SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff. This post looks at the implementation details of HTML 5 video.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

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

JUNE 12, 2020

And the trick is we use the same Lean LaunchPad / I-Corps curriculum — and kept the same class structure – experiential, hands-on, driven this time by a mission -model not a business model. Hacking for Defense has its origins in the Lean LaunchPad class I first taught at Stanford in 2011. Goals for the Hacking for Defense Class.

Oakland 301

Oakland Asia Lean Video 301

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. Here’s how. Build-Measure-Learn.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

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

JANUARY 21, 2016

These topics were the focus of interviews with the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern). And before he was an entrepreneur, when he was at a foundry, things were going really well, and he was promoted to foreman. Clay : Yeah.

Detroit 120

Detroit Baltimore Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 19, 2018

Often entrepreneurs and business owners create their New Year’s Resolutions around their business. We asked entrepreneurs to share their business goals and what they were looking forward to in 2018. #1- We are improving our new client acquisition capability, using market feedback to improve our technology and user experience in 2018.

Detroit 89

Detroit Entrepreneur Technical Review Revenue 89

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

This is the fourth article in a series on what it takes to be a great angel investor (and why this should matter to entrepreneurs). But consider periods of time where the average time a company exists before acquisition or IPO is 7-10 years. Part 1 – Access to Great Deal Flow – is here. This is actually the norm.

Cap Table 283

Cap Table Angel Investor Liquidation Preference Deal Flow 283

Up and Running

MAY 3, 2012

After all, entrepreneurs can do many good things, not least to create wealth and employment, pay taxes and help the balance of trade through exports. Eric Ries , author of The Lean Start-up , puts it best: ‘ The grim reality is that most start-ups fail. We’re all failing this generation of entrepreneurs by not being tough on them.

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Technical Review Silicon Valley Lean 82

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

There were tons of young entrepreneurs showing their latest Web 2.0 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.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

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

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

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

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Some entrepreneurs think that (more) money will solve all their company’s problems. 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. How do you know you have it?

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

This requires solid funding to pull off, it’s a huge risk, and will take a lot of time for most rookie entrepreneurs. 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. I knew how to craft products to look good.

Acquisition 93

Acquisition Startup Engineer Metrics 93

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 8, 2016

So it is no wonder that when an entrepreneur starts their second or third business, they incorporate the lessons they learned from their first startup. I’ve been fortunate over the past eight years to work with hundreds of entrepreneurs who have come to the point where they want to sell their business. Be compliant. There are 1.7

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Software Review Balance Sheet Partner 60

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

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 8, 2013

The Skinny on Using Crowdsourcing for Your Business | The Frugal Entrepreneur – [link]. The Ultimate Guide to Customer Acquisition | KISSmetrics Blog – [link]. Women Entrepreneurs Out Earn Men By 14% | Forbes – [link]. The Skinny on Using Crowdsourcing for Your Business | The Frugal Entrepreneur – [link].

Social Media 105

Social Media Small Business Design Media 105

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. There’s lots of lore, emotion, and misconceptions of what VC’s do or don’t do for entrepreneurs. Tech acquisitions went crazy at the same time the IPO market did. What Do VC’s Do?

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

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. The Rise of the “Lean VC’s” – Consumer Internet Gets Funded. I call them “ Lean VC’ s” to emphasize why they’re different. (In Lean VC’s are Different. Here’s why.

Lean 258

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 22, 2010

5 Essential Web Apps for the Lean Small Business – [link]. Lean Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses and Startups – [link]. An entrepreneur tells us how he screwed up his Google acquisition – [link]. Lean Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses and Startups – [link]. – [link].

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

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

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 10, 2022

17:07] I’m seeing more and more agencies talk about growth through acquisition – is that a good way to grow? Jason Blumer (01:29): Yeah, well we serve a community of them and they're, I was saying off, off hair, they're just as weird as normal entrepreneurs and need just as much care. Is that fraught with lots of challenges? [19:44]

CPA 73

CPA Technical Review Revenue Forecast 73

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 11, 2012

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – [link]. Building It Is Not Enough: 5 Practical Tips On User Acquisition – [link]. Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – [link]. Building It Is Not Enough: 5 Practical Tips On User Acquisition – [link].

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 2, 2008

Its the same with acquisitions. 0comments: Post a Comment Newer Post Home Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom) Subscribe via email Blog Archive ► 2010 (48) ► October (3) Case Study: Rapid iteration with hardware The Lean Startup Bundle Stop lying on stage ► September (4) Good enough never is (or is it?) Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 125

San Francisco Software Review Technical Review Continuous Deployment 125

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2019

Lean LaunchPad class developed for Stanford. Innovators are not entrepreneurs. My contribution has been, “Why don’t we design classes more closely modeled to what innovators and entrepreneurs actually do.” And the Lean LaunchPad class I developed at Stanford was the first such class. Worth a read.

Incubator 331

Incubator Lean Programming Government 331

Steve Blank

JUNE 7, 2019

And the trick is we use the same Lean LaunchPad / I-Corps curriculum — and kept the same class structure – experiential, hands-on, driven this time by a mission -model not a business model. Hacking for Defense has its origins in the Lean LaunchPad class I first taught at Stanford in 2011. Goals for the Hacking for Defense Class.

Oakland 266

Oakland Lean SBIR Afghanistan 266

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Here’s Proquo’s lead generation landing page: By doing this, they’re able to progress prospects through the funnel more quickly, reducing cost per acquisition. That Databricks is contributing to Entrepreneur shows they know their stuff. They’ve also leaned on short, benefit-driven copy. Let’s look at a couple of examples.

Advertising 131

Advertising Cost Customer PR 131

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. Entrepreneurs are understandably gratified to hear customer success stories.

Iowa 104

Iowa Investment Bankers Cloud Software Review 104

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 20, 2021

So that’s why we are excited about 2020 because there will be more and more entrepreneurs and businesses. Here’re the changes entrepreneurs and business owners are making in 2021. #1- 2- Cut down customer acquisition costs. Mobile is more important than ever now that COVID is the new reality, and you have to lean into it.

Entrepreneur 118

Entrepreneur Mobile Valuation Global 118

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 13, 2018

The two challenges to growth are getting talent acquisitions and developing scalable methodologies and training to onboard and mentor the growing team. . Going back to your early career decisions, tell us what factors influenced your decision to be an entrepreneur? .

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Founder Due Diligence Early Stage 84

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

We want money to make some acquisitions (investors would prefer to fund M&A if they know specific deals – not to encourage bad behavior. In a world where the economy only heads in one direction (read: 2009-2014) most investors & entrepreneurs forget to pay attention to gross burn. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok.

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

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. What’s the customer acquisition cost?

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

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.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219