Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

I hope to show why lean and agile techniques actually reduce the negative impacts of technical debt and increase our ability to take advantage of its positive effects. For example, I’ve talked often about our belief that an instant messaging add-on product would allow IMVU to take advantage of a network effects strategy.

Technical Review 168

Technical Review Software Review San Francisco Lean 168

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

And they expose the startups to a vast network of mentors, none of whom get paid for their involvement. And every year, it looks as if one or two entrepreneurs from the program decide to stay. And do your customer development. They dont invest a lot of money; just enough to keep them going through the summer.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean 113

Steve Blank

APRIL 29, 2013

Over 40% get the military to pay for their college by joining via the Reserve Officers Training Corps ( ROTC ) program. I was surprised how interested the faculty was in exploring whether the Capstone class could be modified to use the Customer Development process to get input from potential “customers” inside the Air Force.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Colorado Lean Connecticut 263

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

What those sites have in common (despite their very different audiences) is that something is causing their customers to become addicted to their product, and so no matter how they acquire a new customer, they tend to keep them. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2016

First was to teach students to develop the mindset, reflexes, agility and resilience an entrepreneur needs to make decisions at speed and with urgency in a chaotic and uncertain world. At this size the program will provide hundreds of solutions to critical national security problems every year. We had five goals for the class.

Agile 120

Agile Security Audio Video 120

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

I thought a good place to start was with the origins of the idea that "software design" should be considered a discipline in its own right, on par with computer science, software engineering, and computer programming. Firmness: A program should not have any bugs that inhibit its function. We owe a lot to this seminal document.

Software Review 87

Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

Steve Blank

APRIL 27, 2009

—————- The next piece of the Secret History of Silicon Valley puzzle came together when Tom Byers , Tina Selig and Mark Leslie invited me to teach entrepreneurship in the Stanford Technology Ventures Program ( STVP ) in Stanford’s School of Engineering. My office is in the Terman Engineering Building.

Silicon Valley 203

Silicon Valley Technical Review Europe Germany 203

Steve Blank

AUGUST 4, 2016

Hacking for Diplomacy is a new course from the Management Science and Engineering department in Stanford’s Engineering school and Stanford’s International Policy Studies program that will be first offered in the Fall of 2016. Join a select cross-disciplinary class that takes real problems from the U.S. Lessons Learned.

Lean 165

Lean Government Agile Africa 165

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

But the early customers all compared it to MySpace. This was 2004, and we had never even heard of MySpace, let alone had any understanding of social networking. It required hearing customers say it over and over again for us to take a serious look, and eventually to realize that social networking was core to our business.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Steve Blank

JANUARY 26, 2016

Today these potential adversaries are able to harness the power of social networks, encryption, GPS, low-cost drones, 3D printers, simpler design and manufacturing processes, agile and lean methodologies, ubiquitous Internet and smartphones. Filed under: Customer Development , Science and Industrial Policy , Teaching.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley North Korea Agile Lean 120

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

When I was working my first programming jobs, I was introduced to the following maxim: "time, quality, money - pick two." As I evolved my thinking, I started to frame the problem this way: How can we devise a product development process that allows the business leaders to take responsibility for the outcome by making conscious trade-offs?

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 6, 2009

From my side, i network with many startups all the time, and i am constantly trying to persuade them to adopt the new age mindset, but its often no easy task. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

Lean 115

Lean Video San Francisco Continuous Deployment 115

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 27, 2009

Im going to be speaking on June 3rd at an event sponsored by the Technology Entrepreneurs Exchange (TeXchange), "the premier networking organization in Texas for business executives and entrepreneurs to meet, exchange ideas and share experiences." It uses principles of agile software development, open source and web 2.0,

Lean 60

Lean Austin San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 29, 2013

Over 40% get the military to pay for their college by joining via the Reserve Officers Training Corps ( ROTC ) program. I was surprised how interested the faculty was in exploring whether the Capstone class could be modified to use the Customer Development process to get input from potential “customers” inside the Air Force.

Silicon Valley 155

Silicon Valley Colorado Lean Connecticut 155

Steve Blank

AUGUST 4, 2016

Hacking for Diplomacy is a new course from the Management Science and Engineering department in Stanford’s Engineering school and Stanford’s International Policy Studies program that will be first offered in the Fall of 2016. Join a select cross-disciplinary class that takes real problems from the U.S. Lessons Learned.

Lean 120

Lean Government Agile Africa 120

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 4, 2010

announced this evening at its annual Pitch Night , that it has received sponsorship by the Kauffman Foundation to support its "Founder Labs," a pre-incubator program whose mission is to increase the number of female founders of technology startups. Diverse Founding Teams, Agile Development Techniques. and that creates jobs."

Founder 146

Founder Incubator Cofounder Lean 146

Steve Blank

APRIL 7, 2011

I spent a few days in March in Ann Arbor Michigan as a guest of Professor Thomas Zurbuchen , Associate Dean for Entrepreneurial Programs, and Doug Neal , Director of Center for Entrepreneurship in the Engineering School at the University of Michigan. The Center for Entrepreneurship in the Engineering School is akin to Stanford’s STVP program.

