Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe 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. Market Type changes everything. Market Type Changes Everything Here’s the point. .

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 25, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, March 25, 2010 Speed up or slow down? This is the first post that moves into making specific process recommendations for product development. This is the first post that moves into making specific process recommendations for product development. This is the speed-up-or-slow-down moment.

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Software Review San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 141

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 7, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, January 7, 2010 Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Although much of it will sound familiar to readers of this blog, whats new is my first step towards the " new entrepreneurship " that is my goal for 2010. Id be honored to have you join the conversation. Without further ado.

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San Francisco Management Continuous Deployment Lean 119

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, May 31, 2010 Thank you The past month has been an incredible roller coaster: #sllconf was a trending topic (briefly topping Justin Bieber before the wifi in the hotel gave out), the Web 2.0 When I first encountered customer development , it was considered pure lunacy by mainstream entrepreneurs and VCs.

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 133

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

If you look at the top 3 online retailers by conversion rate, none of these are award-winning designs : [link] [link] [link] However, they convert ~25% of visitors to customers. As a pay-per-click marketer, now I will look at retail packaging as a source of ideas on landing page design. That’s 10x what many websites convert.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 17, 2009

Im excited that well get more than the usual few minutes of Q&A, so come with a healthy appetite for conversation. If you or your company is interested in sponsoring someone with a scholarship to travel to the expo and contribute to the conversation, please leave a comment or let me know. You heard me right.

Lean 76

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

I hope to show why lean and agile techniques actually reduce the negative impacts of technical debt and increase our ability to take advantage of its positive effects. Just as a business incurs some debt to take advantage of a market opportunity developers may incur technical debt to hit an important deadline.

Technical Review 168

Technical Review Software Review San Francisco Lean 168

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 15, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, January 15, 2010 Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable (for Harvard Business Review) The next part in the series I am writing for Harvard Business Review is online. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Read the rest here.

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Hockey Stick San Francisco Entrepreneur Lean 105

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Go on an agile diet quickly. With a product development team that is not shipping, any agile methodology will surface major problems quickly. Force anyone who is in customer contact to take the role of the Product Owner and insist that they deliver something new on a short regular interval. (For The selling order.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

I had the opportunity to pioneer this approach to funnel analysis at IMVU, where it became a core part of our customer development process. To promote this metrics discipline, we would present the full funnel to our board (and advisers) at the end of every development cycle. But where do those ideas come from in the first place?

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San Francisco Lean Technical Review Continuous Deployment 166

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 29, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 29, 2010 New conference website, speakers, agenda The Startup Lessons Learned Conference on April 23 is fast approaching. The way forward requires getting everyone together in a room, and having a conversation about where were headed. Earlybird Admission pricing ends in just two days.

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SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

aka: An Open Letter to the Next Big Social Network) - 500 Hats , November 1, 2010 I've held off writing this post for a long time, because I couldn't quite get my head around all the issues. When It’s Darkest Men See the Stars - Steve Blank , November 24, 2010 When It’s Darkest Men See the Stars. but: Something is Still Missing.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 14, 2009

The response so far has been nothing short of overwhelming, and I want to especially thank those of you who participated in the survey and customer validation exercise that helped shape this event. We changed our model to B2B and adopted Agile around 2002. For now, Id like to ask a favor.

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Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Software Review 60

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 28, 2008

If you find yourself getting asked non-key questions, try to use your answers to steer the conversation back to the key questions. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Tell your Startup Visa story Speaking 2010: Webstock, GDC, Web 2.0, Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

For example, say that your business model calls for a 4% conversion rate – as ours did initially at IMVU. After a few months of early beta at IMVU, we discovered that our actual conversion rate was about 0.4%. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Steve Blank

JUNE 29, 2009

Filed under: Customer Development , ESL , Technology | Tagged: Steve Blank , Entrepreneurs , ESL « Convergent Technologies: War Story 1 – Selling with Sports Scores A Wilderness of Mirrors » 17 Responses Michael F. 2 weeks in they had outsourced my job, which lead to an awkward conversation.

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

When it becomes possible to build products "live" with customers, the cycle time changes and design becomes a much more dynamic process. We still struggle to create Firm software that is defect-free, and it still requires customer insight (and maybe some customer development) to discover what will Delight. Expo SF (May.

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Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 19, 2009

Given that most recruiting channels are pay-for-performance, its usually cheaper, too, because it has a lower conversion rate. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Tell your Startup Visa story Speaking 2010: Webstock, GDC, Web 2.0, Keep them coming. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 3, 2009

Use some customer development to find out. Split-testing is great for linear optimization; making our landing pages, conversion rates, and retention metrics incrementally better day-in day-out. But its also amazing for testing big hypotheses, like what our customers really want to get out of our product. Expo SF (May.

