Agile, Customer Development, Early Stage and Product Development

The Customer Development Manifesto: The Startup Death Spiral (part.

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Part 4 of the Customer Development Manifesto to follow.

Customer Development

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley

Blowing up the Business Plan at U.C. Berkeley Haas Business School

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. Seeing Is Believing.

Business Plan

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean

Customer Development Manifesto: The Path of Warriors and Winners.

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development.

Customer Development

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley

Raising Money Using Customer Development

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. Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking?

Customer Development

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley

Lessons Learned: Validated learning about customers

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue?

Customer

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick

Lessons Learned: The four kinds of work, and how to get them done.

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, November 17, 2008 The four kinds of work, and how to get them done: part one Ive written before about some of the advantages startups have when they are very small, like the benefits of having a pathetically small number of customers. What is customer development? Expo SF (May.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC

Building a new startup hub

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

The companies I spoke to all agreed that the community there was extremely supportive, especially in the critical ulta-early-stage. Then, create an encouraging environment for early-stage companies. Provide early seed capital, and be the ones to make those introductions. And do your customer development.

San Francisco

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean

Techstars brings The Lean Startup to Boulder

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

A discounted price is available for early stage entrepreneurs and students. In 2002 I became exposed to the idea of “agile software development&# and subsequently was a first round investor in Rally Software which is now the market leader in Agile application lifecycle management software. Expo SF (May.

Lean

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC

Convergent Technologies: War Story 1 – Selling with Sports Scores.

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

They couldn’t keep up with the fast product development times that were enabled by using standard microprocessors. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products. The answer depends on your answer to two questions: which step in the Customer Development process are you on?

Technology

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE

Vision versus Hallucination – Founders and Pivots

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2012

It was great to watch him embrace the spirit and practice of customer development. He was constantly in front of customers, listening, selling, installing and learning. I got to spend time inside his company while I was using their software to analyze early-stage ventures. We’re building the wrong product!”

Founder

Founder Cofounder Advisory Board Burn Rate

How to listen to customers, and not just the loud people

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

The people who are the lifeblood of an early-stage startup are earlyvangelists. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? They just dont need another authority figure in their life.

San Francisco

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment

Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and what's changed since.

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

When it becomes possible to build products "live" with customers, the cycle time changes and design becomes a much more dynamic process. We still struggle to create Firm software that is defect-free, and it still requires customer insight (and maybe some customer development) to discover what will Delight.

Software Review

Software Review Design Software San Francisco

The Lean Entrepreneur is here

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

BetaBrand building apparel MVPs and testing them quickly with targeted customer communities. Telecom O2 learning to move at the speed of the internet 500 Startups and their accelerated feedback loops on what works, and what doesn't work in early-stage investing. The result: a new idea I called The Lean Startup. It's a big tent.

Lean

Lean Entrepreneur Agile San Francisco

Lessons Learned on Mashable today

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

That fostering and encourage entrepreneurs to bring companies and products to market is a great source of innovation, job creation, etc. Unfortunately, they are disinterested in doing the hard work to help early stage entrepreneurs and companies. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco

San Francisco Tampa Continuous Deployment Lean

The Lean Startup Tokyo edition

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2009

Many founders dont like to hear that visionary customers are as smart, maybe even more so, than they are. Startups need to spend time with these customers. In fact, early stage companies shouldnt be able to get time from anyone else - who else would be crazy enough to try an truly innovative new product?

Lean

Lean San Francisco Japan Continuous Deployment

It's a startup, not a spreadsheet

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

In other words, we want to use the spreadsheet to quantify our progress using the most important unit: validated learning about customers. One way to conceive of our goal in an early-stage venture is to incrementally “fill in the blanks&# for the business model that we think will one day power our startup. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup

Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you?

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Ill mention one last thing about knowing what channels of communication your customers engage with. This is important, especially if you are a very early stage company. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Combining agile development with customer developm.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC

Sneak preview, KISSmetrics (and more)

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 17, 2010

Three premier early-stage venture investors have joined forces to sponsor the event: Baseline , Floodgate , and First Round Capital. Three premier early-stage venture investors have joined forces to sponsor the event: Baseline , Floodgate , and First Round Capital. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco

San Francisco Romania Cleveland South Africa

Lean Startups aren't Cheap Startups

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. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.

Lean

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS

Lessons Learned: The lean startup at UC Berkeley Haas School of.

