Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2021

– while simultaneously building a series of minimal viable products. Unlike traditional demo days or Shark Tanks which are, “Here’s how smart I am, and isn’t this a great product, please give me money,” a Lessons Learned presentation tells the story of a team’s 10-week journey and hard-won learning and discovery.

Lean 385

Lean Security Asia SBIR 385

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. Later entrants who miss that wave have to build real products that people want to buy. Often no usable products exist and commercial viability is unproven.

Artificial Inteligence 318

Artificial Inteligence Lean Exit Strategy Startup 318

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

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. We thought this would be perfect for our product. Here’s how that happened.

Lean 315

Lean Customer Development Sales Cycle Business Model 315

Steve Blank

JUNE 12, 2020

32 students were scattered across the globe and given a seemingly impossible assignment- they had 10 weeks to understand and then solve a real Dept of Defense problem – by interviewing 100 beneficiaries, stakeholders, requirements writers, et al while simultaneously building a series of minimal viable products – all while never leaving their room.

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. Product development. Acquisitions.

Marketing 115

Marketing Framework Metrics Channel 115

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. The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a great example. The Innovation Insurgency.

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. The National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) is a great example. The Innovation Insurgency.

Lean 177

Lean Silicon Valley Government Acquisition 177

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2018

(Almost) everything you need to know (but are afraid to ask) before you wistfully ask a product manager to coffee so they will help you find a job. TL;DR Product management is a unique and poorly understood discipline, especially as it applies to software and other tech-related companies.

Management 85

Management Product Technical Review Software Review 85

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.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 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. Later entrants who miss that wave have to build real products that people want to buy. Often no usable products exist and commercial viability is unproven.

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Lean Exit Strategy Startup 120

Steve Blank

JANUARY 5, 2023

” Team 3: Acquisition. We were integrating a lecture class with a heavy reading list with the best practices of hypothesis testing from Lean Launchpad/Hacking for Defense/I-Corps. Original Problem Statement: Supply and production of lithium-ion batteries is centered in China. national security issues. How can the U.S.

Technical Review 353

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Technology China 353

Steve Blank

JANUARY 30, 2013

Entrenched Innovation Model Issues : Qualcomm’s existing innovation model – wireless products were created in the R&D lab and then handed over to existing business units for commercialization – was wildly successful in the existing wireless and mobile space. Part 1 outlining the program is here. Read it first.

Programming 265

Programming Technical Review Incubator Intellectual Property 265

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

People mistook extra doses of Ajax for a successful product. 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. portfolios. Here’s why.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Like a teenager with a million-dollar allowance and an identity crisis, a startup with too much capital and no product-market fit will become capable of making larger mistakes. These lost startups land higher valuations, have larger teams, outsource more product development and spend more money on customer acquisition than their peers.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

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

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

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2014

Now you can watch Part 2 “ The Lean Approach “ This group of six videos provides an overview of how to successfully do Customer Discovery. These “ Startup and The Lean Approach ” videos are a great general purpose companion to my “ How to Build a Startup ” lectures on Udacity. Module 1, The Lean Method.

Intellectual Property 328

Intellectual Property Lean Customer Development Acquisition 328

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

Here is where I see this really play out: Product Management. Most CEOs fancy their own product skills and like to weigh in on priorities. At times I wanted the engineering team to produce features to support our sales efforts to I occasionally leaned on them a bit. CEOs often meddle in products and dev teams hate it.

Startup 150

Startup CTO Hire Sales Leadership 150

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 AARRR model (hence pirates, get it?)

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 29, 2017

He says the “create” approach means working on your project until you’re certain it’s completely polished and looks like the top products in the market, and your strategies and sales tools are all top-notch before you ever think of launching. Two of my startups failed because I was so busy “creating” or perfecting the products.

Acquisition 93

Acquisition Startup Engineer Metrics 93

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development. So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

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]. Unlimited Vacation Doesn’t Create Slackers–It Ensures Productivity – [link]. – [link].

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

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

You must have a prototype or a minimum viable product (MVP). To fund the sudden spike in production, funds will be required for additional inventory and wages. It is going to cost a lot of money just to get the initial batch of products to test the market and would definitely require external funding. Crowdfunding. Early-stage.

Startup 150

Startup Entrepreneur Elevator Pitch Seed Stage 150

ConversionXL

MARCH 19, 2020

Greater discipline during boom times offered more flexibility during lean years. And getting it right during the lean years, Bain reports , has a massive impact on companies’ growth rate after things improve: ( Image source ). Use that intelligence to inform product portfolio and investment choices.”.

Marketing 121

Marketing Campaign Non-Compete Lean 121

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

In my daily work with ecommerce brands, I see two types of companies: The first type focuses on acquisition and conversion. Overall acquisition costs for both B2C and B2B have gone up by 50% in the past five years. Also, cohort behavior often reflects the use of the product over time. The second relies on retention.

Retention 126

Retention Analytics Campaign eCommerce 126

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 Quickly iterate the product in front of customers.

Lean 258

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 28, 2014

We’re going to start aggressively spend money on marketing our product. We want money to make some acquisitions (investors would prefer to fund M&A if they know specific deals – not to encourage bad behavior. We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok. but that’s our firm’s money on your balance sheet.

Burn Rate 383

Burn Rate Balance Sheet .Net Valuation 383

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

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. Afterward, I met the CIO from one of our law firm clients who was in the audience.

Iowa 113

Iowa Investment Bankers Cloud Software Review 113

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. Take Duolingo’s app product page.

Metadata 121

Metadata Technical Review Retention Metrics 121

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 22, 2010

5 Essential Web Apps for the Lean Small Business – [link]. Lean Marketing Strategies for Small Businesses and Startups – [link]. Product Success and Innovation – [link]. An entrepreneur tells us how he screwed up his Google acquisition – [link]. Ten small business tax planning tips for 2010!

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

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. The first step to running your own business is creating a solid plan.

Web 86

Web Design Software Review Elevator Pitch 86

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. All of these are accomplished with minimal resources to deploy at scale products/services that are needed and wanted. Acquire at Speed.

Security 217

Security Silicon Valley China Private Equity 217

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

Which terms are people using to search for your products? Detail the customer demographics that purchase certain products or services. Next, look at the current state of your market: Who’s interested in your product or services? Where do visitors spend the most time? Which actions do visitors take? Dig into your sales data too.

Advertising 131

Advertising Cost Customer PR 131

Up and Running

JUNE 25, 2020

You’ve built credibility with them meaning they’re more likely to purchase from you again or even pay more for additional services and new products. Add a new product line that compliments previous purchases. Sponsor or donate to nonprofits, provide free products or services for initiatives you care about, or host community events.

Small Business 180

Small Business Hosting Social Media Community 180