Learning Product
the PayPal Way
by Cheerly Tannia Hartono • 11 March 2026
Embedded Files
Learning Product
Six weeks. One product. Zero room for vague ideas.
Formerly known as PME/PME1101E, Product Launchpad (PLP) isn’t your typical classroom experience. There are no neatly packaged case studies or theoretical exercises. Instead, it begins with a blank page and a real-world challenge, where students step into the shoes of product managers navigating ambiguity and testing assumptions.
This year, the journey came with something extra: mentorship from senior product managers at PayPal who made the experience even more real. Learning about prototyping, iterating, and road-mapping are some of the things, but sharing the views of all of these with the field experts is not the opportunity you can encounter every day.
According to Julian, former Curriculum Executive of NUS Product Club (AY 24/25) and now Senior Advisor, this year's PLP is the first edition of our flagship Introduction to Product Management program that was fully planned in-house and taught by the Curriculum team. “It is also the first iteration where we partnered with an external company, PayPal, to offer participants an opportunity to work on a practical, real-world product case under the mentorship of experienced product managers,” he added.
In the second last week of the program, students had the opportunity to participate in the PayPal industry engagement session. Mr Lee Boon Kee, a senior lecturer at NUS School of Computing, who is also the staff advisor of NUS Product Club, shared insights into how product managers approach growth and product strategy in practice. The session introduced several key frameworks, including the pillars of a growth engine. It also explored how product teams identified opportunities, whether by spotting a gap in the market or by creating a market in the gap, and how the flywheel effect can help sustain long-term product growth.
The journey culminated in the finale week, where teams presented their problem pitches and proposed solutions. Acting as product managers, students identified a clear user problem and examined gaps in the existing market. Teams walked through their prototyping process all the way to the reasoning behind their final proposals, each of which was closed by a question or two from the judges: Mr Lee Boon Kee and Mr Nito Buendia, a senior director of PM at PayPal.
These presentations marked the end of a learning experience that began with uncertainty, but gradually evolved into a structured process of discovery, experiments, and product thinking.
These presentations marked the end of a learning experience that began with uncertainty, but gradually evolved into a structured process of discovery, experiments, and product thinking.
Let’s hear what they have to say!
Let’s hear what they have to say!
Thanks to PLP, some students admitted that their perspectives about product management have changed from before. For example, Chloe (Y2) commented how she gained a lot of insights about FinTech which used to be an unfamiliar field to her, and Natty (Y1) remarked that PM was more than what she had thought.
“Coming to this, I wasn't really familiar with the FinTech domain, so I think this really helps me to explore different types of products within FinTech. I also did not realize how difficult it can be to own a FinTech product as well because there are a lot of compliance and laws you have to abide by, and how much governance that goes behind FinTech. So, I gain a lot of appreciation for how FinTech products are managed, especially from the behind,” mentioned Chloe.
For readers who are interested in joining the upcoming batch, here is some advice from this year’s participants. “I think it’s persistence (you should have) because it’s a long-term program we should discover from different perspectives. It takes time, so we should have enough patience to discover every field in the whole product,” noted Yihan (Y2). Dan (Y3) also suggested to enjoy the problem or case studies given.
“So, instead of beginning with the problem statement and the feature, just go around and try to understand the domain. For example, our problem is about FinTech, so we need to know what other fields are in FinTech that are available so we can gather more ideas and research for our model,” added Dan.
This has also been a great experience for the mentors.
“I think, firstly, it makes you realize how differently these students think. As working professionals, you start to establish a very fixed thought process, which gets very challenged when you encounter that. So, whenever you mentor students, it’s not just the students learning. It’s also you learning along with them, and that is something which is a big change,” said Sukrit Singh Raghuvanshi, one of the mentors and a lead product manager from PayPal.
Similarly, Wanlu Zhang, a senior product manager from PayPal, agrees that mentoring is not limited to students or junior product managers, and that even senior positions may also need one. “I think both mentoring others and being mentored are super helpful because being mentored is basically having a senior guide you gradually through your career; and mentoring others gives you a different perspective. Mentoring others is really set to a different stage where you have to prepare yourself for the mentees as well, and that’s where you have a reflective stage and opportunity to think about how you can provide more and give more to the others,” she added.
Last but not least, we are really appreciative of the executives from our Curriculum Team for their hard work over the past 5 months to liaise, plan, and execute this amazing program.
PLP isn’t just about learning product management concepts. It is about experiencing the pace, pressure, and possibility of building products in the real world with guidance from the people shaping it.
Until the next PLP!
Until the next PLP!
About the Author
About the Author
#90: Cheerly Hartono
#90: Cheerly Hartono
Cheerly is an Industrial Systems Engineering freshman with a passion for languages, problem-solving, and learning new skills outside the classroom. Prior to joining NUS Product Club, Cheerly led her high school's student council as its president - honing her detail-orientedness in ensuring the smooth operation of organising various events.
Page updated
Google Sites
Report abuse