Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2015

But for startups with limited resources and experience, I always recommend a soft launch or toe-in-the-water approach in a local market -- and scale up later. In fact, for startups, it usually makes sense to announce your solution on social media and blogs even before you have built the first one. Maximum agility for required pivots.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Startup Stealth Agile 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 26, 2019

The class was unique in that it was 1) team-based, 2) experiential, 3) lean-driven (hypothesis testing/business model/customer development/agile engineering). When we started this class, the concept of Lean (business models, customer development, agile, pivots, mvp’s) was new to everyone.

Lean 248

Lean Business Model Balance Sheet Video 248

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

It’s time to update Build, Measure, Learn to what we now know is the best way to build Lean startups. Only after shipping and attempting to sell the product would a startup hear any substantive feedback from customers. Best practices in software development started to move to agile development in the early 2000’s.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 13, 2024

Startups in the cybersecurity sector are facing a daunting market environment , contending with decreased valuations and increasing pressure to sell while competing for vital funding and collaborations.

Down Round 154

Down Round Marketing Artificial Inteligence Startup 154

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2014

—— The Lean Startup process builds new ventures more efficiently. It has three parts: a business model canvas to frame hypotheses, customer development to get out of the building to test those hypotheses and agile engineering to build minimum viable products. His new book does three things: 1.

Business Model 335

Business Model Design Customer Development Lean 335

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2023

If you feel trapped in an unsatisfying and limiting role as a business professional, I urge you to assess your own interest and level of ownership thinking as a means of enhancing your career or growing your own business. Amazon and Jeff Bezos credit much of their growth and success to incenting innovative business “experiments.”

Metrics 279

Metrics Startup Agile Salary 279

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. The next customer segment we tried was startup founders.

Lean 315

Lean Customer Development Sales Cycle Business Model 315

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 17, 2022

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according to a classic Crunchbase article. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Super angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Angel Investor 342

Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Portfolio 342

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

63 scientists and engineers in 21 teams made 2,000 customer calls in 8 weeks , turning laboratory ideas into formidable startups. The Innovation Corps Startup Team. We taught them the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. This week we saw the results. Your Country Needs You.

Incubator 301

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 301

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

And he recognized it was making his startup feel and act like a big ponderous company. Most decisions in a startup must be made in the face of uncertainty. One of the things he mentioned was that when it came to decision-making he still tended to think and act like an engineer. The same is true in your company.

Silicon Valley 300

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 300

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2021

By the end of the 20th century entrepreneurship education fell into two categories: 1) starting small businesses and 2) starting high-growth, high-risk scalable startups. But both types of entrepreneurship courses were taught using case studies and taught students how to write and execute a business plan.

Lean 433

Lean Agile Business Model Business Plan 433

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 19, 2020

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over twice as many companies, according the Crunchbase. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Many have disappeared, and others have forgotten how to be agile and innovative.

Angel Investor 314

Angel Investor Venture Capital Silicon Valley Startup 314

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. – not just web-based startups.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 7, 2016

Every startup begins with an idea, but from that point forward, it’s all about execution. Success requires moving your passion quickly from the idea to the business implementation. Smart entrepreneurs architect a value chain that includes customers, partners and vendors, based on market dynamics. A great business must be agile.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Architecture Agile Business Model 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

Alexander Osterwalder and I spent last week in Salt Lake City, Utah as judges at the 2 nd Annual International Business Model Competition , hosted by Professor Nathan Furr , and his team at the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship. But for startups, business plans fail to match the chaotic reality they encounter in the real world.

Business Model 263

Business Model Customer Development Utah Business Plan 263

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2023

In the realm of great business ideas, a well-crafted business plan takes center stage. It's your persuasive pitch to potential investors, outlining your startup's objectives and profitability strategy. It's not just a document; it's a dynamic tool that continues to guide our business's evolution.

Business Plan 127

Business Plan Jordan Entrepreneur Florida 127

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 20, 2017

by Amanda Setili, author of “ Fearless Growth: The New Rules to Stay Competitive, Foster Innovation, and Dominate Your Markets “ Growth has always been fundamental to business success, but it’s never been more critical than it is now. Do we develop new capabilities internally or partner? Not anymore.

