M02-05 · AI Product & Business Strategy

Product Consulting — Building and Running a Practice

Applies consulting business skills specifically to product strategy and management engagements. Builds on CORE-08's universal freelance operations with domain-specific skills: conducting product audits, structuring fractional product leadership engagements, building reusable consulting IP (frameworks, templates, diagnostic checklists), developing a content-driven client pipeline, and managing the unique dynamics of advising on product strategy while not owning implementation. Students learn to deliver high-value product consulting with repeatable quality.

25 Hours

7 Learning objectives

Evaluate Bloom's ceiling (?)

4 Competencies

What You'll Be Able To Do

Learning Objectives

Objectives

Depth

Conduct a product audit: immerse in a client's product, data, and competitive landscape; produce a structured report with quantified findings and prioritized recommendations Apply
Structure consulting engagements across four models — product audit ($5K-15K), fractional CPO ($10K-25K/month), strategy sprint ($15K-30K), advisory retainer ($2K-5K/month) — with appropriate scoping for each Apply
Build reusable consulting IP: diagnostic checklists, analysis templates, and frameworks that reduce engagement delivery time by 30%+ Create
Develop a content-driven client pipeline: turn anonymized engagement insights into LinkedIn/Substack content that demonstrates expertise and generates inbound leads Create
Present findings and recommendations to executive teams, handling pushback constructively ("we tried that already," "the data doesn't reflect recent changes") Apply
Manage the consultant-client dynamic: deliver actionable recommendations within the client's capacity to execute, avoid over-promising, transition cleanly to internal ownership Apply
Evaluate when engagements should transition from advisory to embedded (fractional) based on client needs, team capability, and engagement economics Evaluate

Levels: Remember · Understand · Apply · Analyze · Evaluate · Create — highest demands most original thinking.

Core Competencies

What You'll Master

Product Audit Methodology

Structured immersion, data analysis, competitive review, finding synthesis, recommendation prioritization.

Engagement Design

Scoping audit/fractional/sprint/advisory engagements, pricing strategy, proposal writing, scope boundary management.

Consulting IP Development

Building reusable frameworks, templates, and diagnostic checklists that create competitive advantage and efficiency.

Thought Leadership Pipeline

Content creation from engagement insights, LinkedIn/Substack publishing, conference speaking, inbound lead generation.

Portfolio Artifact

What You'll Build

Product Audit Deliverable — Student conducts a complete product audit on a real or simulated SaaS company: 2-hour product immersion with screen recording, retention cohort analysis, competitive landscape (3-5 competitors tested hands-on), 25-40 page audit report (executive summary, methodology, quantitative analysis, qualitative insights, competitive landscape, root cause analysis, prioritized recommendations, 90-day implementation roadmap), 15-slide executive presentation, and a recorded walkthrough. Includes 2 pieces of anonymized thought leadership content derived from the engagement.

Tools You'll Use

Industry Tools, Not Toy Projects

Google Workspace

Sheets for analysis, Slides for executive presentations, Docs for audit reports and proposals.

SQL

Client warehouse access for pulling retention data, cohort analysis, and product usage queries.

Amplitude / Mixpanel

Client analytics platforms for product immersion, funnel analysis, and behavior tracking.

Figma

Competitive screenshots, product teardown documentation, and visual audit artifacts.

Claude

AI assistant for analysis support, report writing, research synthesis, and framework development.

Loom

Recorded walkthroughs for audit presentations and async client communication.

LinkedIn / Substack

Content platforms for thought leadership, expertise demonstration, and inbound client pipeline.

Bonsai / Stripe

Invoicing and payment platforms for managing consulting engagement finances.