Product

Management
Bootstrapper
Curated list of PM-related
articles & videos shaped
into a 14-day program for
beginners
 RESOURCE GUIDE
Product Management Bootstrapper

Introduction
Welcome aboard! We’re really excited to have you over and can’t wait to see you excel in
the line of Product Management.

The purpose of this resource guide is to give you a structured runway of learning the
basics of the role. From understanding what the field of Product Management entails to
deep dives into certain frameworks & tools, the various sections will direct you to
insightful resources that will help you hit the ground running.

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot an email to HR or the Head of Product
Management and we’d be happy to help.

Good luck!
Learning Plan

Day Theme
1 What is Product Management?
2 Business Models, Product Vision & Strategy
3 Customer Research
4 Product Ideation & Roadmaps
5 Product Definition
6 Agile Project Management
7 Working with Designers
8 Working with Engineering
9 Stakeholder Management
10 Product Launch & GTM Strategies
11 Working on Growth
12 Analytics & Metrics Part 1
13 Analytics & Metrics Part 2
14 Bonus Material
Day 1: What is Product Management?

A single definition of Product Management is hard to find because the

definition of the role has varied over time, across industries and from
company to company.

However, there are a set of general principles that do apply universally. A

Product Manager is often thought as the centerpiece role that balances the
interest of business, design, engineering and customers. In that capacity,
there are a number of traits & best practices worth pursuing.

Below is a list of resources that will help you understand what is expected of
a product manager, the kind of skills required to excel at it & real examples
of product managers in the wild.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 What is Product Management? ARTICLE
BY PRODUCT PLAN 15 minutes

2 12 Things PMs should do in first 30 days ARTICLE

BY KEN NORTON (GV) 5 minutes

3 What it takes to be a Great Product ARTICLE

12 minutes
Manager
BY HARVARD REVIEW

4 Real-World Product Manager Examples ARTICLE

BY MARTY CAGAN 25 minutes

5 Skills, Tools & Knowledge You’ll Need ARTICLE

BY MARTY CAGAN 15 minutes

6 Building a Product ARTICLE

BY JULIE ZHUO 7 minutes

7 4 Key Responsibilities of a PM ARTICLE

 BY PRODUCT PLAN 15 minutes

8 Top 10 Deliverables of a PM ARTICLE

BY SACHIN RAKHI 10 minutes

9 Hang in there Little Product Manager ARTICLE

BY ASHOK BANIA 17 minutes

10 What do Product Managers do? VIDEO

BY AGILE COACH
6 minutes

11 20 Years of Product Management in 25 VIDEO

30 minutes
Minutes
BY DAVE WASCHA

12 The Art of Product Management VIDEO

BY SACHIN REKHI 1 h 7 mins

13 Basics of a Product Manager Role VIDEO

BY ANKIT PRASAD (GOOGLE) @ PRODUCT SCHOOL
1 h 2 mins

Exercises

1. List down 10 points that you will keep in mind as a Product Manager.

2. Create a task list of things you think you want to do in the next 4
weeks.

3. What part of Product Management are you most excited about and
why?
Day 2: Business Models, Product Vision & Strategy

The product journey starts with finding a customer problem that’s worth
solving, has sufficient scale and can be transformed into a sustainable
business. Conducting product discovery & carving out opportunities amidst
competition is very key to make a compelling product.

This exercise leads into you creating a product vision and a strategy - your
guiding north star on how your product aims to make an impact on the
market and what path you will take to ensure it meets with success.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 Product Strategy Stack ARTICLE
BY RAVI MEHTA/ZAINAB GHADIYALI (REFORGE) 10 minutes

2 Framework for Better Product Discovery ARTICLE

BY PRODUCTBOARD 10 minutes

3 Why PMs Need to do Competitive Analysis ARTICLE

BY COHORTPLUS 11 minutes

4 All Good Products Aren’t Great Businesses ARTICLE

BY INTERCOM 5 minutes

5 How to Use the Business Model Canvas ARTICLE

BY SHEDA 7 minutes

6 Business Model Canvas Templates ARTICLE

BY ALEXANDER COWAN 20 minutes

7 Launching a Product ARTICLE

BY CREATELY 8 minutes

8 Defining a Product Vision ARTICLE

BY STARTINFINITY 5 minutes

9 Guide to Product Strategy ARTICLE

BY PRODUCT PLAN 20 minutes
10 Product Vision, Strategy & Roadmap ARTICLE
BY JENS-FABIEN GOETZMANN 11 minutes

