Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 19, 2012

Guest post by Sarah Milstein, co-host of The Lean Startup Conference. At a party in NYC recently, I was challenged by a VC to name the biggest company currently using Lean Startup practices. I think he expected me to describe a medium-sized startup or maybe some small, old-school media organization.

Lean 167

Lean Saudi Arabia Startup Technical Review 167

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

Over the last three years our Lean LaunchPad / NSF Innovation Corps classes have been teaching hundreds of entrepreneurial teams a year how to build their startups by getting out of the building and testing their hypotheses behind their business model. Filed under: Customer Development , Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Lean 315

Lean Customer Development Sales Cycle Business Model 315

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

We just finished our Lean LaunchPad class at UC Berkeley’s engineering school where many of the teams embedded machine learning technology into their products. Most often the first acquisitions in a hype cycle are for the “shiny objects” – the technology, the team and the tools. Filed under: Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Artificial Inteligence 318

Artificial Inteligence Lean Exit Strategy Startup 318

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

I was in New York last week with my class at Columbia University and several events made me realize that the Customer Development model needs to better describe its fit with web-based businesses. However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 9, 2013

As our Lean LaunchPad for Life Sciences class winds down, a good number of the 26 teams are trying to figure out whether they should go forward to turn their class project into a business. You don’t want to do Customer Development with them. Filed under: Family/Career/Culture , Lean LaunchPad , Life Sciences.

Cofounder 325

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Liquidity Event Lean 325

Steve Blank

JANUARY 5, 2023

Students formed teams and developed hypotheses of how commercial technologies can be used in new and creative ways to help the U.S. By week 2 of the class students formed teams around a specific technology challenge facing a US government agency and worked throughout the course to develop their own proposals to help the U.S.

Technical Review 353

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Technology China 353

Steve Blank

JUNE 12, 2020

All the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ) Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, but all of their journeys were unique. Hacking for Defense has its origins in the Lean LaunchPad class I first taught at Stanford in 2011. Our goal was to teach both theory and practice.

Oakland 301

Oakland Asia Lean Video 301

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

This philosophy comes from The Lean Startup methodology , which relies on testing hypotheses to better understand your customers’ pain points and goals. It outlines four major growth strategies: market penetration , market development , product development , and diversification. Market development. Product development.

Marketing 115

Marketing Framework Metrics Channel 115

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

I am always surprised when critics complain that the Lean Startup’s Build, Measure, Learn approach is nothing more than “throwing incomplete products out of the building to see if they work.”. It’s time to update Build, Measure, Learn to what we now know is the best way to build Lean startups. Waterfall Development.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 29, 2016

We tend to associate the government with words like bureaucracy rather than lean innovation. Department of Defense by adopting Lean Methodology inside their agency. The NGA has adopted Lean Innovation methods to make this happen. Their goal is to integrate these techniques into their own Lean innovation processes.

Lean 177

Lean Silicon Valley Government Acquisition 177

Steve Blank

AUGUST 29, 2016

We tend to associate the government with words like bureaucracy rather than lean innovation. Department of Defense by adopting Lean Methodology inside their agency. The NGA has adopted Lean Innovation methods to make this happen. Their goal is to integrate these techniques into their own Lean innovation processes.

Lean 177

Lean Silicon Valley Government Acquisition 177

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2020

We started developing capabilities as part of that great power competition with the Soviet Union. There are five things we have to do to set up Space Force: Developing our own people is a big piece of what we’re focusing on. We need to develop space experts that understand how to operate in the contested domain.

Technology 284

Technology United States Iraq Operations 284

Steve Blank

JANUARY 30, 2013

Doing so meant they would have to take risks for IP acquisition and customer/market risks outside their experience or comfort zone. I earnestly believe that large corporations should emulate Lean Startups (Business model design, Customer Development and Agile Engineering.)

Programming 265

Programming Technical Review Incubator Intellectual Property 265

View from Seed

MARCH 19, 2015

He’s dubbed the approach “ pretotyping ,” and it shares many of the same principles as both its similar-sounding (if later-stage) cousin, prototyping, as well as the more well-known lean startup movement. NVV: Lots of entrepreneurs reading this will think about the lean startup movement when they hear about pretotyping.

Product 120

Product Technical Review Marketing Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2016

We just finished our Lean LaunchPad class at UC Berkeley’s engineering school where many of the teams embedded machine learning technology into their products. Most often the first acquisitions in a hype cycle are for the “shiny objects” – the technology, the team and the tools. Filed under: Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Lean Exit Strategy Startup 120

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The first three skills I espoused were: access to the highest-quality deal-flow, domain knowledge of the topic area in which you’re investing and access to VCs to help fund the next stages of development. But consider periods of time where the average time a company exists before acquisition or IPO is 7-10 years.

Cap Table 283

Cap Table Angel Investor Liquidation Preference Deal Flow 283

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2014

Kauffman launched Founders School - a new education series to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses during the startup stage by highlighting how startups are different from big companies. These “ Startup and The Lean Approach ” videos are a great general purpose companion to my “ How to Build a Startup ” lectures on Udacity.

