How Lightning Lessons are featured

Maven's Lightning Lesson discovery page is curated by our Marketing team. A limited number of lessons are featured each week and tagged with the appropriate category. The "Featured" category rotates on a monthly basis and will showcase a specific theme.

Once your lesson page is published, you can start promoting it and get signups immediately. You do not need to be featured by Maven to host and promote your lesson.

Listing requirements

Maven has specific requirements for signups, title, and page quality in order to be considered for the discovery page and our newsletter. When you're listed on Maven's discovery page, you are also eligible to be included in our weekly newsletter, which algorithmically selects the most popular lessons. Here are the requirements:

1. ✅ Minimum 50 signups

2. ✅ Uses Maven's Lightning Lesson image template

3. Lesson Title

✅ Actionable and starts with an action verb to communicate an outcome. Use strong, straightforward verbs like "Create", "Design", "Build", or "How to X" (check out Bloom's Taxonomy verbs)
✅ <40 characters and concise
🚫 No buzzwords like "supercharge" or "unleash"
🚫 No spammy words, all caps, exclamation points like "FREE WEBINAR!"
🚫 Not too broad like "What makes a great product manager"? This is too generic and not actionable. Instead focus on a specific skill such as How to Uplevel Your Product Thinking

🚫 NO	Problem	✅ GOOD
Evolving An Approach to Technical Literacy in Marketing	Too abstract Too long "Evolving" is a passive/weak verb and a gerund	Become A More Technical Marketer
What makes a great product manager?	Too abstract/generic No action verb Avoid question titles	How to Uplevel Your Product Thinking
Clarifying Ownership Between Product & Other Teams	Too long "Clarify" is a passive/weak verb and a gerund	Create Product Ownership Across Teams
FREE WEBINAR: Develop Your 30-day Onboarding Plan!	"FREE WEBINAR" is spammy "!" is not allowed Don't call Lightning Lesson "webinar." Webinar has a negative connotation (boring, salesy), and Lightning Lessons are tactical and useful.	Develop Your 30-day Onboarding Plan

4. Name and Bio

✅ First + Last Name only, no pseudonyms. If you have a highly recognizable pseudonym, put it in (”…”)

🚫 NO	✅ GOOD
Coach Erica	Erica Ferris (”Coach Erica”)
Prof G.	Scott Galloway (”Prof G.)

✅ The mini-bio should be short (<40 characters), concise, and establishes your credibility. The ideal format is "Role at Company" (e.g., VP at Company, Former VP at Company)
✅ Main bio is <1000 characters and concise
🚫 No details that are not professionally relevant (e.g., parent, dog owner)
🚫 No excessive use of certifications, titles, or abbreviations.

🚫 NO	✅ GOOD
MBA, CPA, CFA, and Former VP at Fortune 500 companies	Former VP at Company and Company
Head Recruiter at Company, trail runner, and Corgi lover	Head Recruiter at Company

5. Learning Objectives & Description

✅ The copy is concise, compelling and free of spelling errors. Some examples of clear and concise copy: Wes Kao, Annie Duke, Ryan Scott, Nate Jones
✅ Learning objectives should be actionable steps (e.g., "How to..."), outline key takeaways, and are highly specific.
✅ Maximum 3-4 learning objectives
🚫 Do not be overly salesy with exaggerated promises. Copy should not sound like an infomercial: "Master Everything in One Hour!", "Become an Expert Instantly!", "Unlock Hidden Secrets of [Skill]!", "Achieve Guaranteed Results in No Time!"

👉 Examples of well-written learning objectives:

Please note that meeting these requirements does not guarantee that you will be listed or featured. The topic must also be relevant and compelling to our Maven audience of mid-career professionals in tech & business.

FAQs

Can I share the link to my Lightning Lesson even if I'm not featured by Maven?
1. Yes! Once you publish your lesson page on Maven, you can begin accepting signups.
Can I make adjustments to my Lightning Lesson after I publish?
1. You can make minor adjustments, but we ask that you don't change your topic or lesson takeaways too much, especially after students have already signed up.
2. If you have to to reschedule, you can update the date on Maven and publish again. Your registrants will get updated calendar invites and an email notification. Do NOT delete the event in Zoom.
Will my Lightning Lesson be included in Maven emails?
1. If you are selected to be featured, your Lightning Lesson is also eligible to be included in our Maven student email, but not guaranteed. Our algorithm considers the top trending (based on the number of signups) Lightning Lessons starting soon.