11 What is a Good Product Strategy? ARTICLE

BY MELISSA PERRI 7 minutes

12 Product Fit Hypothesis ARTICLE

BY SACHIN REKHI 8 minutes

13 We don’t Sell Saddles Here ARTICLE

BY STEWART BUTTERFIELD 12 minutes

14 OKR Product Management ARTICLE

BY TIM HERBIG 20 minutes

15 Introduction to Modern Product Discovery VIDEO

BY TERESA TORRES 36 minutes

16 Building a Compelling Product Vision VIDEO

43 minutes
(Amazon)
BY WILL NAJAR

17 Painting a Product Vision VIDEO

BY SHERIF MANSOUR 12 minutes

18 Product Vision & Roadmap (Slack) VIDEO

BY APRIL UNDERWOOD 19 minutes

19 Product Visioning at Google VIDEO

BY KEVIN DAME (YOUTUBE) 55 minutes

20 Product Strategy: The Missing Link VIDEO

BY MARTY CAGAN
1 h 43 mins

21 Building an Enterprise Product: Yammer VIDEO

BY JASON SHAH
1 h 13 mins
Exercises

1. Netflix and Amazon Prime are similar products. Research and identify
how their product strategy might be different.

2. Attempt to draft the business model canvas of the product you are
working on.

3. What would be the product vision statements of the following

products:
a. Slack
b. Youtube
c. Netflix
d. Airbnb
e. Your product

4. What are 5 things to keep in mind when creating a product strategy?

Day 3: Customer Research

Before committing oneself to a solution, it’s imperative to understand the

problem space by studying the user, their environment, their challenges and
the motivations behind certain actions.

In product management, identifying the right problem and framing it right is

critical for setting up the team towards success.

Jumping to premature conclusions and building solutions for a problem that

might not even exist is a bane you want to avoid at all costs.
Day Resource Type Done?
1 Ultimate Guide to B2B Customer Research ARTICLE
BY ANNE SIIG BLOND 15 minutes

2 How to Conduct User Research ARTICLE

BY PRODUCT MONK 10 minutes

3 10 Things about Customer Development ARTICLE

BY CINDY ALVAREZ 5 minutes

4 Jobs to be Done E-BOOK

BY INTERCOM 1 hour 30 mins

5 8 Things to Use in Jobs-to-be-Done ARTICLE

BY ZBIGNIEW GECIS 8 minutes

6 5 Stages of Design Thinking ARTICLE

BY RIKKE FRIIS DAMM & TEO YU SIANG 13 minutes

7 Avoid Asking the Wrong Questions ARTICLE

BY AATIR ABDUL RAUF 2 minutes

8 Listen to Customers ARTICLE

BY KENNETH NORTON 7 minutes

9 How Customer Development & Product ARTICLE

3 minutes
Management Fit Together
BY CINDY ALVAREZ

10 How to Structure & Get the Most Out of ARTICLE

7 minutes
Customer Interviews
BY JASON EVANISH

11 Customer Discovery for Product Managers VIDEO

BY JAY CLOUSE 29 minutes

12 What is User Research? VIDEO

BY KETAN NAYAK (DROPBOX) 26 minutes

13 Job of McDonald’s Milkshake VIDEO

BY CLAYTON CHRISTENSEN 7 minutes
 14 Design Thinking Workshop VIDEO
BY JUSTIN FERRELL 34 minutes

15 Use Customer Research to Create VIDEO

31 minutes
Products
BY COURTNEY CACCAVO (INTUIT)

16 Case Study: DoorDash

PRECOIL - DAVID J BLAND

Exercises

1. What are 3 activities that you would include in your customer research
strategy.

2. What do you think are the Jobs-to-be-Done for these products:

a. Amazon Kindle
b. Slack for Business
c. Adidas Trainers
d. Grammarly
e. Your product

3. What are examples of things you should and shouldn’t ask in a customer
interview?

Day 4: Product Ideation & Roadmaps

Armed with a product strategy & user research findings, it’s time to start
giving the product shape by ideating solutions and planning out a roadmap.
Although the universe of ideas can be huge, the reality is that you have finite
resources in terms of time and human capital. Thus, you’ll need a structure
to prioritize your efforts to maximize upfront value.

If you’re building a product from scratch, you would want to aim at balancing
time-to-market with a product that delivers value by charting out a MVP
(minimum viable product).

Day Resource Type Done?