Intellectual Property 328

Intellectual Property Lean Customer Development Acquisition 328

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 21, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. The Lean Startup Conference was founded four years ago to bring together real entrepreneurs who have applied Lean Startup techniques and have useful advice to share with each other. These show success at your core business. Retention (do they return?),

Lean 167

Lean Louisville Startup Metrics 167

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 3, 2010

As I’ve written in the past, I encourage companies I’m an investor in to continually explore small acquisitions when entrepreneurs have created something that is on their roadmap. AgileZen was one such company and the acquisition has been a successful one for everyone. Why did you start AgileZen ?

Founder 122

Founder Acquisition Software Developers Software Development 122

Up and Running

JANUARY 15, 2018

Once you’ve decided that you’re ready to start a small web design firm, you’ll need to develop a host of skills to help you run a successful business, including time management, sales and promotional strategies, and client acquisition. Create a Lean Business Plan. Developing relationships with clients. Develop a routine.

Web 86

Web Design Software Review Elevator Pitch 86

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

and the subsequent acquisition sprees of companies like Google, Yahoo!, The last couple of years has also seen the huge initial success of Ycombinator, the Lean Startup and many other product driven approaches to going to market. That died with waterfall software development. Cisco and others went out to fill out their Web 2.0

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

is an elegant way to model any service-oriented business: Acquisition Activation Retention Referral Revenue We used a very similar scheme at IMVU, although we werent lucky enough to have started with this framework, and so had to derive a lot of it ourselves via trial and error. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 22, 2018

He also shared that, initially, he was leaning toward building an experience management solution in-house, and that it was only at the insistence of the firm’s CMO that he relented and engaged our firm. The develop in-house side would point to the existing investment in staff talent.

Iowa 113

Iowa Investment Bankers Cloud Software Review 113

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. The Rise of the “Lean VC’s” – Consumer Internet Gets Funded. Lean VC’s are Different.

Lean 258

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 3, 2021

Done right, ASO can reduce user acquisition costs, increase app downloads, and improve your app’s value. Lowering your customer acquisition costs (CAC). What hobbies do they lean on to pass the time or fulfill a passion? Then, target them with user acquisition campaigns. What helps them wind down after a long day?

Metadata 121

Metadata Technical Review Retention Metrics 121

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 11, 2012

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – [link]. Six Myths of Product Development – [link]. Building It Is Not Enough: 5 Practical Tips On User Acquisition – [link]. Six Myths of Product Development – [link]. Web Tool of the Month: crowdSPRING – [link]. – [link].

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2022

Innovation incorporates lean methodologies (customer discovery, problem understanding, MVPs, Pivots), coupled with speed and urgency, and a culture where failure equals rapid learning. CONOPS Development. Internships and Professional Workforce Development – Innovation Workforce Vignettes. What We Presented. Conference.

Security 217

Security Silicon Valley China Private Equity 217

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

These lost startups land higher valuations, have larger teams, outsource more product development and spend more money on customer acquisition than their peers. Sometimes founders misapply lean startup methodology. Before you indulge in marketing, sales and blinged-out offices, find product-market fit.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 2, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. On October 8 at 10a PT, we’ll be talking about bringing Lean Startup methods to established companies, precisely the kinds of businesses that are most resistant to experimentation, even as they desperately need it. That''s hard. That’s Eric Ries’s job.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Agile Leadership 167

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 1, 2020

Once the order is fulfilled and paid for, the funds can be paid back. ? Research and development. In very few specific cases, depending on the nature of the business, the business model might demand a considerable gestation period or extensive research and development. Both of which are expensive and time-consuming. Crowdfunding.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

This actually aligns closely with the Lean Planning approach, which allows your business to be more agile and make adjustments as you test your idea in the market. But for this to work, you need to develop the habit of tracking all your numbers. Business must be calculable—and it’s same with customer acquisition.

Acquisition 93

Acquisition Startup Engineer Metrics 93

Up and Running

JUNE 25, 2020

You went through the process of identifying a target market when developing your business plan. Additionally, as you look to bring on new employees, you’ll also want to focus on your current staff’s professional development. Develop additional income streams. Know your customers.

Small Business 180

Small Business Hosting Social Media Community 180

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 8, 2013

The Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition | KISSmetrics Blog – [link]. “Any organization … can develop faster, more effective, cheaper solutions to problems by challenging its people.” The Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition | KISSmetrics Blog – [link]. ” – [link]. Answer: [link].

Social Media 105

Social Media Small Business Design Media 105

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2016

It ultimately failed because she was focused on engineering the product, but didn’t validate the rest of her business model (product/market fit, distribution channel, customer acquisition, etc.). Instead, I went the Software as a Service route and tried to charge for what was a commodity product. I was totally a nerd. Clay : Yeah.

Detroit 120

Detroit Baltimore Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. Analytics spark more questions and discussion than almost any other aspect of the Lean Startup method. Alistair and Ben, co-authors of the book Lean Analytics, will help you sort it out in our next webcast, Lean Analytics for Non-tech Companies.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Tech acquisitions went crazy at the same time the IPO market did. The Rise of Mergers and Acquisitions -– March 2003 -2008 After the dot.com bubble collapsed, the IPO market (and most tech M&A deals) shutdown for technology companies. And some companies didn’t even have to go public to get liquid. billion.)

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Brendan Sterne , who unearthed the above articles on Amazon’s process, notes that Amazon differs from the model advocated in Lean Startup, which “aims to put a concrete prototype in front of consumers to validate the product.”. While those acquisition efforts worked well, not all do. Cheap acquisition is (too) cheap.

Product 110

Product Campaign Acquisition Social Media 110