Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web. The first question to ask is: “Does your startup have market risk or is it dominated by technical risk?” Lean Startup /Customer Development is used to find answers to the unknowns about customers and markets.

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Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

Customer Development/Lean Startups In hindsight startups and the venture capital community left out the most important first step any startup ought to be doing – hypothesis testing in front of customers- from day one. In 1978 when I joined my first company , information about how to start companies simply didn’t exist. I was an idiot.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

Martin , on April 10, 2009 at 9:27 am Said: A post that would delight F.A. link] Reply craig sparer , on April 10, 2009 at 5:44 pm Said: So true. link] Reply steveblank11 , on April 10, 2009 at 10:32 pm Said: Prakash, Thanks for the link. Reply Daily Links #52 | CloudKnow , on April 12, 2009 at 10:18 am Said: [.]

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Posted on September 14, 2009 by steveblank Over the last 30 years Wall Street’s appetite for technology stocks have changed radically – swinging between unbridled enthusiasm to believing they’re all toxic. 2009 – Back to The Future The bad news is that since the bubble most VC firms haven’t made a profit. So what’s left?

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Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2009

Reply John Muldoon , on July 9, 2009 at 1:52 pm Said: This was really fabulous to watch. luck… and as one of Steve Blank’s posts today mentioned, you can’t test hypotheses from within your building. How do I get in the room next time?

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 26, 2009

So no post today on entrepreneurship, Secret History of Silicon Valley, Customer Development, Lean Startups, etc. Reply gvb , on November 26, 2009 at 10:20 am Said: “Hopefully we won’t run into any wildlife bigger than us (other than our assortment of rattlesnakes, rabbits …).&#

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

I liked the fact that you linked to the wikipedia page for a payphone — nice touch Reply Chris Ryland , on October 5, 2009 at 12:06 pm Said: Where did Ben Wegbreit fit in the Convergent picture? Reply steveblank , on October 5, 2009 at 2:08 pm Said: Chris, Ben was the founding VP of Engineering at Ardent.

North Carolina 131

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Filed under: Customer Development | Tagged: Entrepreneurs « Customer Development Manifesto: The Path of Warriors and Winners (part 5) Unintended Lessons » 6 Responses Twitter Trackbacks for Let’s Fire Our Customers « Steve Blank [steveblank.com] on Topsy.com , on September 24, 2009 at 7:19 am Said: [.]

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Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

I was between my 7th and 8th and final startup; licking my wounds from Rocket Science, the company I had cratered as my first and last attempt as a startup CEO. I have been working on getting a startup to revenue for a while, and while this is my 4th iteration and I have not yet succeeded, I’ve been learning new things every time.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

on April 10, 2009 at 6:58 am Said: Amazing blog. Greetings from Crete, Greece Reply Jerry Ji , on April 10, 2009 at 11:09 am Said: Simply _THE BEST_ war story I’ve read in months. Reply How to close a term sheet quickly - Venture Hacks , on April 28, 2009 at 10:43 am Said: [.] The Sharp End of the Stick?

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Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

The “Good” Student » 14 Responses Shane Rogers , on April 6, 2009 at 1:37 pm Said: The names of ‘secret’ customers is funny. Reply Bill , on April 7, 2009 at 12:09 pm Said: Interesting how much influence the military has had on our technology industry. If not they were Up the River w/o a Paddle.

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Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

Unfortunately most startups learn this by going through the “Fire the first Sales VP&# drill: You start your company with a list of potential customers reading like a “who’s who&# of whatever vertical market you’re in (or the Fortune 1000 list.) Your board nods sagely at your target customer list.

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Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Reply steveblank , on June 25, 2009 at 9:04 am Said: Prakash, This is at the dawn of time, but I seem to remember when we first started selling the IWS, our first product, there weren’t any. rick , on June 25, 2009 at 8:57 am Said: Great post. rick , on June 25, 2009 at 8:57 am Said: Great post.

Technology 143

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Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

Filed under: Customer Development , Marketing , SuperMac , Technology | Tagged: Steve Blank , SuperMac « Love/Hate Business Plan Competitions Gravity Will be Turned Off » 17 Responses EricS , on May 11, 2009 at 11:05 am Said: I loved my Spigot. Reply steveblank , on May 11, 2009 at 4:07 pm Said: No.

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Steve Blank

MARCH 20, 2009

Would love to read that whole thing at one go… Reply Alvin , on March 21, 2009 at 7:02 pm Said: Great stuff! Reply steveblank , on March 23, 2009 at 12:11 am Said: Alvin, you can buy the book online at [link] They ship to the Philippines. And why have you split this into so many parts?

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Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

In the last three posts, we drew the relationship of market risk and invention risk with vertical markets and pointed out verticals where customer development would be useful. would look in each of the verticals. For example, How does sales differ from one market to another? Others you need to know when you execute the plan.

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Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

We four instructors would grumble and complain to one another about our lack of leadership. Martin , on July 27, 2009 at 9:45 am Said: Asking is also the quickest way to get direct negative feedback — sometimes even more valuable than a yes. Reply | SocialStartups.com , on July 27, 2009 at 9:55 am Said: [.]

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Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

» 8 Responses Strategy versus Relentless Tactical Execution « Yet Another VC Blog , on April 2, 2009 at 6:19 am Said: [.] Reply Dave Goulden , on April 2, 2009 at 9:55 am Said: Thanks for the great stories! The numbers were in. Overwhelmingly. What a surprise.) Go ahead and spill the beans!