1 Techniques for Product Ideation ARTICLE
BY CHRISTINA GFOKA 15 minutes

2 Product Ideation Method: ZIZO ARTICLE

BY PRODUCT SCHOOL 8 minutes

3 What is a Backlog? ARTICLE

BY ATLASSIAN 5 minutes

4 Creating a Roadmap ARTICLE

BY NIMA TORABI 15 minutes

5 3 Types of Roadmaps ARTICLE

BY PRODUCT DAVE 5 minutes

6 Agile Product Roadmaps - 10 Tips ARTICLE

BY ROMAN PICHLER 5 minutes

7 Avoid Feature-Based Roadmaps ARTICLE

BY TERESA TORRES 5 minutes

8 Strategies to Prioritize Roadmaps ARTICLE

BY JIM SEMICK (PRODUCT PLAN) 6 minutes

9 RICE Prioritization ARTICLE

BY INTERCOM 6 minutes

10 Product Roadmap Guide E-BOOK

BY PRODUCT PLAN 2 hours
 11 Minimum Viable Products ARTICLE
BY PRODUCT PLAN 5 minutes

12 Why you need MVPs ARTICLE

BY MARIA LOZHKA 10 minutes

13 Guide to Product Planning ARTICLE

BY ADAM NASH 5 minutes

14 If your product is great, it doesn’t need to ARTICLE

4 minutes
be good
BY PAUL BUCHHEIT

15 How Lean Startup Methodology can kill ARTICLE

6 minutes
your reputation
BY RAND FISHKIN

16 Essential Feature Kickoff Checklist ARTICLE

BY PRODUCT PLAN 45 minutes

17 Going from Zero to One VIDEO

BY PETER THIEL 18 minutes

18 How to Build a Product Roadmap VIDEO

1 hour 23
(Walmart)
BY HUDSON LEVY
minutes

19 How to Prioritize a Backlog VIDEO

BY BCG PMs 22 minutes

20 Prioritization Frameworks Playlist PLAYLIST

BY PRODUCT PLAN
17 minutes

Exercises

1. List 5 tips to keep in mind when developing a MVP?

2. How is a backlog different from a roadmap?

 3. What are some attributes of a practical roadmap?

4. Explain the difference between RICE prioritization and Weighted-Value

framework.

Day 5: Product Definition

Once a roadmap is in place, the next step is to get into the weeds of each
user story and define exactly what needs to be made.

This starts with first identifying the persona you are serving before exploring
product artefacts like PRDs, specs, user stories, user flows, journey maps,
wireframes and & prototypes to accurately describe to design & engineering
what needs to be built.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 Building User Personas ARTICLE
BY ROHIT NADGOUDA 6 minutes

2 How to Define User Personas ARTICLE

BY AHA.IO 5 minutes

3 Guide to User Personas ARTICLE

BY YAROSLAV LEHENCHUK (PRODUCT TRIBE) 10 minutes

4 Example of a PRD + Example ARTICLE

BY DAMIEN FILIATRAUT 20 minutes

5 How to Write Product Requirements ARTICLE

BY UXPIN 6 minutes

6 User Stories ARTICLE

6 minutes
 BY ATLASSIAN

7 Writing Good User Stories with Examples ARTICLE

BY ANDRII BONDARENKO 20 minutes

8 Top 5 User Story Mistakes ARTICLE

BY KATIE MCCOY 10 minutes

9 Writing Product Specs ARTICLE

BY LUCAS DIDIER 11 minutes

10 On Writing Product Requirements ARTICLE

BY GAURAV OBEROI 10 minutes

11 Case Study: Thumbtack’s Spec ARTICLE

BY NICHOLAS IVANECKY 7 minutes

11 5 Useful Diagrams for Product Managers ARTICLE

BY RICHARD HOLMES (DEPARTMENT OF PRODUCT) 15 minutes

12 Product Artefacts - User Personas & ARTICLE

5 minutes
Journey Maps
BY PRODUCT MONK

13 User Flows (study the provided example) ARTICLE

BY SI DHANAK 5 minutes

14 User Story Mapping ARTICLE

BY JORY MACKAY (PLAN.IO) 20 minutes

16 User Journey Mapping - Beginner’s Guide ARTICLE

BY GEORDIE KAYTES 15 minutes

17 Prototyping for Product Managers ARTICLE

BY CANVASFLIP 5 minutes

18 What is a Wireframe? 7 Reasons to ARTICLE

20 minutes
Wireframe
BY SIOBHAN CLIMER

19 Why Every Product Manager Should be ARTICLE

10 minutes
able to Prototype
BY WINSTON CHRISTIE-BLICK, PRODUCTBOARD
 20 Wireframing Guide ARTICLE
BY CHRISTOPHER MURPHY 20 minutes

