • Pre-reading material will be provided.
    • Deep dives on topics covered
    • 90 minute Q&A with Sanchan
    • Recording available


  • December 3rd, 2023

    9:00am - 1:00 am PST

    • Pre-reading material will be provided.
    • Deep dives on topics covered
    • 90 minute Q&A with Sanchan
    • Recording available


Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active hands-on learning

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

A pattern of wavy dots

Be the first to know about upcoming cohorts

Level Up from Middle Manager to a Product Executive