Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Most entrepreneurs today don’t remember the Dot-Com bubble of 1995 or the Dot-Com crash that followed in 2000. As a reminder, the Dot Com bubble was a five-year period from August 1995 (the Netscape IPO ) when there was a massive wave of experiments on the then-new internet, in commerce, entertainment, nascent social media, and search.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

On top of all this it was considered very bad form not to have at least four additional consecutive quarters of profits after an IPO.) They taught you about customers, markets and profits. The world of building profitable startups as the primary goal of Venture Capital would end in 1995.

Silicon Valley 225

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 225

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

We’re now in the second Internet bubble. The Golden Age (1970 – 1995): Build a growing business with a consistently profitable track record (after at least 5 quarters,) and go public when it’s time. 1970 – 1995: The Golden Age. The world of building profitable startups ended in 1995. Carpe Diem.

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Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

Consumer Internet investing seems to have split off from traditional Venture Capital, and is creating a new category of VC’s: Lean VC’s. I think you can blame Customer and Agile Development for a small part of it. In 1980 Genentech became the first IPO of a venture funded biotech company. Here’s why.

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Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 262

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 22, 2010

The cost of creating new companies is falling rapidly, and access to markets, distribution, and information is within the reach of anyone with an Internet connection. For example, over 25% of the technology companies founded between 1995-2005 had a key immigrant founder.

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San Francisco Indiana Lean Startup 121

Steve Blank

MARCH 9, 2016

We didn’t IPO it. In 1995, he co-founded the digital services firm, Razorfish and grew it from a two-man startup to more than $250 million and 2,200 employees. It was all strategic partnerships leading to IPOs. When the Internet was on fire people said, “How do I make some money off this Internet thing?”

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Cofounder Entrepreneur IPO 120

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

Last night I had the great privilege to interview Bill Gross , one of the Internet’s true pioneers. He took out an ad in the Yellow Pages (it was the early 80′s, pre Internet), which cost him $1,000 / month for a half-page ad. If it worked in the Yellow Pages, why not on the Internet? Overture was sold to Yahoo!

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Product Tuvalu Dilution Incubator 350