I’m excited to be named Product Government in Residence (PXIR) at Carnegie Mellon College. This new PXIR function permits CMU to carry the voice of business into lecture rooms and product management curricula. It additionally permits me to attach CMU and its world-class graduate diploma applications and college students who’re taken with and enthusiastic about product to business by means of internships, capstone initiatives and employment alternatives. So, it’s a win for all concerned and I’m delighted to contribute to business, CMU and its college students.

Why Select Carnegie Mellon for Product Administration?

Merely put, CMU is an unsurpassed establishment with its world-renowned College of Laptop Science (together with the Human-Laptop Interplay Institute) and Tepper College of Enterprise. I discover the interdisciplinary nature of how CMU appears at product to be distinctive and compelling. It’s the first and solely college in america to supply a Grasp of Science program in Product Administration that pulls from curricula of two main faculties. Plus, CMU is located within the metropolis of Pittsburgh, a thriving tech ecosystem the place tech giants equivalent to Fb and Google have a rising presence.

Why the MS in Product Administration diploma?

I’ve spent 30 years within the enterprise software program house, as a founder, entrepreneur, investor and board member. For my part, the disciplines that drive product success – technique, planning, advertising, improvement and operations – are additionally vital for firm success. Establishing and cultivating product-market match throughout product class levels – early market, development, scale and maturity – are vital elements of a product supervisor’s job.

There’s additionally the ubiquity of what’s also known as the “product downside.” It may be stated that “all corporations are SaaS corporations right this moment.” That’s, the necessity for all corporations to be product corporations has turn out to be extra of a requirement. The issue is there are usually not sufficient skilled product managers. Not surprisingly, a latest survey by CMU alum Neal Iyer indicated that there was a 32% improve in product administration roles within the U.S. alone over a latest two-year interval. Fascinating, you will see corporations like Residence Depot, DICK’s Sporting Items and Walmart hiring many product managers. The purpose is, not solely tech titans want product managers. Certainly, “all corporations are SaaS corporations.”

However it’s troublesome to get correct coaching for product managers since it’s an interdisciplinary function that transcends enterprise, know-how and design. Every of those disciplines has a deep physique of information and related practices and instruments which can be key elements of product administration. Whereas knowledgeable can study these abilities on the job, and plenty of do, I’m deeply dedicated to being a part of a world-class establishment equivalent to CMU that’s growing and sustaining purpose-built product applications centered on coaching the following era of product leaders.

Coaching Product Leaders Prepared for Employment

Any firm can profit from partaking with CMU’s product graduate college students by means of internships, capstone initiatives or hiring our extremely sought-after college students upon commencement. In my function as a senior working associate at a personal fairness agency centered on B2B SaaS corporations and with different tech corporations I counsel, I’ve seen the world-class work of CMU graduate college students up shut and in particular person. Their work is insightful and carried out with a degree of maturity and with affect you’ll anticipate of seasoned product managers. I’ve additionally had the pleasure of instructing numerous graduate programs within the MSPM program the place I received to know the scholars nicely.

Lastly, it’s vital to know that the standard CMU MS in Product Administration graduate pupil arrives for the one-year program with seven years of business expertise (usually in tech) and with an undergraduate (and infrequently graduate) diploma in know-how or enterprise from a highly-regarded establishment. Traditionally, their GMAT/GRE scores place them within the high 10-15%. It’s sensible, inquisitive and completed college students able to be the following era of product leaders who’re interested in the MSPM program at CMU. These college students go on to be product leaders at high corporations like  PayPal, Microsoft, Amazon, UPMC and plenty of others throughout retail, healthcare, manufacturing, and different industries.

CMU is the place for product folks. The MSPM diploma is only one wonderful instance.

Brian Nejmeh is the President of INSTEP, Inc., a software program know-how advisory agency the place he’s an advisor, investor and board member to start-up and superior stage software program corporations. Brian’s focus over the previous 25 years has been on constructing and scaling enterprise software program corporations leveraging his core competencies in software program product improvement, product administration and know-how management. Brian is a Product Government in Residence and Adjunct Professor within the Grasp of Science in Product Administration Program at Carnegie Mellon College in Pittsburgh, PA.