21 Wireframing Basics ARTICLE

BY WILL FANGUY (INVISION) 5 minutes

22 How to Write a User Story VIDEO

BY ROBERT SMITH 13 minutes

23 Rapid Prototyping: Digital VIDEO

BY GOOGLE FOR STARTUPS 10 minutes

24 Rules of Flow for Product Management: an ARTICLE

9 minutes
AirBnB Case Study
BY CARRIE WINECOFF SHEVELSON

Related Tools

There are several prototyping tools out there like Figma, Balsamiq, Axure,
Sketch, Miro, InvisionApp and more. You don’t need to master every tool
though; gaining expertise in a couple is enough as long as it enables you to
aptly convey your product idea.

Below are some tutorials for these tools - just go through a couple and
attempt the exercises.

1 Figma: Tool Link + Tutorial

2 Axure: Tool Link + Tutorial
3 Balsamiq: Tool Link + Tutorial
4 Invision Studio: Tool Link + Tutorial
5 Miro: Tool Link + Tutorial
Exercises

In this exercise, we are going to attempt to create a primary user flow for
Smartmockups.com - a website that allows you to upload screenshots of a
product, superimpose them on a stock photo and then download it.

One purpose of this application is to generate imagery for marketing

websites.

1. Let’s say you were planning to implement the primary flow on this
page i.e. uploading a screenshot and downloading. Write the user
stories applicable for this feature.

2. Create a user flow diagram for this functionality.

3. Prototype this experience using one of the tools listed above. Also,
include the bottom section showing other mockups.

4. Write a specification document that you could give a developer to

implement this functionality end-to-end. Remember to include spec
goals, context, personas etc.

Day 6: Agile Project Management

The user stories and specs are ready and now it’s time to place them in the
development process & execute. Working alongside the engineering team,
product managers wear the project management hat to ensure the right
product is made in time in the most efficient way possible.

This requires knowledge of project management methodologies and

frameworks that help break the work into smaller, manageable components
and then iteratively make progress towards a finished product.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 Modern Project Management for Product ARTICLE
10 minutes
Managers
BY SACHIN REKHI

2 Project Management Methodologies ARTICLE

BY ESTHER COHEN 16 minutes

3 Overview of Agile,Scrum,Kanban,Lean ARTICLE

BY DARREN HAGMAN 30 minutes

4 Which Methodology to Choose? ARTICLE

BY JOSH ABERANT 10 minutes

5 Agile Product Management ARTICLE

BY PRODUCTPLAN 20 minutes

6 Beginner’s Guide to Scrum ARTICLE

BY ANDREW LITTLEFIELD (TRELLO) 12 minutes

7 Product Manager vs. Product Owner ARTICLE

BY MELISSA PERRI 7 minutes

8 What are Sprints? ARTICLE

BY ATLASSIAN 7 minutes

9 Epics, Stories & Themes ARTICLE

BY ATLASSIAN 5 minutes

10 Sprint Planning ARTICLE

 BY ATLASSIAN 6 minutes

11 Running Sprint Planning Meetings ARTICLE

BY ALEXA ALFONSO 7 minutes

12 SCRUM Ceremonies ARTICLE

BY ATLASSIAN 5 minutes

13 Backlogs ARTICLE
BY ATLASSIAN 5 minutes

14 Sprint Reviews ARTICLE

BY ATLASSIAN 5 minutes

15 Sprint Retrospective with Examples ARTICLE

BY SINNAPS 10 minutes

16 Role of a Product Manager in SCRUM ARTICLE

BY CLEVERPM 5 minutes

17 A Quick Guide on Kanban ARTICLE

BY SMARTSHEET 15 minutes

18 10 Tips for Product Owners ARTICLE

BY ROBBIN SHUURMAN 7 minutes

19 What is Agile? VIDEO

BY EDUREKA 36 minutes

20 Scrum Methodology VIDEO

BY SIMPLILEARN 12 minutes

21 Agile Product Ownership in a Nutshell VIDEO

BY HENRIK KNIBERG 16 minutes

22 What Makes a Good Product Owner? VIDEO

BY DIGITAL ACADEMY 13 minutes

23 Creating & Running an Agile Project in PLAYLIST

30 minutes
JIRA
BY PACKT VIDEO
Exercises

1. What is the difference between a Product Manager and Product

Owner?