Technical Review 147

Technical Review Malaysia Agile Employee 147

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2021

Although the class was run completely online, and even though they were suffering from Zoom fatigue, the 10 teams of 42 students collectively interviewed 1,142 beneficiaries, stakeholders, requirements writers, program managers, industry partners, etc. – while simultaneously building a series of minimal viable products.

Lean 385

Lean Security Asia SBIR 385

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. Perhaps that’s because where established companies might see risks or threats, startups see opportunity. Innovation.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2020

We’re holding a series of 5-day online classes at Stanford where teams will learn how to develop new business models for an economy that’s getting back to work and on the road to recovery. The Covid-19 virus has upended traditional ways of doing business, travel, education, entertainment, healthcare, etc. Sign up at [link].

Lean 436

Lean Business Model Affiliate Incubator 436

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2010

The key things I want students to take from the class are: Understand that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a profitable business model. Learn how to put together a business model , not a business plan. Having a teaching partner makes life a lot easier and the class improves.

Business Model 226

Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 226

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. Look for every opportunity to scale the business. Assure team members are always fully engaged.

Agile 229

Agile Leadership Global Distribution 229

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

In the last five years “ Lean Startup ” methodologies have enabled entrepreneurs to efficiently build a startup by searching for product/market fit rather than blindly trying to execute. Companies pursuing innovation can Buy, Build, Partner or use Open Innovation. We can adapt these startup tools for use inside the corporation.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 21, 2011

The Stanford Lean LaunchPad class was an experiment with a new model of teaching startup entrepreneurship. All the teams were showing us what agile looked like, but this week several would remind us what focused and relentless really meant. Their week 6 business model now looked like this: .

Channel 215

Channel Artificial Inteligence San Francisco Business Model 215

Steve Blank

JANUARY 25, 2010

Everyone knows what a startup is for – don’t they? 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 ?

Agile 335

Agile Startup Silicon Valley Business Model 335

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). Venture Capital Cafe > Startup Resources (Updated Mar 2013). VC & Startup Resources. Seed Startups. VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Hundreds of startups featured since 2005, will yours be next? About VC Cafe.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

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. Do startups have a manual?

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2014

Venture capitalists (VCs) have long been seen as the top of the pyramid for startup funding sources, but in fact angel investors now fund over 60 times as many companies, according the Center for Venture Research. The cost of entry for tech startups continues to go down. Super Angels have greater scope to match talent with a startup.

Angel Investor 260

Angel Investor Silicon Valley Startup Portfolio 260

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Among its many implications, the digital office means that jobs don’t necessarily need to be done in-person, and today’s startup leaders are realizing that many projects can be done at a lower cost remotely, without any drop in quality. Still, COVID-19 helped tip the balance towards a globally distributed model.

Distribution 145

Distribution Global Agile Startup 145

Steve Blank

APRIL 7, 2020

The classes are built on the Lean Startup methodology: Customer Discovery, Agile Engineering and the Business/Mission Model Canvas. How do should startups do it? It’s what you can show a potential customer/ user/ beneficiary/partner that will get you the most learning at a point in time. Which are permanent?

Customer 413

Customer Business Model Restful Video 413

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Useful blogs and links for startups Click Here ————– 2.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

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. Product Development Diagram 1.

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2012

One of the confusing things to entrepreneurs, investors and educators is the relationship between customer development and business model design and business planning and execution. When does a new venture focus on customer development and business models ? Here’s an attempt to put this all in context.

Search 320

Search Business Model Customer Development Agile 320

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

Ten years ago I started thinking about why startups are different from existing companies. I wondered if business plans and 5-year forecasts were the right way to plan a startup. Experienced entrepreneurs kept finding that no business plan survived first contact with customers. He called it the “Lean Startup.”.

Lean 317

Lean Georgia Michigan Business Model 317

Steve Blank

JUNE 18, 2013

Ten years ago I started thinking about why startups are different from existing companies. I wondered if business plans and 5-year forecasts were the right way to plan a startup. So what would a search process for a business model look like? In 2004 I funded IMVU, a startup by Will Harvey and Eric Ries.

Lean 286

Lean Agile Customer Development Business Model 286

Agile VC

MARCH 30, 2012

AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups. Is “Data” a Business Model? Several years ago I wrote a post about the three business models of the consumer web : commerce, advertising, and user-paid premium services. So is “data” now a new business model, as some suggest?

Business Model 113

Business Model Silicon Valley Advertising B2B 113