A review of 280 Group as a product management resource

Hi, I’m Sam! I have been a product manager for years. Now I work as an industry mentor for the product, strategy, and operations track at Pathrise. I help people land their dream job through workshops and 1-on-1 mentoring. Check out my review of 280 Group.

What does 280 Group do?
Who is 280 Group for?
What does 280 Group cost?
Ratings and reviews of 280 Group
Alternatives to 280 Group
How does 280 Group compare to Pathrise?

What does 280 Group do?

280 Group is a training and consulting firm that offers product management courses to help people launch their careers. They teach remote and in-person courses with both live and self-paced options. While the company is based in California, they teach in-person courses in Seattle, Austin, Atlanta, and other major cities across the United States.

Product management courses

They teach 3 primary courses: digital product management, Agile for product managers, and optimal product management & product marketing training. The digital product management course teaches targeted technical product management skills, dual-track product development, and product management in iterative and analytical product development environments. The Agile program teaches students key Agile, scrum, and leadership concepts, plus a review of fundamental product skills. Students in the combined optimal product management & product marketing training learn core product skills like the full product lifecycle and the optimal product process, as well as marketing fundamentals. In addition, private custom training is also available.

Their in-person digital product management and product marketing courses meet for 3 days, with about 8 hours of work every day. But, the in-person Agile product management course only meets 2 days. The live online programs consist of 12 different 2-hour sessions, plus 10-20 minutes of homework every day. Students in their live programs participate in lectures, hands-on assignments, and assessments. Both in-person and live online training include a retention program, a self-study course and to help them review what they learned and prepare for an industry-standard certification exam.

Remote programs

The self-paced remote programs include about 10-20 hours of material. Courses are based upon certification. Students can choose one of the following programs: certified product manager, certified product marketing manager, or Agile certified product manager. Moreover, they also offer paid virtual instructor reviews for students in the certified product management course, which includes 8 weekly 1-hour live sessions.

Finally, all programs culminate in an official certificate exam. Students graduate with product management certificates they can add to their resumes to help them become a product manager. The courses teach key skills that students can use to land a job, but they are not given help on their job search.

Who is 280 Group for?

People with little to no product management who are looking to launch their careers could benefit from the courses offered by 280 Group. Moreover, their programs can also be helpful for current product managers who want to learn a more specific skill.

What does 280 Group cost? How much work is involved?

All online self-study courses cost $1,495. But, tuition for any live online courses is $2,995. In addition, students can add weekly instructor reviews to the online product management for an extra $1,000. The in-person digital product management course and the in-person product management & product marketing course both cost $2,995. But, tuition for the in-person Agile for product managers course is $1,995.

Monthly payment plans are available through Affirm. Eligibility and terms depend on the student’s credit history. All courses are open to anyone. Therefore, there is no formal admission process and no prior experience is necessary.

Ratings and reviews

280 Group has mostly positive reviews. They are on Hubspot’s top 16 product management courses list. In addition, they hold a 4.8/5 star rating on Google Reviews. Their program is also on Airfocus’ list of best product management certifications. A product manager on Quora said she “really liked the training from the 280 Group”. She was especially impressed by the live course, describing it as “better in terms of networking” with valuable “real time interaction.”

A reviewer on Google valued the comprehensive curriculum. They appreciated that it covered the “complete product cycle from cradle to grave.” However, she was less impressed by the group component. She commented, “I just wished there were a lot more real world examples (p&l sheets, business case docs, ppt’s, etc) and a lot less group activities.”

Another grad liked the instruction style. They described the course as “easy to follow” with a “helpful customer service team.” However, the grad felt that the curriculum needs updating. They were disappointed that the “Excel sheets look dated” and felt “there can be more templates offered for the course price.” One student warned that he “found no new earth-shattering revelations” from the curriculum. But, he still felt that “the content hit the mark on important areas for product managers.” Overall, people seem very satisfied with 280 Group’s courses and certificate training.

Alternatives to 280 Group

If you decide not to enroll in 280 Group, there are a number of other resources and bootcamps to help you land a job in product management.

The product management associations Product Gym and Product Talk Academy offer training, career services, and networking opportunities for aspiring product managers.
Similarly, ProductHood and Silicon Valley Product Group have bootcamps, workshops, and micro-courses as well as a community of product managers.
Product School teaches full-time and part-time product management courses. They provide weekly mentorship and career support to their students.
Likewise, Product Hall is a product management bootcamp with live courses and 1-on-1 mentoring opportunities.
Or, consider One Week PM, which was created by Product Manager HQ. In both programs, students learn product management fundamentals and network with aspiring and current PMs.
The 150,000+ member product management community Mind the Product provides workshops, memberships, and networking for aspiring product managers. Their program is virtual and they offer lifetime access to their alumni Slack.
Students seeking a more advanced curriculum can check out Product Faculty, a part-time online product management bootcamp. Their course is for product managers with 1-3 years of experience.
Similarly, Blackblot and Product Innovation Educators have PM courses for beginners and more advanced folk.
Another product management bootcamp, Product Academia has full-time and part-time courses with certificates for graduates just like 280 Group. Their focus is on helping women launch careers as product managers.
The popular tech bootcamp General Assembly teaches full-time, part-time, and 1-day courses on a variety of topics including product management as well as software engineering, data science, UX design, digital marketing, and more. Students in the product track learn the fundamentals of product management, working with real tools they will use on the job. Read more about General Assembly in our review.

More alternatives

Similarly, BrainStation and allWomen Academy are bootcamps that offer product management courses. Students work on product management projects, participate in professional development, and have access to 1,000+ hiring partners including Facebook, Google, and more.
Women, GNC people, and trans people can look into CodeOp, which has courses in web dev, data, and product management.
You can also check out Bubble no-code bootcamps to learn how to make products without coding. Learn more about Bubble in our review.
You can also consider Linky Product, which has self-paced courses and a bootcamp.
Students can also check out Thinkful and Knowledge Officer, which have courses in product management, marketing, and more.
Another online bootcamp is GrowthX Academy. They have courses in product management, UX design, growth marketing, sales, and business development. Likewise, School16 teaches marketing, sales, and product management. Beginners can also check out Dorm, which helps people get into startups.
The Menon Labs fellowship helps people learn the skills to become web developers, data scientists, and product managers.
edX is an online learning platform with product management courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT as well as big tech companies like Microsoft. Learn more about edX in our review.
Similarly, Coursera is an affordable program with self-paced learning. They host PM courses taught by professors at accredited universities.
Students can also check out Udacity. They offer self-paced courses on product strategy, design, and launch. Students build polished work on projects for their resumes and work with both technical and career mentors. Learn more about Udacity in our review.

How does 280 Group compare to Pathrise?

280 Group is an online product management firm that offers both online and in-person courses with PM certifications. While 280 Group’s courses build job skills, they don’t help with the job search.

Pathrise is a career accelerator that helps with all phases of the job search. Fellows in our program work 1-on-1 with mentors on resume and LinkedIn optimization, portfolio building, technical and behavioral interview skills, and much more. We’ve helped 600+ people land great in tech fields, including product management.

Our program is flexible. There are only 2-4 hours of workshops per week and fellows can schedule 1-on-1 sessions as needed. Live sessions are recorded so fellows can review materials whenever they want. The Pathrise income share agreement (ISA) means that our fellows never pay until they land a job they love and start working.

Pathrise optimizes the job search through 1-on-1 mentoring. Fellows in our program see their interview scores double and their application responses triple, landing jobs in just 3-5 months on average. If you want to land your dream job by working with an experienced mentor, join Pathrise.