2. What are some scenarios where Lean would work better than Agile?

3. How is SCRUM different from Kanban?

4. Name 4 SCRUM Ceremonies & explain what they entail.

Tools to Learn

Product & engineering teams use cloud-based project management tools to

manage backlogs, user stories and the scrum process. Below are a few tools
worth looking into:

1. Jira - one of the most popular project management tools

2. Asana
3. PivotalTracker
4. Basecamp
5. Trello - lightweight tool for smaller teams, great for Kanban

Day 7: Working with Designers

Customers are usually unaware of what’s happening behind the scenes and
judge your product on the overall value it affords them via the interface you
lend them. It can make or break adoption in the larger scheme of things.

This is why a Product Manager’s vision is highly dependent on how usable

and delightful the design and user experience of the product is.

Thus, knowing how to collaborate with designers and articulate your needs
is vital for success in this field.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 How a Product Manager Can Empower ARTICLE
11 minutes
Various Team Members
BY AATIR ABDUL RAUF

2 UI and UX Terms Every Product Manager ARTICLE

24 minutes
Needs to Be Familiar With
BY USERLANE

3 Design Basics for Product Managers ARTICLE

BY FLOWCAP 8 minutes

4 The Product Designer Role ARTICLE

BY SVPG 6 minutes

5 UX Crash Course: 31 Fundamentals ARTICLE

BY JOEL MARSH 3 minutes

6 How Technology is Hijacking Your Mind ARTICLE

BY THRIVE GLOBAL 18 minutes

7 Crafting The First Mile Of Product ARTICLE

BY MEDIUM 10 minutes

8 How to Work with Designers ARTICLE

BY MEDIUM 9 minutes

9 How Product Managers Can Work Better ARTICLE

 with UX Designers 7 minutes
BY USERBRAIN

10 6 Tips for Product Managers to Work ARTICLE

8 minutes
Better with UX Designers
BY SEBASTIEN PHLIX

11 How to set up a writing practice for your ARTICLE

11 minutes
design team
BY BECKY HIRSCH

Exercises

1. What are 5 things you will keep in mind when collaborating with a
designer?

2. Assume Google was creating a search engine for real estate

properties. Wireframe a user flow from search till lead conversion
(contact the real estate agent) and simulate how you would explain
this to a UI/UX designer for high-fidelity mockups.

3. What are 3 things that you want to avoid with a UX/UI designer?

Day 8: Working with Engineering

If the Product Manager is the architect, the engineering team are the
on-ground builders.

Without an effective development engine, the product remains largely a

mythical construct with no substance. A spec or wireframe can always be
impressive but if it doesn’t translate well into a working, functional piece of
code, you’ve sadly made no progress.

Engineering teams are the core internal stakeholders that Product Managers
will frequently engage with. They need to learn how to drive the engineering
unit effectively sooner than later to be able to deliver any business
dividends.

This relationship can go both ways. If it’s fluid, respectful, intensely

collaborative and transparent, products will keep moving towards a strategic
goal. If it’s broken, disconnected and political, it can level even the best
product ideas to the ground.

A PM cannot function without a healthy relationship with engineers. Period.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 Fine Line Between the Product Team and ARTICLE
7 minutes
the Engineering Team
BY JAMA SOFTWARE

2 Don’t create a sense of urgency, foster a ARTICLE

5 minutes
sense of purpose.
BY KIMBER LOCKHART

3 How to Influence Without Authority ARTICLE

BY BESTBUY SR PRODUCT MANAGER 5 minutes

4 How to Communicate with Engineers ARTICLE

BY RICHARD HOLMES 19 minutes

5 The relationship between product ARTICLE

7 minutes
engineering and product management
BY JOCA TORRES

6 How to Work With Software Engineers ARTICLE

BY KEN NORTON 7 minutes
7 The care and feeding of software ARTICLE
29 minutes
engineers
BY NICHOLAS ZAKAS