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Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Cofounder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

So I generally feel right at home in these conversations. If you want to get ahead in this new world, agile is already not agile enough, lean is too fat and investing money in processes which tell you whether you're doing the right thing will put you on the right track but not out in front. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 2, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, April 2, 2010 Interviews Robert Scoble came by my office to learn about the Lean Startup and the Startup Lessons Learned Conference on April 23. By all accounts, the conversation was a success. By all accounts, the conversation was a success. Of course, you can judge for yourself.

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San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 149

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 11, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, March 11, 2010 For Startups, How Much Process Is Too Much? The Conversation - Harvard Business Review : Still, startups develop some kind of process — whether its disciplined, haphazard, bureaucratic or empowering — because building a great product depends on it.

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San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 120

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 6, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, March 6, 2010 Startup Visa update As I write this, I am traveling at 30,000 feet on Virgin Americas excellent IAD->SFO nonstop, following an intense few days of conversations in Washington, DC about the Startup Visa. Our trip was bipartisan, bicameral, and bi-branches-of-government.

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San Francisco DC Washington Startup 113

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. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 28, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, March 28, 2010 Two new scholarship programs for lean startups Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, Im pleased to be able to announce two scholarship programs for upcoming lean startup events. We want everyone who can contribute to that conversation to be there, regardless of their ability to pay.

Lean 109

Lean Programming San Francisco Continuous Deployment 109

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, February 8, 2010 Beware of Vanity Metrics (for Harvard Business Review) The next article in my series on entrepreneurship for Harvard Business Review is live today. Entrepreneurs: Beware of Vanity Metrics - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review : The idea is simple. For more, read on.

Metrics 121

Metrics San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 121

Steve Blank

MAY 13, 2009

And I started to panic as it dawns on me that this conversation is occurring 30 times the 300 people in each of the 30 squadrons on this airbase. Reply Agile Opportunism – Entrepreneurial DNA « Steve Blank , on June 29, 2009 at 7:02 am Said: [.] Can we go to the bathroom when the gravity is turned off?”)

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 22, 2009

Each has its own iterative process: customer development and agile development respectively. Some startups fail because the founders cant have this conversation - they either blow up when they try, or they fail to change because they are afraid of conflict. Ajay January 24, 2010 6:15 AM Matthew Ogston said.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 167

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 16, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, August 16, 2010 Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium (Normally, I do not write about companies that are doing a marketing launch. ’&# They removed the core plan, and conversions went up. That is customer development. ’&# They removed the core plan, and conversions went up.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Analytics Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 30, 2008

How do you drop a phrase like "voluntary salary reduction tool" and then not describe it :) Unless youre simply talking about the standard "hey, take less cash and Ill give you more options" type conversation. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Expo SF (May.

Lean 121

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 121

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2009

Berkeley Haas Business School was courageous enough to give me a forum teach the Customer Development Methodology. The most extreme case (and my personal favorite) was by Armstrong who managed to create a full single conversion superheterodyne receiver all using a single vacuum tube! Armstrong was a god! to do that.

Silicon Valley 279

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 23, 2009

fbFund REV featuring Eric Ries The Lean Startup Host: fbFund Type: Education - Lecture Network: Global Date: Thursday, June 25, 2009 Time: 1:30pm - 3:30pm Location: fbFund REV Garage Street: 164 Hamilton City/Town: Palo Alto, CA RSVP Here So, if you are in the Bay Area and want to swing by Palo Alto on Thursday afternoon, come join the conversation.

Lean 74

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 74

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 22, 2009

Loved it and great speaker, but disagree with portrayal of agile only dealing with known problems #leanstartup Im really interested in perspectives on this point. For example, the agile practice of an in-house customer or product owner that can make authoritative prioritization decisions seems like it doesnt translate very well to startups.

Lean 76

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Startup 76

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

g2s The very abbreviated version of Customer Development (channeling Steve Blank ). A lot of conversation was about what "the federal government" should do. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Tell your Startup Visa story Speaking 2010: Webstock, GDC, Web 2.0,

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San Francisco DC Washington Lean 92

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

We agreed that all her founding CEOs seemed to have the same set of personality traits – tenacious, passionate, relentless, resilient, agile, and comfortable operating in chaos. The lunch conversation was an interesting data point to add to a hypothesis I’ve had. Great founders live for these moments.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 27, 2009

Do it right, and your conversion rates might be as high as 20%. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Tell your Startup Visa story Speaking 2010: Webstock, GDC, Web 2.0, Do it wrong, and your LTV gets very close to zero. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 148

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 148

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 4, 2010 Stop lying on stage Entrepreneurs crave information about successful startups, and they should. Paul Graham is getting his startups the best advice he can in the best way he knows: by giving them exclusive access to off-the-record conversations that nobody else is privy to.

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