Commercial Skills for Product People
Build great products that work for the business, by developing the finance and strategy skills required – revenue modelling, cost mapping, business metrics, and more!
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Designed for product, growth, marketing and operations teams.
To build a great product, you have to solve customer problems in a way that meets the business needs. This course will teach you how to better understand those business needs. You will learn the business, finance and strategy skills critical to identifying, evaluating and executing on opportunities to build and grow great products.
What superpowers will this course give you?
By the end of this course you will be able to develop a deeper knowledge of your business, so you can build products that are valuable for your customers and the business.
- Evaluate and compare businesses quickly. You will find yourself subconsciously reverse-engineering the business model of every business you see. Within your own business you will have a deeper understanding of profitability, margins and unit economics.
- Build revenue models. You will find yourself thinking in terms of assumptions and revenue drivers. You will be able to identify the key factors that impact revenue and learn how to model future revenue.
- Map out cost structures. You will find yourself breaking down costs into categories. You will be able to identify key components that drive costs, and build a cost structure from scratch.
- Identify opportunities and evaluate trade-offs. You will find yourself seeing opportunities to grow revenue and cut costs everywhere. The frameworks we give you will help you decide how to prioritise actions and evaluate trade-offs.
- Build and communicate business proposals. You will find yourself speaking the language of leadership, finance and investors. Next time you propose a business case you will have the thinking and communication skills to persuade stakeholders.
What’s included in the course?
The course is self-paced, designed to be completed in 5 weeks. Expect to spend around 2 hours each week learning concepts and frameworks relevant to case studies, as well as practical exercises to apply them.
- Content & exercises. Access to complete course videos and content that explain the concepts and frameworks that you can learn through practical exercises. Keep access to all content for life.
- Real world examples. We’ve applied the concepts and frameworks to real companies, using real data. In this course we look at Netflix, AirBnb, Uber, Costco, Starbucks, WeWork, Wise, Amazon, Snap, ASOS and more!
- Extra resources. Use our comprehensive library of downloadable resources including templates, tools, frameworks, spreadsheet models, case studies and exercises. All for you to use in the real world.
- Lifetime community access. Form meaningful connections with our community of students and past learners by sharing experiences and getting feedback. Keep lifetime access even after you finish your course.
- Guest speakers. We invite guest speakers from all over the world to do bonus deep dives from their own experiences, share their advice and learnings on how to level up your career. They are also part of our community for you to connect with.
- Official course certificate. Receive an official course certificate to boost your profile, which can be added to LinkedIn.
- And even more bonuses! Discover the details about how Starbucks makes $180m per year, for free, how Fulfilment by Amazon optimises profitability and growth through fees, and more!
This is a fit for you if…
- You’ve been in a full-time role for at least 2 years.
- You want to level up your commercial skills to ultimately become a better business leader.
- You want to one day lead a team with more context about the business, make better business decisions, and drive better business outcomes.
- You want to start a business or simply operate better in your role.
- You want access to real world examples and resources that you can apply in your role.
- You want to join a community of learners, product leaders and experienced operators.
This is not a fit for you if…
- You are a student or have just started working.
- You plan to stay in a specialist role that doesn't require business knowledge.
- You are only here for the content, and not the wide range of value and bonuses that comes with it!
What content will we cover?
Module 1 – Evaluating businesses
- Understanding business financials
- Comparing business models
- Mechanics of a P&L
Module 2 – Revenue models
- Understanding the revenue model
- Building a revenue model
- Understanding revenue drivers and assumptions
Module 3 – Cost structures
- Understanding cost structures
- Mapping out a cost structure
- Understanding cost drivers and assumptions
Module 4 – Business opportunities
- Identifying revenue opportunities
- Identifying cost optimisations
- Evaluating cost optimisation trade-offs
Module 5 – Business case
- Building a financial forecast
- Building a business case
- Communicating the business case
What concepts and frameworks will we learn?
Concepts: Business model, Business model types, P&L, Revenue, Variable costs, Contribution margin, Fixed costs, EBITDA, Unit economics, Contribution margin ratio, EBITDA margin, Revenue model, Revenue model types, Revenue model drivers, Revenue model assumptions, Cost structure, Cost categories, Cost structure assumptions, Cost drivers, Revenue growth, Growth rates, Churn, Lifetime, Lifetime value (LTV), Margins, Variable cost margin, Fixed cost margin, Customer acquisition cost (CAC), Return on investment (ROI), Payback periods, LTV/CAC ratio, Financial forecast, Financial forecast assumptions, Financial forecast adjustments, Business need, Business opportunity.
Frameworks: Building a P&L, Business model evaluation, Evaluating a revenue model, Building a revenue model, Driver trees, Evaluating a cost structure, Mapping a cost structure, Building a financial forecast, Building a business case, Communicating the business case.
What companies will we draw examples from?
Netflix, AirBnb, Uber, Costco, Starbucks, WeWork, Wise, Amazon, Snap, ASOS, Instagram, Blockbuster, OFX, Freelancer, Mable.
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What our community is saying
“Hands down the best Commercial acumen course for PM's out there! I've never been more excited to implement the skills I've learned in a course during my day job. The course gave me frameworks needed to analyse a P&L, revenue models and financial metrics` to grow products and businesses.”
"The course gave me all the tools needed to break down business goals, build a logical evaluation method, and communicate business value in a systematic way. You get to hear from industry leaders and see how the content is applied at scale in real-world situations."
"Colevel has helped give me business skills that support my understanding of what I work on as an engineer, whilst also opening pathways to future roles such as product management."
