Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2023

For some people, business is just a job, whereas with ownership thinking, your business health is the real measure of your personal success and growth. Rather than a focus on salary and perks, your focus is on customers, revenue, and operations. Your personal goal is to succeed in business.

Metrics 279

Metrics Startup Agile Salary 279

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 8, 2023

Customers will be even more comfortable with the introduction of voice commerce, another unicorn of the online shopping experience. Sustainability is the Queen In 2023, customers have become even more environmentally conscious, as recent statistics prove. Only in 2021, 72.9% Amazon has been at it for years.

eCommerce 185

eCommerce Technical Review Software Review Analytics 185

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Metrics like Return on Net Assets, Return on Capital and Internal Rate of Return are the guiding stars of the board and CEO. As Harvard professor Clayton Christensen noted, these efficiency metrics provided wise guidance for times when capital was scarce and raising money was hard. Act Like a Startup.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

Over my career as a serial entrepreneur I observed that since the late 1990s, no early-stage Silicon Valley investor had used business plans to screen investments. Traction and evidence from customers were what investors were looking for – even in “slow” sectors like healthcare and energy. The Business Plan is Dead.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2021

Analyzing a case in the classroom, removed from the realities of a new venture, adds little to an entrepreneur’s preparation for the chaos, uncertainty, and conflicting customer responses that all entrepreneurs face. The reality is that most business plans don’t survive first contact with customers.

Lean 433

Lean Agile Business Model Business Plan 433

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2023

To achieve success in your business despite today’s volatile global markets , you and your team must have a mindset that goes beyond the traditional strategies of repeatable processes and lower costs. Measure progress through metrics on sales, revenue, and penetration. Seek customer feedback on ways to improve value and satisfaction.

Agile 229

Agile Leadership Global Distribution 229

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2016

Founders soon learn that customers only spend real money for solutions rather than ideas. Success requires moving your passion quickly from the idea to the business implementation. Success requires moving your passion quickly from the idea to the business implementation. Enable team members to run the business as their own.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Architecture Agile Business Model 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

The first, the notion of the “ ambidextrous organization ” from O’Reilly and Tushman , posits that companies that want to do continuous innovation need to execute their core business model while innovating in parallel. Horizon 1 activities support existing business models. Horizon 1 is the company’s core business.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2012

When Bob Dorf and I wrote the Startup Owners Manual we listed a series of Customer Development principles. for A Repeatable and Scalable Business Model. Pair Customer Development with Agile Development. Failure is an Integral Part of the Search for the Business Model. Not All Startups Are Alike.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Cofounder 328

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Lean Planning is a set of tools for discovering a business model that works, building an action plan to test your assumptions, creating financial models and a plan for a viable business, and tracking your performance so you can adjust your plan on the fly, quickly and easily.

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Steve Blank

APRIL 21, 2011

All the teams were showing us what agile looked like, but this week several would remind us what focused and relentless really meant. Last week the teams tested their hypotheses about Customer Relationships (how do they get, keep and grow customers.) its product or service) to its customers. Week 6 of the class.

Channel 215

Channel Artificial Inteligence San Francisco Business Model 215

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

None of this was law, and nothing in writing required this; this was just how these firms did business to protect their large institutional customers who would buy the stock. This required a repeatable and scalable sales process, which required a professional sales staff and a product stable enough that customers wouldn’t return it.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. Every board meeting, the metrics of success change.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

As we prepared for the new Hacking for Defense class at Stanford, we had to stop and ask ourselves: How do we use the Business Model Canvas if the primary goal is not to earn money, but to fulfill a mission? In other words, how can we adapt the Business Model Canvas when the metrics of success for an organization is not revenue?

Business Model 120

Business Model Revenue Channel Community 120

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, December 14, 2009 Business ecology and the four customer currencies Lately, I’ve been rethinking the concept of “business model&# for startups, in favor of something I call “business ecology.&# Let’s begin with the four customer currencies.

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

ConversionXL

APRIL 3, 2019

Joanna Wiebe: “Writing Mirrors: How to Use the Voice of the Customer to Write High-Converting Copy”. Carrie Bolton: “Get Real with Your Customers and Your Executives—How to Really Improve the Customer Experience. The customer experience is the customer’s perception of their interaction with your business.

Artificial Inteligence 114

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Metrics SEO 114

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2009

Gathering real-world feedback from customers is a core concept of Customer Development as well as the Lean Startup. When I asked him if he actually had personally left the building and talked to these potential customers, or even had gotten them on the phone, he sounded confused. Metrics tell you that something is happening.

Metrics 239

Metrics Customer Customer Development Lean 239

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 22, 2008 The three drivers of growth for your business model. Master of 500 Hats: Startup Metrics for Pirates (SeedCamp 2008, London) This presentation should be required reading for anyone creating a startup with an online service component. Choose one.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Steve Blank

MARCH 4, 2014

These groups are adapting or adopting the practices of startups and accelerators – disruption and innovation rather than direct competition, customer development versus more product features, agility and speed versus lowest cost. Every large company, whether it can articulate it or not, is executing a proven business model (s).

