Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

I asked Tsutsumi-san to write a guest post for my blog to describe his experience with Customer Development in Japan. In 2004, Googling terms like “high tech marketing” and “startup” I discovered “ The Four Steps to The Epiphany ” at Cafépress.com. We kept talking, with Steve asking “How long are you staying in Silicon Valley?”

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Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

Eric was the very first practitioner of my Customer Development methodology which became the core of the the Lean methodology. Back in 2004 when Eric and his IMVU co-founder Will Harvey approached me about investing in IMVU, I agreed on one condition – they had to take my Customer Development class at UC Berkeley Haas Business School.

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Lean Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder Channel 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

The mantra of “ first mover advantage ,” the idea that winners are the ones who are the first entrants in their market, became the conventional wisdom of investors in Silicon Valley.“ First Movers” didn’t understand customer problems or the product features that solved those problems (what we now call product-market fit).

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Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

What this meant for entrepreneurs and VCs was a bit more complex– the IPO market was all but closed (with the Google IPO in 2004 as a brilliant exception), but it was possible find a buyer for your company. My experience of 2001-2004 is very remote from what you are describing.

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Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

Steve Blank

APRIL 15, 2016

In Silicon Valley for three decades, spent eight years as a partner at US Venture Partners. — Michael Mondavi is widely credited with helping to establish and build the Napa Valley wine industry as we know it. His career began in 1966 when he and his father Robert co-founded the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley. .

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Silicon Valley California Entrepreneur Cofounder 141

Steve Blank

APRIL 15, 2016

In Silicon Valley for three decades, spent eight years as a partner at US Venture Partners. — Michael Mondavi is widely credited with helping to establish and build the Napa Valley wine industry as we know it. His career began in 1966 when he and his father Robert co-founded the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley. .

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley California Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

It was fall 2004, and the presidential election was in full swing. One day, we became convinced that a killer app for IMVU would be to sell a presidential debate bundle, where our customers could put on a Bush or Kerry avatar, and then engage in mock debates with each other. What is customer development?

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Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167