Staging environment

Data-driven business case generation

2 Days

·

Cohort-based Course

Go from feeling overwhelmed by business decisions to confidently presenting data-backed investment cases

Previously at

The Linux Foundation
SpotHero
Arity
Allstate Insurance Company

Course overview

Hands-on practice choosing a business model and building out a business case

Building a compelling business case is hard. And in this economic environment, we’re being asked to drive more business value with every decision we make.


The way to do this is by confidently making the case that your idea deserves to be funded. A strong business case turns you into an influential voice in your company.


Yet when asked about business cases, here’s what I’m hearing:


➡️ "My manager wants a business case but I don't know where to start."

➡️ "I’m not really a numbers person – how can I justify my product investments?"

➡️ "Executives talk about ‘P&L’ impact, but what does that really mean?"


Creating the initial business case shouldn’t be scary. Get the confidence to build one via this interactive, two-day case study.


Course highlights include:

✨ Hands-on practice

✨ Tangible takeaways

✨ Interactive format


On the first day, you will have a chance to interview a business owner, their customer, and their employee in order to explore the pros and cons of different business models (they’re actors).


On the second day, we’ll open up the excel template. You’ll use this to dig into finances, figuring out how to fit this new product within the company portfolio, what happens to accounting depending on those decisions, and how we should be allocating budget to our product teams to fund this development and other initiatives.


We’ll then make a decision as a company on whether to invest in this new line of business.


By emphasizing hands-on activities throughout, we make sure that you have an opportunity to practice the skills critical to building a compelling business case. At the end, you’ll have the right tools to build a data-driven business case for your next feature or product. 

Who is this course for

01

Product managers who want to become more business-oriented 

02

Engineers and designers who want to drive more business impact in their work.

03

Aspiring product leaders who want to develop the business acumen to advance in their careers.

What you’ll get out of this course

Know how to choose the right business model

Understand the core tradeoffs around different business models and recommend one with confidence.

Interview users to identify value

Talking to users to figure out their business fundamentals can be hard. We'll have actors join our course so you can practice your interview skills – not just theoretical exercises.

Build compelling financial models

Get excel templates that will walk you through the inputs needed to make back-of-the-envelop business decisions so you can have a seat at the table.

Actively participate in a build/buy or go/no-go decision

Strategic decisions are based on understanding the underlying financials. Practice presenting and making these decisions yourself.

Learn the lingo to make your case

Executives and MBAs talk in a lot of acronyms: ARPU, EBIDA, ROI, etc. Learn what the alphabet soup means and how to use it in your own communications. 

This course includes

2 interactive live sessions

Lifetime access to course materials

10 in-depth lessons

Direct access to instructor

Projects to apply learnings

Guided feedback & reflection

Private community of peers

Course certificate upon completion

Maven Satisfaction Guarantee

This course is backed by Maven’s guarantee. You can receive a full refund within 14 days after the course ends, provided you meet the completion criteria in our refund policy.

Course syllabus

Week 1

Feb 27—Feb 28

    Day 1 – Connecting user value to business model

    • Feb

      27

      Business models

      Thu 2/275:00 PM—9:00 PM (UTC)
    5 more items

    Day 2 – Underlying business fundamentals

    • Feb

      28

      Underlying business fundamentals

      Fri 2/285:00 PM—9:00 PM (UTC)
    5 more items

What people are saying

        Jenny Wanger is an exceptional product coach with a mastery of teaching pricing strategies. Her training course was crucial in helping our team learn to craft offers that can resonate with customers and support business goals. With a clear and practical teaching style, Jenny made complex concepts accessible and actionable.
Huma Hamid

Huma Hamid

Sr. Product Manager
        As a PM without an MBA, Jenny's course helped me learn key business concepts around pricing and strategy and helped me grow confidence in communicating with finance and executive teams through her fun, interactive training. It was also a great opportunity to build camaraderie with my teammates and think outside the box. Highly recommend!
Ileana Caceres

Ileana Caceres

Product Manager

Meet your instructor

Jenny Wanger

Jenny Wanger

Jenny is an entrepreneur and product operations consultant who helps product teams trying to make dramatic changes and make it stick.


She co-founded the pandemic-tech focused TCN Coalition and merged it with LF Public Health; led the consumer product team at SpotHero; and ran the developer experience team at Arity, a startup founded by Allstate.


When offline, Jenny is usually up in the mountains outside of her home in Colorado hiking and skiing with her family. She has an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and an MBA from MIT.

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Data-driven business case generation

Winter 2025

$425

Dates

Feb 27—28, 2025

Payment Deadline

Feb 27, 2025
Get reimbursed

Hands-on business case creation

8 hours over two days

  • Thursday

    8 am - 12 pm EST

    Day 1: Connecting user needs to business value


    Through interviewing customers, you'll come up with the basic business model to make your case.

  • Friday

    8 am - 12 pm EST

    Day 2: Underlying business fundamentals

    

    Taking the business model developed on day 1, expand it out to include further revenue opportunities, expenses, and make a go/no-go decision around whether to build this product.

Free resource

Key Financial Terms for Product People

A quick reference guide designed specifically for product teams. Learn key terms like CAC, LTV, MRR, and EBIDA and learn how they impact your product's success and profitability. Equip yourself with the knowledge to make data-driven decisions, prioritize the right features, and communicate effectively with stakeholders.

Get this free resource

Learning is better with cohorts

Learning is better with cohorts

Active hands-on learning

This course builds on live workshops and hands-on projects

Interactive and project-based

You’ll be interacting with other learners through breakout rooms and project teams

Learn with a cohort of peers

Join a community of like-minded people who want to learn and grow alongside you

Frequently Asked Questions

Stay in the loop

Sign up to be the first to know about course updates.

A pattern of wavy dots

Join an upcoming cohort

Data-driven business case generation

Winter 2025

$425

Dates

Feb 27—28, 2025

Payment Deadline

Feb 27, 2025
Get reimbursed

$425

2 Days