Product Faculty

As a seasoned project manager with a PMP and experience managing $6M projects, I was looking to pivot into the evolving and vibrant tech space in Toronto. Product management had been on my radar for months and I had read up on Product Faculty, Brainstation and Product School. I was looking for a program to help me make that career leap and had connected with several Product Faculty alumni via Linkedin and asked them about their experience. Time and time again, I heard that the course is well worth the investment.

I finally chose Product Faculty because I had seen Moe speak at a lecture posted on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5cnB-fuWU4
Watch closely because Moe is a natural leader. He is one of the most charismatic, eloquent, inspiring, genuine, down-to-earth product leaders that I've ever had the distinct opportunity to meet. This initial impression was actualized when I met Moe in person on my first day of class.

The course is very well structured and paced and the classroom is located in downtown Toronto, just an 8 minute walk from Union Station, located at the Donald K Johnson Centre at the First Canadian Place: https://www.ivey.uwo.ca/emba/program-details/facilities-location/  (First set of photos) There's also a new Tim Horton's located in the building so it was easy picking up a coffee and breakfast right before class. If you have a water bottle, there's filtered water provided in the classroom too.

Most classes have 1-2 guest speakers come in from top tech companies including WealthSimple, FreshBooks, TouchBistro, League, and many more who offer insights into what product directors are looking for, advice on how to build a product team and expertise into how to be the best product manager you can be. Other nice bonuses during the course are the lunches at Earl's, professional headshots, career mentorship, and a class photo. My personal favourite was the group project, culminating in a 6 min presentation at the end of the course. It was a lot of fun.

Above all else, the PF team (Moe, Sikandar, and Weiting) are fantastic at running the class and provided a stellar student experience. The class profile was also well balanced and there was a diversity of professionals from all seniority levels and industries. I enjoyed this mix and it added to the in-class activities, group projects and networking as well. I thoroughly enjoyed the Product Faculty course and offer my highest recommendation. Feel free to connect with me on Linkedin if you have any questions: www.linkedin.com/in/willto/

I took the 8-week Masterclass on Advanced Product Management from Product Faculty and it has been a very enriching experience. Moe does have a very comprehensively designed course, which apart from covering the concepts of Product also briefs us on the required skills a PM would need when coordinating with other teams on a day-to-day basis. Being a newbie, it sure was a lot to take in but the right mix of content, real-life examples, tons of class activities and working on the assigned project made it easy to grasp the concepts. I particularly enjoyed weekly guest lectures as they gave me an idea of the practical implementation of concepts covered in the classroom. 

The class was a blend of people coming from different backgrounds and level of experience. The whole PF team goes above and beyond to create a value-add experience for students. Plus, their post-course support is excellent and very personalized.

I highly recommend this course for anyone (experienced or novice) willing to learn Product Management.

As a new Product Manager, I was looking for a course that would jumpstart my learning by covering product strategies, agile software development, stakeholder management, and the tactical elements of product management. Not only did Product Faculty provide the perfect balance on those topics, I was also able to get hands-on experience through creating projects with my classmates and getting feedback from Moe and other product leaders that were invited as guest speakers every week!

Key learnings from the course:

- How to differentiate your product from the "red ocean" of competitors
- How to conduct strong customer interviews
- How to prioritize product feedback
- How to work effectively with your sales team to ensure the product is solving the right market problems
- and much more!

Moe has been an awesome mentor to me and I've applied so many of his teachings to my current work. It was also great to be surrounded by smart and ambitious classmates that were either aspiring product managers or are currently in the role, which was amazing as I was able to gain so many different perspectives that has made me a stronger PM today.

The course was extremely educational and useful. It covered all the major components of product management. Moe is a very experienced and passionate product manager, and the course material and flow were well prepared and designed. My favourite component of the course was product strategy, which in my opinion is the cornerstone of product management. Also, as an experienced engineer who works closely with PMs, it's important for me to see things through the PM's eyes, and the course definitely helped me with that. I'd highly recommend this course to anybody who's passionate about product management.

At first Moe’s class just seemed like every other Product Management class, but its not. He has put together a program that not only will teach you advanced Product Management but help you develop a product mindset. I was one of those people who thought “you can do this on your own”, its possible, but the material, the guest speakers, the in-class activities to the Dragon’s Den style project presentation helps you gain deeper knowledge not attainable on your own. We had many great guest speakers, all shared valuable experiences which amazed all of us and kept us wanting to hear more.

The other part of what makes this course unique, is the recruiting module. Need help with your career plan? Need advice on a specific job you’re looking at? Or want to hear an unbiased opinion about your resume? Moe’s team is there to help and make sure you’re confident to move forward in your career! 

While transitioning into a product oriented role, I decided to investigate some courses to help supplement my on-the-job learning and fill in my experience gaps. After exploring several options, I opted to sign up for Product Faculty because it seemed like a more intimate and focused program.

I couldn't be happier with my decision. My cohort was small but diverse, and with my colleagues coming from many different industries and levels of experience there was a wealth of great discussion and perspectives. The course content was much more than just a 101-level overview; over the 8 week program, we introduced and then delved into the core pillars of Product Management, with curated guest speakers and specialists from different fields sharing real world experiences and best practices to round out each class.

Moe was a fantastic instructor, with his curriculum and lesson structure accommodating many different learning styles. Hands-on activities paired with each lesson helped me to immediately apply new concepts as we were exploring them. He is also an excellent resource beyond the classroom, making time not only to help students with any Product related questions, but also for career guidance and facilitating connections.

I highly recommend this course to anyone who is passionate about Product, whether they're starting out towards their PM goals or are looking to solidify their skillset.

About 3 months after graduating from Product Faculty, I've been promoted to a Senior Product Manager role at my company! Taking the course at Product Faculty was different than any course I've ever taken. Even before the course started, I was able to get on a call with Moe (the instructor) who personally answered any of my questions. There were no sales people, no advisers - I got to speak with Moe directly to learn about the course and plan out where I'd be after taking it.

Let me touch on key points that I liked best about taking Product Faculty's course:

Mentorship/Job Support
Moe has an open door policy that continues after the course ends. He has a large Product Management network in Toronto and even after the course was done, I've gotten on calls with Moe where he's mentored me, done mock interviews to help me prep for jobs and answered product questions that I have. We also have a slack group where Moe continues to share Product events where the alumni meet and answer any of our questions. 

Advanced Content with Examples
The course covers all the basics with hands-on exercises and case studies that get the concepts across. The course also goes into advanced topics like choosing the right metrics for measuring product performance, growth hacking, customer journey mapping and many others. The best part is that Moe uses many real-life examples from his experience that drives the point home. This way you aren't getting theory regurgitated to you, you know you are hearing from someone who's done what's being taught.

Guest Speakers
We had AMAZING guest speakers that came and spoke to our class of 10 students. These included the Chief Product Officer at Kik, and other product leaders from some of the best tech companies in Toronto including Shopify and FreshBooks. I can't imagine any other opportunity where we'll get to meet with, and ask questions from such amazing product leaders in a small classroom setting.

If you are considering a move into product management, or if you are looking to improve your PM skills, I would highly recommend Product Faculty.

I know this is a big decision for many people, if you have any questions - don't hesitate to reach out to me