Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

During the Cold War with the Soviet Union, science and engineering at both Stanford and U.C. Starting in the 1950’s, Stanford’s engineering department became “outward facing” and developed a culture of spinouts and active faculty support and participation in the first wave of Silicon Valley startups. Today the U.C.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 13, 2010

I’ve spent the last week in Santiago, a guest of Professor Cristóbal García at the Catholic University of Chile as part of Stanford’s Engineering Technology Venture Program. Entrepreneurship and innovation in what I call “Chilecon Valley” is being talked about continually here. Teaching in Chile. Valaparaiso houses.

Chile 237

Chile Silicon Valley Lean Agile 237

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

Yet startup companies have traditionally used this model to manage and pace not only engineering but also non-engineering activities. The greatest risk in startups —and hence the greatest cause of failure—is not the technology risk of developing a product but in the risk of developing customers and markets.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 241

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

Two years out of the Air Force, serendipity (which would be my lifelong form of career planning) found me in Silicon Valley working for my first company: ESL. But part of his life that that doesn’t even merit a Wikipedia entry is that Bill Perry used Silicon Valley to help end the cold war.

Silicon Valley 176

Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 176

Steve Blank

JANUARY 15, 2024

From left, Skydio CEO Adam Bry demonstrates the company’s autonomous systems technology for Deputy Defense Secretary Kathleen Hicks and Doug Beck, director of the Defense Innovation Unit, during a visit to the company’s facility in San Mateo, Calif. Petty Officer 1st Class Alexander Kubitza/U.S.

China 186

China Artificial Inteligence Afghanistan Ukraine 186

Steve Blank

JUNE 12, 2020

All the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ) Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, but all of their journeys were unique. Steve Weinstein 30-year veteran of Silicon Valley technology companies and Hollywood media companies. He runs H4X Labs.

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Oakland Asia Lean Video 306

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley. ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley , was founded by a PhD in Math and six other scientists and engineers. Why It’s “Silicon” Valley. ———-.

Engineer 307

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 307

Steve Blank

JULY 28, 2011

Silicon Valley was born in an era of applied experimentation driven by scientists and engineers. This approach would shape Silicon Valley’s entrepreneurial ethos: In startups, failure was treated as experience (until you ran out of money). Yet this system isn’t perfect. – seems like another planet.

Engineer 280

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Intellectual Property 280

Up and Running

OCTOBER 4, 2017

That’s why it’s smarter to embrace the agile approach and constantly test your idea on the market to learn about the needs and desires of your target. Running a startup in New York or Silicon Valley is very expensive, so no wonder that recently, there has been an explosion of new locations starting to see growth in tech startups.

Startup 115

Startup Estonia Poland Silicon Valley 115

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

But what I wanted was an agile marketing team capable of operating independently without day-to-day direction. To do that we will create end-user demand and drive it into the sales channel, educate the channel and customers about why our products are superior, and help Engineering understand customer needs and desires.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 263

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2010

In my last post I described my approach to one of the three classes I teach at Stanford in the engineering school: Fundamentals of Technology Entrepreneurship. One part of Silicon Valley culture that doesn’t get enough credit is the generosity of entrepreneurs and VC’s who are willing to share their time with students.

Business Model 230

Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 230

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2009

The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance I always had been curious about how Silicon Valley, a place I had lived and worked in, came to be. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance I always had been curious about how Silicon Valley, a place I had lived and worked in, came to be. How did Silicon Valley start?

Silicon Valley 279

Silicon Valley RSS San Francisco Technical Review 279

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

agile engineering. Visitors Guide to Silicon Valley. I got tired watching dignitaries fly into Silicon Valley, visit Google, Facebook, Apple, and Stanford and then say they understand startups and entrepreneurship. So for the rest of us I put together this Visitors Guide to Silicon Valley.

Open Source 335

Open Source Silicon Valley Lean Customer Development 335

Steve Blank

JANUARY 26, 2016

Introducing Hacking for Defense – Connecting Silicon Valley Innovation Culture and Mindset to the Department of Defense and the Intelligence Community. Hacking for Defense is a new course at Stanford’s Engineering School in the Spring of 2016. Its Not Just the Technology. Yet in the last decade the U.S. North Korea.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley North Korea Agile Lean 120

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 Engineering School has 5,600 undergrads and 3,000 graduate students.

Michigan 309

Michigan Silicon Valley Venture Capital Incubator 309

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. Customer Development , Agile Engineering and the Lean methodology enforced a process of incremental and iterative development. Carpe Diem.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 21, 2020

We just held our seventh session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. Joe Felter , Raj Shah and I designed the class to examine the new military systems, operational concepts and doctrines that will emerge from 21st century technologies – Space, Cyber, AI & Machine Learning and Autonomy.

Artificial Inteligence 256

Artificial Inteligence Technology Agile Architecture 256

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. Silicon Valley, New York). The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. There are none so blind as those who will not see. Here’s how.

