Mastering Product Management— Bridging Academia and Industry Insights at CMU Silicon Valley – Integrated Innovation Institute

February 01, 2024

Creating Product Managers of Tomorrow: A glimpse into Product Management class at CMU SV

Product management is a critical role in the tech industry, and mastering it requires a unique blend of academic knowledge and real-world industry experience. At CMU Silicon Valley (CMU-SV), students have the opportunity to learn the art of product management through a blend of academia and real-world industry insights taught by Professor Adrian Ott, an award-winning entrepreneur, author, and former senior-level tech executive.

Nurturing Product Managers: A Holistic Approach

Ott’s Product Management class at CMU-SV is structured to give students a holistic understanding of the product lifecycle. The course emphasizes a balanced approach, ensuring that students not only grasp the theoretical aspects of product management but also gain practical experience. By working on real projects, students are taken through each phase of the product lifecycle, fostering a deep and comprehensive understanding. For example, students were asked to form five groups, select a popular software product (e.g. Instacart, Spotify, LinkedIn) and pretend they were now the Product Managers building the next product roadmap for a new feature they ideated and researched. The Instacart project team ideated “Inclusive Recipes” for homesick international students who wanted to gather ingredients from international markets and cook comfort food from their home country recipes by applying PM techniques.

The Complete Product Lifecycle

The class takes students on a journey through the entire product lifecycle, with a focus on the following key phases:

• Market Research & Problem Discovery: Understanding the market and identifying the pain points that a product can solve is a fundamental step in product management. Students learn to conduct market research, analyze trends, and identify customer needs.
• Interview and Validation: Validating assumptions is crucial in product development. Students engage in real-world interviews with potential users to ensure that their product ideas align with customer needs.
• Features & Functionality Ideation: In this phase, students brainstorm and ideate features and functionalities that address the identified problems. They gain experience in translating customer feedback into actionable product features.
• PRD, Product Roadmap & Press Release: Creating a Product Requirements Document (PRD) and a compelling press release are essential steps in product management. These documents help communicate the vision and functionality of the product both internally and externally.

Bridging the Gap with Industry Experts

While the academic perspective is crucial, real-world industry knowledge is equally important in the field of product management. To provide students with practical experience and industry insights, Professor Ott’s class brings in industry leaders to interact with students on a regular basis.

Every week, prominent product leaders from renowned companies like Google, Microsoft, Meta, Salesforce, Palo Alto Networks, and Zynga visit the PM class. These experts share their vast experience and best practices in product management, helping students understand the industry dynamics and stay up to date with the latest trends. 

Distinguished Speakers

Last semester, the class boasted a lineup of distinguished speakers who have made significant contributions to the field of product management.

Some of the speakers included:

Professor Adrian Ott’s Product Management class at CMU Silicon Valley provided students with the opportunity to work on real projects and learn from distinguished product leaders, this class equipped future product managers with the skills and insights they need to excel in this dynamic field.