8 How to Work with Engineers ARTICLE

BY JULIE ZHUO 7 minutes

9 How Engineers Want to Work with Product ARTICLE

5 minutes
Managers
BY ZACH SCHNEIDER

10 Product Managers: 5 ways you can make ARTICLE

5 minutes
an engineer’s job easier
BY KRISTY LEE

11 Top 5 Ways Product Managers can help ARTICLE

11 minutes
Developer’s Love them
BY MARK STEPHAN

12 Empathizing with Engineers ARTICLE

BY CLEMENT KAO 13 minutes

13 How product managers and engineers at ARTICLE

8 minutes
Asana develop great relationships
BY JACKIE BAVARO

14 4 Things Product Managers Should Know ARTICLE

5 minutes
About QA & Testing
BY DEVETRY

15 Product Managers: Want to Work Better VIDEO

22 minutes
with Engineers? Here's the Secret
BY DRIFT

16 How to Manage without Authority in VIDEO

34 minutes
Product Roles
BY GOOGLE PM

17 How to Influence Without Authority VIDEO

BY BESTBUY SR PRODUCT MANAGER
27 minutes
Exercises

1. What are 5 things you will keep in mind when collaborating with an
engineer?

2. How do you influence without authority?

Day 9: Stakeholder Management

Apart from designers and engineers, a Product Manager has to deal and
balance relationships with several other internal and external stakeholders.

This means being able to manage up and align with leadership. It may
require collaboration in a cross-functional capacity e.g. with marketing and
sales personnel. It also implies being able to set the right expectations with
customers and prospects.

A Product Manager’s role revolves around getting input from various

corners. It can get overwhelming but the best in the business are able to
transform each relationship into a partnership and extract value out of it.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 Understanding the 3 Product Manager ARTICLE
7 minutes
Communication Streams
BY PRODUCT PLAN

2 The Art of Being Compelling as a Product ARTICLE

7 minutes
Manager
 BY SACHIN REKHI

3 How to Get Inside Your Customer’s Mind

BY PRODUCT MINDSET

4 A Product Manager’s guide to managing ARTICLE

6 minutes
upwards
BY PAUL JACKSON

5 A Product Manager’s guide to managing ARTICLE

7 minutes
upwards #2
BY PAUL JACKSON

6 Top Hacks from a PM Behind Two of Tech's ARTICLE

19 minutes
Hottest Products
BY FIRST ROUND REVIEW

7 The Ultimate Guide to Stakeholder ARTICLE

7 minutes
Management for Product Managers
BY PHRASE

8 Communication Secrets for Product ARTICLE

4 minutes
Leaders
BY GABRIELA ARAUJO

9 Five Tips for Product Managers to Get VIDEO

4 minutes
Executive Support
BY 280 GROUP

10 The Essential Guide to Product-Driven ARTICLE

18 minutes
Customer Success
BY GAINSIGHT

11 Stakeholder Management ARTICLE

BY MARTY CAGAN 6 minutes

Exercises

1. What are 3 things you will keep in mind when “managing up”?
 2. What kind of a relationship would you like to forge with customers?

Day 10: Product Launch & GTM Strategies

An airplane may have all the nuts, bolts and wings in place by the time it
comes out of the hangar. However, until it takes off on its maiden flight, it’s
just another piece of metal.

Product launches are crucial. They are the first manifestation of the promises
you’ve made across stakeholders. They can either excite customers and
start creating a community of converts. Or it can forever damage your
reputation and relegate your status.

Taking a product to market requires diligence and planning. Your

go-to-market plan is as important as building the product itself.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 The Lost Art of the Soft Launch ARTICLE
BY WADE FOSTER 4 minutes

2 Product Launch Checklists ARTICLE

BY PRODUCTPLAN 8 minutes

3 20 Steps To Success — The Ultimate ARTICLE

5 minutes
Product Launch Checklist
BY PAWEL LUBIARZ

4 The two minute go-to-market (GTM) plan ARTICLE

BY YASMEEN TURAYHI 4 minutes

5 User Onboarding 101 for Product ARTICLE

 Managers 9 minutes
BY CARLOS VILLAUMBROSIA

6 Why User Onboarding Never Ends ARTICLE

BY MICHAEL PEACH 6 minutes

7 The 5 best user onboarding examples ARTICLE

BY JACKSON NOEL 9 minutes

8 How to Crush Your Next Product Launch: ARTICLE

22 minutes
The Ultimate Guide
BY NATHAN THOMPSON

9 Marketing Plan for Your Product Launch: ARTICLE

11 minutes
10 Strategies
BY ESTELA VINARAS

10 How to Launch a Successful Product ARTICLE

BY ALTEXSOFT 11 minutes

Exercises

1. Name 10 things you want to keep in mind when launching a product to

the market?