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 24, 2009

I liked the flattering Venture Hacks commentary so much Ill just quote it: Many founders believe that early stage startups are endeavors of execution. The customer is known, the product is known, and all we have to do is act. He believes that many early stage startups are labors of learning. Expo SF (May.

Lean

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC

Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 19, 2008

What all these teachers had in common were two things: they were technology early adopters that were willing to take a chance on a new software product, and they all had similar problems organizing their classes and students. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC

Lean Startup Workshop scholarship program

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 12, 2009

I believe this is part of what made the first workshop such a success - the people in the room were visionary customers who therefore came ready to work, not just to be entertained (by contrast with what I see at some of my speaking engagements). The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

Lean

Lean Programming San Francisco Continuous Deployment

Lessons Learned: Don't launch

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? This is the usual reason given for a marketing launch, but for most early stage startups, its a failure. Do some Customer Development instead.

San Francisco

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage

I’ve seen the Promised Land. And I might not get there with you.

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2010

Yet at their early stages, they are not small versions of larger established companies. When Startups reach the Transition stage, it’s time to look inward and decide whether the current CEO and executive staff are capable of scaling to a large company. The Scalable Startup stage called for opportunistic and agile leadership.

Agile

Agile Development Team Review Leadership Merger

Founders and dysfunctional families « Steve Blank

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

We agreed that all her founding CEOs seemed to have the same set of personality traits – tenacious, passionate, relentless, resilient, agile, and comfortable operating in chaos. Next, you have to deal with the daily crisis of product development and acquiring early customers. And that’s just to get started.

Founder

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

After I retired, I began teaching Customer Development , a theory of how to reduce early stage risk in entrepreneurial ventures. Agile Opportunism – Entrepreneurial DNA……………… 5. Raising Money Using Customer Development……… 47. Startup Culture.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Customer Development IP Developer

The Promise of the Lean Startup

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 20, 2009

For short stories - I think it is always good to introduce some practical problem (you might have heard from entrepreneur at early stage) and how the lean startup method helped solved that. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Expo SF (May.

Lean

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment

10 years of entrepreneurship

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

We were focused on revenue, but we didnt understand that revenue is not important for its own sake in an early stage company. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? (You can even see the humiliating evidence of my smug incompetence in this absurd article from 1999.)

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC

The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Software Company

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Another great way to test your idea is to create a minimum viable product, or MVP. This is the simplest version of your product minus the frills and frosting. It’s a particularly popular strategy in the world of product development and is used to quickly and quantitatively test a product or a product feature.

Software Review

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast

The Sharp End of the Stick « Steve Blank

Steve Blank

MAY 4, 2009

In an early stage startup, instead of sales being up front, the point departments are likely to be product development and customer development. Later on in this same company’s life, sales will become the pointy end and product development moves to a supporting role. Who’s on the Sharp End?

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley RSS Non-Compete California

Startup Resources

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development. Agile project management tool that enables real time collaboration. Great for visualizing work of product development. Agile project management. agile product management.

Software Review

Software Review Technical Review Startup

StartUpRoar

The Customer Development Manifesto: The Startup Death Spiral (part.

Blowing up the Business Plan at U.C. Berkeley Haas Business School

Trending Sources

Customer Development Manifesto: The Path of Warriors and Winners.

Raising Money Using Customer Development

Lessons Learned: Validated learning about customers

Lessons Learned: The four kinds of work, and how to get them done.

Building a new startup hub

Techstars brings The Lean Startup to Boulder

Convergent Technologies: War Story 1 – Selling with Sports Scores.

Vision versus Hallucination – Founders and Pivots

How to listen to customers, and not just the loud people

Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and what's changed since.

The Lean Entrepreneur is here

Lessons Learned on Mashable today

The Lean Startup Tokyo edition

It's a startup, not a spreadsheet

Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you?

Sneak preview, KISSmetrics (and more)

Lean Startups aren't Cheap Startups

Lessons Learned: The lean startup at UC Berkeley Haas School of.

Lo, my 1032 subscribers, who are you?

Lean Startup Workshop scholarship program

Lessons Learned: Don't launch

I’ve seen the Promised Land. And I might not get there with you.

Founders and dysfunctional families « Steve Blank

Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

The Promise of the Lean Startup

10 years of entrepreneurship

The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Software Company

The Sharp End of the Stick « Steve Blank

Startup Resources

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