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Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2009

Simulation to Reduce Invention Risk If you’re in a vertical where “invention risk” is dominant, then you want to do everything you can to manage and reduce those risks. When I wrote the Four Steps to the Epiphany , the Customer Development text, I hadn’t yet thought about what vertical markets it might be appropriate for.)

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Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing RSS 137

Steve Blank

MARCH 25, 2009

Getting B-52s through the Soviet Air Defense System » 20 Responses brantcooper , on March 26, 2009 at 3:52 pm Said: Great story, Steve. Reply Dave Goulden , on March 26, 2009 at 11:04 pm Said: I love the redefinition of the market. Reply Knowtu » links for 2009-03-26 , on March 27, 2009 at 1:02 am Said: [.]

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Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

Reply steveblank , on May 22, 2009 at 2:39 pm Said: Morteza, The comments about “ignore this post&# were meant that if your sales channel is the web you rarely go to trade shows. Hope this helps steve Morteza Tatlari , on May 22, 2009 at 9:14 pm Said: Thanks Steve for your answer. These two posts were amazing.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

Reply Bill Allred , on May 1, 2009 at 10:46 am Said: This is a really common pitfall. Reply Niall Smart , on May 2, 2009 at 12:20 am Said: Great story – your point about snazzy design vs. actual impact is still relevant in the context of spending money on outsourced web graphic design.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 27, 2009

Wall 85: Squint « 365 Wallpapers , on April 27, 2009 at 8:29 am Said: [.] Reply rohit sharma , on April 27, 2009 at 9:47 am Said: in addition to his WWII contributions, Terman also helped educate a generation of engineers or two with his excellent text. invention of electronic warfare, part I and [.]

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Silicon Valley Technical Review Europe Germany 203

Steve Blank

AUGUST 17, 2009

Source: Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation (in constant 2009 $’s) We’ll Do Great in the Next War Early in 1950, just months before the outbreak of the Korean War the Office of Naval Research asked Fred Terman to build an Applied electronics program for electronic warfare. on August 18, 2009 at 4:39 am Said: [.]

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. Over its lifetime a Lean Startup may spend less money than a traditional startup.

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

sgblank Lean Startup Cirle 111909 This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback. Reply Joe , on November 23, 2009 at 4:39 pm Said: This is an awesome post and I really appreciate the availability of the slides as well as the video. They were kind enough to sponsor a meet-up in San Francisco. The slides below go with the video.

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Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 227

Steve Blank

JUNE 5, 2009

Reply Jamie Stephens , on June 5, 2009 at 1:17 pm Said: Great article. Reply Donna White , on June 6, 2009 at 1:40 am Said: I found this post through a comment on Fred Wilson’s blog. One of the key tenets of entrepreneurship is that you start your company with insufficient resources and knowledge.

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 21, 2010

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (..)

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Steve Blank

MAY 1, 2009

If you’ve never seen Eric’s Lean Startup presentation, take a few minutes to at least watch his part. Reply steveblank , on May 2, 2009 at 1:25 am Said: Your welcome. alancommike , on May 2, 2009 at 11:59 am Said: I’m glad the the presentation was recorded. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 The slides are here.

Customer Development 154

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Reply links for 2009-09-03 « Blarney Fellow , on September 3, 2009 at 6:09 pm Said: [.]

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 228

Steve Blank

AUGUST 7, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (..)

Silicon Valley 120

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. . Midas Oracle.ORG , on September 17, 2009 at 7:05 am Said: [.] Written by Chris F. Hope you find it useful!

Customer Development 253

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 253

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Reply A real time story start-up | Failed Screenwriter , on April 8, 2009 at 6:33 pm Said: [.] Reply Best books for the lean product managers — Justin Gibbs , on April 28, 2009 at 2:44 pm Said: [.] It has been very helpful in addressing the importance of testing your assumptions before investing large sums.

Product Development 159

Product Development Developer Silicon Valley Product 159

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

Filed under: Family/Career « Let’s Fire Our Customers Durant Versus Sloan – Part 1 » 3 Responses Twitter Trackbacks for Unintended Lessons « Steve Blank [steveblank.com] on Topsy.com , on September 28, 2009 at 10:04 am Said: [.] A replication matrix, so to say.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 29, 2009

Reply Ray Debs , on April 29, 2009 at 6:55 pm Said: Hi Steve, I am thoroughly enjoying reading your blog posts, and looking forward to more. Thank you, Ray Debs Reply steveblank , on April 29, 2009 at 9:03 pm Said: Ray, The glib answer is yes, it’s a great time to start a company for all the reasons you suggest.

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Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Alone in a ski cabin with the snow coming down outside, and my wife and daughters out on the slopes all day, I started collecting my thoughts by writing a series of “lessons learned” stories that I had hoped would become my memoirs.

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 1, 2009

corporation, and by extension Sloan laid the foundation for America’s economic leadership in the 20th century. How Fake Luxury Conquered The World: [link] Reply Twitter Trackbacks for Durant Versus Sloan – Part 1 « Steve Blank [steveblank.com] on Topsy.com , on October 1, 2009 at 3:33 pm Said: [.] One guy really did all of this.

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