2. What customer onboarding techniques will you apply for your

product?

Day 11: Working on Growth

The onus of user acquisition varies from organization to organization. When

operating in a lean team, Product Managers own this area as well and thus,
need to be wary of how to work on growth (and retention).
In the case of SaaS, the product-led movement is especially important to
learn to enable potential customers to experience the product first-hand
through free trials, freemiums or pilot programs.

Even if there are marketing teams owning acquisition goals, Product

Managers still need to drive growth hacking initiatives and own the
supporting user journey.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 The rise of the growth product manager ARTICLE
BY PRODUCT-LED GROWTH 12 minutes

2 What Are Growth Teams For, and What Do ARTICLE

13 minutes
They Work On?
BY CASEY WINTERS

3 The Growth Pyramid Revisited ARTICLE

BY SEAN ELLIS 5 minutes

4 Ultimate Guide to Product Led Growth ARTICLE

BY WES BUSH 24 minutes

5 Indispensable Growth Frameworks from ARTICLE

17 minutes
My Years at Facebook, Twitter and
Wealthfront
BY FIRST ROUND REVIEW

6 Why Every Product Team Needs a Growth ARTICLE

6 minutes
Manager
BY THE MARTEC

7 Growth Hacking Made Simple: A ARTICLE

58 minutes
Step-by-Step Guide
BY NEIL PATEL

8 The SEO guide for product managers ARTICLE

BY MELVIN 16 minutes

9 Beginner’s Guide to Search Engine ARTICLE

 Marketing 5 minutes
BY KERRY BUTTERS

10 The Art of Gamification in Product ARTICLE

15 minutes
Management
BY ANUP GOPINATH

11 The Beginner's Guide to Conversion Rate ARTICLE

13 minutes
Optimization (CRO)
BY BEN COTTON

12 The ultimate A/B testing guide for product ARTICLE

11 minutes
managers
BY MELVIN

13 Product Management Skills: A/B Testing ARTICLE

BY ELLEN MERRYWEATHER 8 minutes

14 How we put Facebook on the path to 1 VIDEO

39 minutes
billion users
BY CHAMATH PALIHAPITIYA

15 Growth Hacking for Product Managers by VIDEO

29 minutes
Chris Long
BY MAREIKE LEITERMANN

16 Product-Led Framework Masterclass VIDEO

BY PRODUCT LED 42 minutes

Exercises

1. Explain product-led growth framework in your own words. How can it

apply to your existing product?

2. What is growth hacking? How does your product take advantage of

this today?
 3. Can you devise an A/B test for any of the pages or flows in your
product today?

4. Name 5 guidelines you will verify when assessing SEO health of a

website.

Day 12: Metrics & Analytics Part 1

How do you assess if a feature or product is a success?

For this, Product Managers turn to data and analytics to measure how well
the product is performing in the wild. Access to reports & dashboards serve
as empirical evidence to validate the merit of a past hypothesis.

Data helps in verifying if a change, enhancement or a new feature helped

move the needle on the business metrics you truly care about.

Thus, talk is cheap. Show the numbers to prove your point.

This is why data is the guiding light of a PM and knowledge of what metrics
to measure is the first step to undertake.

Day Resource Type Done?

1 Creating Success – A Guide to Product ARTICLE
16 minutes
Manager KPIs
BY LAURIE HARVEY

2 A Guide to Product Metrics EBOOK

BY MIXPANEL 1 hr 30 minutes

3 16 Startup Metrics ARTICLE

 BY ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ 12 minutes

4 Product Success Metrics

BY PRODUCT PLAN

5 Metrics that Matter to Product Managers ARTICLE

BY RICHARD HOLMES 22 minutes

6 Google’s HEART Framework for Measuring ARTICLE

8 minutes
UX
BY INTERACTION DESIGN FOUNDATION

7 AbC — a strategic, bootstrapped data ARTICLE

7 minutes
framework for Product Managers
BY GUY BARNER

8 Top 10 Metrics Every Product Manager ARTICLE

7 minutes
Should Know & Track
BY SOUROBH DAS

9 A Leader's Guide to Metrics Reviews ARTICLE

BY SACHIN REKHI 10 minutes

10 Everything a product manager needs to ARTICLE

14 minutes
know about analytics
BY SIMON CAST

11 Metrics Versus Experience ARTICLE

BY JULIE ZHUO 10 minutes

12 AARRR Framework- Metrics That Let Your ARTICLE

11 minutes
StartUp Sound Like A Pirate Ship
BY MELANIE BALKE

13 The Hierarchy of Engagement ARTICLE

BY SARAH TAVEL 4 minutes

Exercises
 1. What are the metrics measured in the AARRR framework?