Michigan 313

Michigan Silicon Valley Venture Capital Incubator 313

Steve Blank

AUGUST 1, 2016

Fourth , would the same Lean Startup methodology (business model design, customer development and agile engineering) used in the Lean LaunchPad and NSF I-Corps class work here? Multiple teams have been engaged by government, prime contractor and VC firms for follow-on discussions/engagements. Result: Hell yes.

Silicon Valley 130

Silicon Valley Southern California San Diego Lean 130

Steve Blank

AUGUST 1, 2016

Fourth , would the same Lean Startup methodology (business model design, customer development and agile engineering) used in the Lean LaunchPad and NSF I-Corps class work here? Multiple teams have been engaged by government, prime contractor and VC firms for follow-on discussions/engagements. Result: Hell yes.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Southern California San Diego Lean 120

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 15, 2009

The agile software movement has made numerous contributions: continuous integration, which helps accelerate feedback about defects; story cards and kanban that reduce batch size; a daily stand-up that increases tempo. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

Continuous Deployment 167

Continuous Deployment Software Review San Francisco Lean 167

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

Just like in the world of startups, we can start to use micro-scale pilot programs, executed in lean fashion, to gather real facts for making ROI decisions about new project investment. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Though technology tools and Web 2.0 ideas (e.g.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

For companies in the early-adopter phase, you can play "the earlyvangelist game" whenever a customer turns out to be too mainstream for your product. Pick a similar product that they do use, and ask them "who was the first person you know who started using [social networking, mobile phones, plasma TV, instant messaging.]? So why you?

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 133

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 11, 2010

High-profile startup Friendster had first-mover advantage in the social networking space, but created openings for competitors when it could not scale to meet demand. High-profile startup Friendster had first-mover advantage in the social networking space, but created openings for competitors when it could not scale to meet demand.

San Francisco 120

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 120

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 22, 2009

Each has its own iterative process: customer development and agile development respectively. Ive spoken in some detail about a specific pivot that we went through at IMVU , when we decided to abandon the instant messaging add-on concept, and switch to a standalone instant messaging network.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 167

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

First of all, Dave McClure introduced the idea of modifying an existing immigration program. Unfortunately, this program applies to the investor who holds the capital, and not the entrepreneur who discovers how to put that capital to use. First of all, Dave McClure introduced the idea of modifying an existing immigration program.

San Francisco 150

San Francisco Founder DC Washington 150

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 23, 2009

Priority will be given to employees of companies participating in the fbFund REV program, but I am confident that there will be room for members of the general public who want to attend. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? If youd like to reserve a spot, please RSVP.

Lean 74

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 74

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 11, 2009

This model has not translated well to the world of social networking, because customers of social networks engage sites in a different way than customers of search engines. Social network page views are much more likely to be internally focused; ads are more of a distraction.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Social Network Lean Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 27, 2009

For network-effects businesses, like Skype , just being on the network is enough to create value. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R. Conference streaming, sponsors, discounted tickets.

San Francisco 148

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 148

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 6, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 6, 2008 When NOT to listen to your users; when NOT to rely on split-tests There are three legs to the lean startup concept: agile product development , low-cost (fast to market) platforms , and rapid-iteration customer development. How did they do it?

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 128

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 28, 2009

This builds on a lot of great thinking that has come before, like the agile movements insistence that only the creation of working code counts as progress for a software development team. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? for Harvard Business Revie.

San Francisco 98

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 98

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2008

For example, if any of the mobile ad networks gets major traction, they may become a dominant way that people discover new apps. If the rating in the App Store is based on usage, I am sure those popular social networking applications are sure to be in the top and the hot seat always. The observation sounds strange. Amazon PostRank

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Retention SEM 68

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

I have personally taught many “non-technical&# people to program – graphic designers, QA folks, even artists and animators. Instead of focusing on programs designed to specifically benefit any one group, I think our focus should be on making our companies as meritocratic as possible.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Sweden Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 1, 2009

Not everything has to follow lean startup and customer development principles, and I write that as a devoted practitioner of both. It would be far more useful to discover how Apple really does develop their innovative products it rather than assume that they follow the principles that you and I espouse.

San Francisco 166

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 166

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 31, 2009

I hope people will use this to recruit and share jobs/candidates in their own networks, letting retweets etc. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? July 31, 2009 2:25 PM Eric said. I actually think the broadcast element of it is the least useful part. carry the word out wider.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Startup Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Do some Customer Development instead. Launching is about creating circles within circles (groups of people that connect) and social networking, word of mouth, and real-world advertising are all contributing factors. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

I started my last company with 100% off-shore resources because I could never have completed Customer Development at a reasonable cost of money or regulatory burden had I employed US Citizens. You can see the design of the program here. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

DC 90

DC Washington San Francisco SBIR 90

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

And in some markets its decisive, because of well-known network effects (as happened with Microsoft, eBay, and many others). But if your product category doesnt have strong network effects, word of mouth alone is not usually enough to fend off a competitor who also has a quality product. So what model will prevail on the iPhone?

Distribution 74

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 74