Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

The two decades from 1979 when pension funds fueled the expansion of venture capital to 2000 when the dot-com bubble burst were the Golden Age for entrepreneurs and venture capital firms. Until 1995 startups going public typically had a track record of revenue and profits. Number of Venture Backed Liquidity Events 1991-2000.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 4, 2010

It was not until October 2000 that Google offered its version of a pay per click advertising system -AdWords -allowing advertisers to create text ads for placement on the Google search engine. Google is a $25 billion dollar company with most of its revenue from AdWords. Implicit Customer Discovery and Validation in Fast Followers.

Silicon Valley 317

Silicon Valley Differentiation United States Customer Development 317

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 23, 2012

invested, IPO’ed in 2000 for $32/share — stock price now $2. After I sold Smart Bear, that division has increased revenue and profit every year, for five years, even through the 2008/2009 economic disaster. Freeloader — On $3m invested, sold for $38m in 1996 — shut down in 1997. Support.com — On 2.5m

IPO 240

IPO Flash Bootstrapping Private Equity 240

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 11, 2013

Before this occurs, the sales process is a craft or an art - custom-made by the founder or evangelist sales VP. You dive deep into a customer development process, working closely with a few customers who feed you requirements and are willing to trial an imperfect product that is evolving quickly. 1) Enterprise Sales.

Sales 50

Sales Technical Review Software Review B2B 50

Steve Blank

MAY 5, 2016

Founders will always encounter naysayers, shut out the voices and listen to the customers instead. While d oing Nearpod his education startup, Guido learned to listen to the customers and shut out the naysayers: Guido : I was clueless about how the education system worked other than as a consumer… so I’m learning a lot.

Brazil 158

Brazil Entrepreneur Cleveland Cofounder 158

Steve Blank

MAY 5, 2016

Founders will always encounter naysayers, shut out the voices and listen to the customers instead. While d oing Nearpod his education startup, Guido learned to listen to the customers and shut out the naysayers: Guido : I was clueless about how the education system worked other than as a consumer… so I’m learning a lot.

Brazil 120

Brazil Entrepreneur Cleveland Cofounder 120

Spencer Fry

APRIL 17, 2017

When I first started building Coach, I invested $30k of my own money to get a prototype working and acquire our first half dozen customers, but I (and the contract developer who I was working with) were spread too thin. What I worry about is the demand on every one of your potential customer’s attention and time. Hello, debt.

Bootstrapping 63

Bootstrapping Cap Table Liquidation Preference Cofounder 63

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 23, 2015

Knowing your customers is the single biggest driver of startup success, and there’s no substitute for getting out of the building to learn about their problems and needs. We spoke to) over a hundred (customers). … (The experience) was life changing…. … you’ve got to do the customer development.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Colorado Customer Development 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 22, 2009

We Changed Our Mind In 1966, 10 years after Hewlett’s memo, Hewlett Packard’s revenue and headcount had grown ten fold; $200 million and 11,000 employees – all from test and measurement equipment. Technology changes, culture changes, customer needs change, more agile competitors emerge, etc.

Silicon Valley 164

Silicon Valley RSS California Agile 164

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

When it was spun out as a a separate company, Iridium’s 1990 business plan had assumptions about potential customers, their problems and the product needed to solve that problem. They made other assumptions about the type of sales channel, partnerships and revenue model they would need. A Business Plan Frozen in Time. Their mistakes?

Business Plan 335

Business Plan Customer Business Model Customer Development 335

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

I would focus on one product and set a goal to generate $1M in yearly revenue from it. Near shoring development with your team (ex: your team is based in Canada / India) is cool, but not outsourcing. Outsourcing is something a big company, with a known customer / problem (that has revenue & traction) does to save cost.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2012

from box-office revenue. But the total movie industry revenue was $87 billion. After the VCR was introduced, studio revenues took off like a rocket. 2000 – Digital Video Recorders (DVR) like TiVo allowing consumer to skip commercials was going to be the end of the TV business. DVR’s reignite interest in TV.

Silicon Valley 336

Silicon Valley Distribution Washington Channel 336