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2020

Too many employees these days, and even executives, are focused only on doing what they have been told, without regard to impact on the business. You can and must fix this by communicating business goals and objectives, and establishing personal metrics which only reward success.

Advisory Board 283

Advisory Board Due Diligence Retention Agile 283

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. Teams can prove their competence and validate their ideas by showing investors evidence that there’s a repeatable and scalable business model.

Oakland 326

Oakland Incubator Lean Metrics 326

Steve Blank

JUNE 21, 2017

6:22 What’s Customer Development. 7:11 Agile Engineering – Eric Ries. 8:05 Business Model Canvas – Alexander Osterwalder. 32:05 No Innovation Pipeline, Guidance or Metrics. Or just parts of the interview: 1:20 Failure and Lessons Learned. 2:35 The origins of the Lean Startup.

Silicon Valley 222

Silicon Valley Lean Government Boston 222

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

But by taking advantage of open source, agile software, and iterative development, lean startups can operate with much less waste. So far, I have found "lean startup" works better with the entrepreneurs Ive talked to than "agile startup" or even "extreme startup.") Labels: customer development , lean startup 8comments: Amy said.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Steve Blank

JUNE 23, 2016

As a consequence, corporations used metrics like return on net assets (RONA), return on capital deployed, and internal rate of return (IRR) to measure efficiency. These metrics make it difficult for a company that wants to invest in long-term innovation. These resulting business models made them look incredibly profitable.

Architecture 227

Architecture IRR Balance Sheet Liquidity Event 227

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 8, 2019

In my other role of business advisor, I see examples often of startups that may have taken success for granted too early. For a successful launch and scalable growth, they need to establish many checkpoints, with metrics to assess their progress and alignment with the vision. Focus on existing customer retention and repeat business.

Angel Investor 220

Angel Investor Equity Leadership Demand 220

Steve Blank

JANUARY 25, 2010

In this post we’re going to offer a new definition of why startups exist : a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. A Business Model. Ok, but what is a business model ? A business model describes how your company creates, delivers and captures value.

Agile 335

Agile Startup Silicon Valley Business Model 335

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2012

The more your narrow down your target audience, the higher the chance is that you will be able to reach the crucial turning-point where you offer your customers enough added value to make them happy and returning. The metrics that matter the most are returning customers (user retention), turnover per customer and viral growth (k-factor).

Bankruptcy 121

Bankruptcy Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence 121

Women Entrepreneurs Can

MARCH 2, 2023

However, we may not be aware that our weight loss journey requires customization because we have different metabolisms, dietary needs, and lifestyles, which can impact our progress. The outcomes of our experiments are the pathways to discovering more about our customer’s behaviors and providing critical input into our business approach.

Lean 98

Lean South Korea Metrics Framework 98

Women Entrepreneurs Can

MARCH 18, 2024

However, the benefits extend further, offering enhanced customer service and fostering an environment that can quickly adapt to market changes or internal shifts in policy and procedures. This transformative journey isn’t just about internal processes; customer interactions can be enhanced significantly, too.

Artificial Inteligence 52

Artificial Inteligence Cloud Agile Operations 52

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. Your pitch is going to cover your strategy (what you’re going to do), your tactics (how you’re going to do it), your business model (how you will make money), and your schedule (who is doing what and when).

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2015

And worse, even if someone does manage to start something new, our management structure has so many financial, legal and HR hurdles that every initiative needs to match our existing business financial metrics, processes and procedures. More agile competitors are starting to eat into our business. What Drives Innovation?

Widget 120

Widget Lean Business Model Metrics 120

Occam's Razor

MAY 2, 2017

People ask me this seemingly simple question all the time: What Key Performance Indicators should we use for our business ? There is no golden metric for everyone, we are all unique snowflakes! :). I am going to pick a whole bunch of different businesses (15 in all!), If you want to play along. Don’t read what I’ve chosen.

Metrics 141

Metrics Acquisition eCommerce Analytics 141

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Business schools teach aspiring executives a variety of courses around the execution of known business models, (accounting, organizational behavior, managerial skills, marketing, operations, etc.). In contrast, startups search for a business model. (Or Their objective is to get users, orders, customers, etc.

Wiki 311

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 311

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

No wait, I forgot, actually the question is: What happens when employee #2 makes off with your code and roadmap and marketing data and customer list, moves to Bolivia, and starts selling your stuff world-wide at one-tenth the price? On the surface, it's yet another "marketing metrics" company. Yes of course I'll share details!).

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

Steve Blank

JUNE 10, 2010

Both my parents worked as hard as any Silicon Valley entrepreneur but with a different definition of a successful business model; when they made a profit, they could feed our family. When business was bad they figured out why, adapted and worked harder still. All searching for a sustainable business model.

Silicon Valley 328

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur United States New York City 328