Silicon Valley 292

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 292

Steve Blank

AUGUST 1, 2016

Based on those results we believe that we can do the same with Diplomacy so working with the State Department’s innovation cell in Silicon Valley we will prototype the Hacking for Diplomacy course at Stanford this fall. (see the final Hacking for Defense class presentations here ). Result: Hell yes. 15 more schools are in the pipeline.

Silicon Valley 129

Silicon Valley Southern California San Diego Lean 129

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 2, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, August 2, 2008 Paul Graham on fundraising I have found no better primer on the current realities of starting a new technology company in a startup hub like Silicon Valley than Paul Grahams essays. but rest assured they would be. . Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 125

San Francisco Software Review Technical Review Continuous Deployment 125

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. Silicon Valley, New York). The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. There are none so blind as those who will not see. Here’s how.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 263

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

A revolution has taken hold as customer development and agile engineering reinvent the Startup process. Reinventing the board meeting may offer angel-funded startups that don’t have formal boards or directors (because of geography or size of investment) to attract experienced advice and investment outside of technology clusters (i.e.

Silicon Valley 284

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 284

Steve Blank

AUGUST 1, 2016

Based on those results we believe that we can do the same with Diplomacy so working with the State Department’s innovation cell in Silicon Valley we will prototype the Hacking for Diplomacy course at Stanford this fall. (see the final Hacking for Defense class presentations here ). Result: Hell yes. 15 more schools are in the pipeline.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Southern California San Diego Lean 120

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 11, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, November 11, 2008 Where did Silicon Valley come from? I think the absolute best reading on this subject is a book called Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 by AnnaLee Saxenian. And what were they doing beforehand?

Silicon Valley 68

Silicon Valley San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

Boyd emphasized the importance of agility in combat: "the key to victory is to be able to create situations wherein one can make appropriate decisions more quickly than ones opponent." As Ive written previously , lean startups are built upon three main trends: Technology commoditization. Agile software development.

Lean 102

Lean San Francisco Agile Continuous Deployment 102

Steve Blank

JUNE 7, 2019

All the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, but all of their journeys were unique. Steve Weinstein a 30-year veteran of Silicon Valley technology companies and Hollywood media companies. All the presentations are worth a watch.

Oakland 271

Oakland Lean SBIR Afghanistan 271

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2011

I spent two weeks of December in Chile as a guest of Professor Cristóbal García, Director of EmprendeUC at the Catholic University of Chile , which just signed up a 3-year collaboration partnership with Stanford’s Technology Ventures Program. Creating the Next Silicon Valley – The Chilean Experiment.

Silicon Valley 335

Silicon Valley Chile South America Venture Capital 335

Steve Blank

JUNE 29, 2009

My first job in Silicon Valley: I was hired as a lab technician at ESL to support the training department. It makes you appreciate that the Silicon Valley technology-centric culture-bubble has little to do with the majority of Americans.) You’re Hired, You’re Fired. Driving across the U.S.

Agile 251

Agile Silicon Valley RSS California 251

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Our Lean LaunchPad class teaches scientists and engineers that starting a company is another research project that can be solved by an iterative process of hypotheses testing and experimentation built around the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. Satish Kandlikar – The Spirit of Entrepreneurship.

Silicon Valley 243

Silicon Valley Lean Customer Development Business Model 243

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

This theory has become so influential that I have called it one of the three pillars of the lean startup - every bit as important as the changes in technology or the advent of agile development. Very few startups fail for lack of technology. They almost always fail for lack of customers. Expo SF (May.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 17, 2017

Our defense department and intelligence community owned proprietary advanced tools and technology. We and our contractors had the best technology domain experts. We used these tools to keep pace with the Soviet threats and eventually used silicon, semiconductors and stealth to create an offset strategy to leapfrog their military.

Community 218

Community Silicon Valley Technical Review Incubator 218

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Playing with new technologies. Kent Beck keynote, "To Agility, and Beyond" Six streaming locations Interviews ► March (7) New conference website, speakers, agenda Two new scholarship programs for lean startups Speed up or slow down? Seeing whats possible. Building and testing prototypes. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 88

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 1, 2011

Silicon Valley was born in an era of applied experimentation driven by scientists and engineers. This approach would shape Silicon Valley's entrepreneurial ethos: In startups, failure was treated as experience (until you ran out of money). The NSF will fund 100 science and engineering research projects every year.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Intellectual Property Balance Sheet Lean 118

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

The other revels in the world as we all know it will be someday: limitless distribution enabled by new technologies, the importance of collaborative filters, and on-demand availability of all content for end-users. But the same technologies that make life difficult for traditional marketers also offer them unprecedented new opportunities.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 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. The meaning of alpha test , beta test, and first customer ship are pretty obvious to most engineers. What plan says that?

Customer Development 220

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 220

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

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. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. A few successful ones do all these things. Thank you, Steve.

Customer Development 246

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 246

Steve Blank

MARCH 28, 2009

Getting B-52s through the Soviet Air Defense System Posted on March 29, 2009 by steveblank This is post II of how I came to write “ The Secret History of Silicon Valley “ 1974. Think of the most amazing spectrum analyzer you could build with 1960s technology. The Vietnam war was winding down. Then think some more.

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