COURSE NUMBER: MBA294.8

 

COURSE TITLE:  Product Management Speaker Series

 

UNITS OF CREDIT: 1

 

INSTRUCTOR: Sara Beckman

 

Andy Taylor is the student organizer (andy.taylor@mba.berkeley.edu)

 

MEETING DAY(S)/TIME: Mondays 4:00-6:00PM in C210 Cheit Hall

 

PREREQUISITE(S): none.

 

CLASS FORMAT: Speaker series presentations, with ample time for questions and answers.

 

REQUIRED READINGS: None

 

BASIS FOR FINAL GRADE:

 

 

This is a 1 credit pass/not pass course.  To pass, you must not miss more than two classes (attendance will be taken).

 

In order to facilitate the discussion process, we expect questions for our speakers to be prepared in advance. These questions should be emailed to andy.taylor@mba.berkeley.edu with the subject line "Product Management Questions" no later than 5pm on Sunday for inclusion into Monday's class.

 

The course is anchored by having high quality guest speakers.  Show respect by coming to class having spent a few minutes reading about the speaker and what they do.  Additionally, there will be dinners following each class to give a small group of students the opportunity to be in a more intimate setting with the guest speaker. Instructions for signing up for dinner will be discussed during the first class.

 

 

ABSTRACT OF COURSE'S CONTENT AND OBJECTIVES:

 

This course is designed to present an overview of the Product Management function and examine best practices in the wide variety of functions that the position must fill. The course will focus primarily on the software, Internet, and digital media spaces. Guest lecturers will be Product Managers from Silicon Valley with particular expertise in the topic to be discussed.  Each session will also feature a round-table discussion of a hot topic relevant to the class’s subject, providing a way for students and the guest to explore new, cutting-edge concepts, tools, and methodologies.  This course will help prepare candidates for Product Management interviews (intern and full-time) as well as offer an excellent networking opportunity.

 

The course is structured to cover one product management topic each week.  The order of the topics will logically follow the product development lifecycle from conception through launch.  The guest speakers will be people in product management at software, Internet, and digital media firms, both industry leaders and innovative startups.  The first hour of class will be lecture format during which the guest speaker will address the topic for that class.

 

The remaining portion of the class will be dedicated to round-table discussion of a hot topic relevant to the night’s subject.  This will be a great way for students and the guest to explore new, cutting-edge concepts, tools, and methodologies.  In order for this to be a success, class participation and interaction will be necessary.

 

TENTATIVE LIST OF TOPICS AND SPEAKERS

 

1       Course Overview                                                        28-Aug-06             Sara Beckman

2       Product Roadmap / Strategy                                     11-Sep-06               Darryl Eaton (Yahoo! Photos 2.0)

3       Requirements Gathering & Definition                     18-Sep-06               Byrne Reese (SixApart)

4       Collaborative Product Development                        25-Sep-06               Jim Denney (Tivo)

5       Alpha / Beta Testing                                                  2-Oct-06                 TBD

6       Internationalization / Localization                            9-Oct-06                 Lesley Kao (Yahoo!)

7       Product Evangelism / Sales Support1                      6-Oct-06                 Tien Tzuo  (Salesforce.com)

8       Managing Cross-Functional Teams                        23-Oct-06               Ken Norton; Michael  Sippey (Jotspot/SixApart)

9       Pricing                                                                           30-Oct                    TBD

10      Product Launches                                                      6-Nov-06                TBD

11      Competitive Intelligence                                           13-Nov-06              TBD

12      User Interface Design                                                20-Nov-06             Brandon Schauer, Amanda  Willoughby (Adaptive Path)