2. How would you apply the HEART framework on your product?

3. What L0, L1 and L2 metrics make sense for your product?

Day 13: Metrics & Analytics Part 2

Product Managers need to know how to leverage tools like traffic analytics,
heatmaps, session replays, funnels and flow visualizations to extract the
information they need. This section talks about the different types of metrics
you’ll encounter and how to best navigate them:

Day Resource Type Done?

1 The Ultimate Guide to Google Analytics in ARTICLE
32 minutes
2021
BY AJA FROST

2 Google Analytics Best Practices Checklist ARTICLE

BY KEVIN MCLAUGHLIN 10 minutes

3 The Definitive Guide to Session Replay ARTICLE

BY FULLSTORY 24 minutes

4 How to Use Heatmaps to Fire Up Your UX ARTICLE

BY PAWEL GRABOWSKI 6 minutes

5 Funnel Analysis: Ultimate Guide for ARTICLE

7 minutes
Product Managers 2021
BY JONAS KURZWEG

6 NPS for Product Managers and How to ARTICLE

7 minutes
Use it (Properly!)
BY ELLEN MERRYWEATHER
 7 Optimize Your Product Management VIDEO
26 minutes
Analytics and Metrics by Dan Olsen
BY DAN OLSEN

Exercises

1. What is NPS and how is it calculated?

2. Name 3 reports in Google Analytics worth looking at on a regular

basis?

3. How do heatmaps help? How are they different from session replays?

Wrap-Up

This concludes the bootstrap camp. We hope that the articles, videos and
exercises listed above helped you get a better understanding of what is
expected of a Product Manager and the best practices involved.

Of course, the learning doesn’t stop here. Every product is unique in its own
right and invariably will demand a different flavor of Product Management.
Thus, it’s important you pick and choose the tools and frameworks that best
apply to your product’s unique situation.

We are listing some additional resources in the following pages as further

reading.
Bonus Material

Day Resource Type Done?

1 10 Powerful TED Talks To Make You a ARTICLE
8 minutes
Better Product Manager
BY ELLEN MERRYWEATHER

2 The 5 Superpowers of Outstanding ARTICLE

9 minutes
Product Managers
BY KEN SANDY

3 Best Product Management Tools in 2021 ARTICLE

5 minutes
[Review]
BY CLEMENT KAO

Follow these Blogs

Resource Link
Mind The Product https://www.mindtheproduct.com/
Software Product Management http://softwareproductmanagement.co/
Silicon Valley Product Group https://svpg.com/
The Black Box of Product Management https://blackboxofpm.com/
The Art of Product Management https://www.quora.com/q/theartofproductmanagement
ProductPlan Blog https://www.productplan.com/blog/
The Product Guy https://medium.com/@TheProductGuy
Product Design Tips https://productdesign.tips/
Hacker Noon https://hackernoon.com/
Women in Product https://medium.com/women-in-product-blogs
Product Coalition https://productcoalition.com/
Some Handy Templates

Resource Link
Product Management Framework
Template https://startinfinity.com/templates/product-management
https://www.smartsheet.com/free-product-management-templat
Free Product Management Templates es
Product Strategy Templates https://www.aha.io/roadmapping/guide/templates
Product Roadmap Templates https://www.productplan.com/resources/
Product Templates https://asana.com/templates/for/product
Product Management Documents and https://280group.com/what-is-product-management/documents-
Templates templates/
7 Customizable Product Roadmap
Templates https://roadmunk.com/guides/7-product-roadmap-templates/
Templates for Product Management https://www.prodpad.com/resources/templates/
Product Management Templates https://miro.com/templates/product-management/

Recommended Books

● Inspired by Marty Cagan

● Empowered by Marty Cagan
● Lean Product Playbook by Dan Olsen
● Don’t Make Me Think (Revisited) by Steve Krug
● Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri
● The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick
● Design Sprint by Jake Knapp
● Made to Stick by Chip & Dan Health
● Hooked by Nir Eyal
Recommended Podcasts

● This is Product Management by Alpha

● Inside Intercom by Intercom
● Masters of Scale by Reid Hoffman
● The Product Podcast by Product School
● Product Hunt Radio by Ryan Hoover / Abadesi Osunade
● The Top by Nathan Latka