Up and Running

JANUARY 25, 2018

Digital businesses need to be agile and reactive too. Whether your product is an add-on or completely new, innovative solution, the core of your business idea should be about your audience—not you. If you’re looking for more details on how to write a simple business plan, consider using Bplans’ free downloadable Lean Plan template.

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eCommerce Business Plan Audience Lean 96

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2008

Maybe youd like to start with The lean startup , How to listen to customers , or What does a startup CTO actually do? ) Although Catalyst folded with the dot-com crash, Ries continued his entrepreneurial career as a Senior Software Engineer at There.com, leading efforts in agile software development and user-generated content.

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San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

They communicated this to product management who looked at all of the internal requirements we had generated (e.g. and product management worked with me to decide what to build & when. I spent time with the folks (Klaus Schauser and Brian Danahoo) at AppFolio before they ever launched their products. They recorded it.

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Customer Technical Review Software Review Mexico 280

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

You get increasing growth by optimizing the viral loop , and you get revenue as a side-effect, assuming you have even the most anemic monetization scheme baked into your product. Paid - if your product monetizes customers better than your competitors, you have the opportunity to use your lifetime value advantage to drive growth.

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Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 23, 2020

From the feedback that I have received, I have gathered that my employees are happier and more productive while working from home. Despite being how basic it is, it’s still amazing how great health can boost one’s productivity. 9- Focusing on lean operations. We put importance on how healthy employees are a productive workforce.

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Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Employee 126

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 11, 2012

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – [link]. Better Agile Than Smart – [link]. Six Myths of Product Development – [link]. Unlimited Vacation Doesn’t Create Slackers–It Ensures Productivity – [link]. Better Agile Than Smart – [link]. – [link].

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

The other departments in marketing gave the same answers; the product-marketing department said their job was to write data sheets. But what I wanted was an agile marketing team capable of operating independently without day-to-day direction. The same was true for PR. I couldn’t care less about those.

Silicon Valley 259

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 259

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

Lean Startups/Back to Basics (2000-2010): No IPO’s, limited VC cash, lack of confidence and funding fuels “lean startup” era with limited M&A and even less IPO activity. Startups needed millions of dollars of funding just to get their first product out the door to customers. 2001 – 2010: Back to Basics: The Lean Startup.

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Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2009

Whats striking about these stories, if you get past the PR hype, are two very important themes: These prodigies were self-taught, and had a fundamental fascination with technology from a very young age. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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Programming San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 143

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 7, 2021

The classic lifespan of successful products is a story in four parts: Introduction Growth Maturity Decline. How this story plays out has a lot to do with the type of product and how it’s improved over time, if at all. In this article, we’ll look at the different stages of the product lifecycle through the lens of marketing.

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Product Marketing Software Review Social Media 142

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Every product ultimately is satisfying a need in the customers who buy it or use it. Products that dont solve satisfy any need for any customers tend to die out quickly. The more painful curse for startups is the product that satisfies a need or solves a problem - but that problem is not very important. Thats an early adopter.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

The reason is not that this will become a long term competitive advantage, but rather that you won’t find a better way to learn about your product/service than to talk to your current customers. PR/Marketing. For startups, PR firms are a waste of money. Online Payments. Better to do personal outreach to blogs/local media.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

Customers went into the store either looking for the SuperMac product by name (if our demand creation activities had been effective) or went in unsure of which brand of board to buy. And the product that “talked to me&# , the loudest and most seductively, was the one that went home with me.

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Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 24, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, February 24, 2009 The lean startup at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Image by Jessica_Mah via Flickr Last week I had the opportunity to lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at Haas, which is always a great learning experience - for me at least! Eric takes a different approach.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2010

The higher the vanity ratio, the more effective the PR. Failures, pivots , and crappy minimum viable products are generally elided. It helps companies with PR. This is also why I get so outraged when people treat Lean Startup like a religion. The higher the vanity ratio, the more effective the PR.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Metrics PR 167

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 20, 2021

Many of our customers who are wedding planners, DJ’s, photographers are also thinking ahead and looking for more ways to add another stream of income with our products. Mobile is more important than ever now that COVID is the new reality, and you have to lean into it. Agility is the watchword for 2021.

Entrepreneur 118

Entrepreneur Mobile Valuation Global 118

Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

While one could argue that a trade show is just another demand creation activity akin to advertising or PR, trade shows are the closest eyeball-to-eyeball contact you’re company is going to have with customers, competitors and partners. Send PDF versions of brochures and product sheets as soon as you get back to the office.

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Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

This "success theater" is occasionally useful for PR or getting through a tough board meeting. Establish baseline metrics by building the minimum viable product — the minimum required to measure the response of early adopters. Consider a scenario where a team makes a product change, and the very next month page views go up.

Metrics 121

Metrics San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 121

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. 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.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 215

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 17, 2010

The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. ▼ April (11) Video update on the Startup Visa Act Lean Enterprise Institute webinar, April 28 Four myths about the Lean Startup Sneak preview, KISSmetrics (and more) Sneak preview, Grockit The Lean Startup Intensive at Web 2.0 Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Announce a new product, start its PR campaign, and engage in buzz marketing activities. Marketing launch) Make a new product available to customers in the general public. Product launch) In todays world, there is no reason you have to do these two things at the same time. Establish credibility with potential partners.

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San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 1, 2016

Ninjas are agile, fast, and efficient. But experienced business owners and marketing/PR experts all agree that such doubts and fears are irrational. Lean Marketing 101: Giving good interview, or how to get a reporter to eat from your hand. Lean Marketing tips: business card as selling tool. image credit: Jurgen Appelo.

Networking 48

Networking Lean Public Relations Small Business 48

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 13, 2021

Many of our customers who are wedding planners, DJ’s, photographers are also thinking ahead and looking for more ways to add another stream of income with our products. Mobile is more important than ever now that COVID is the new reality, and you have to lean into it. Agility is the watchword for 2021.

Entrepreneur 62

Entrepreneur Mobile Valuation Global 62

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Noah has been a key figure in the making of LivePlan, our own SaaS product. Step 1: Start with a lean plan. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2008

Take a look at The App Store after the gold rush - FierceDeveloper : According to a recent BusinessWeek feature , the flood of new games, productivity tools and related iPhone software is making it difficult for the vast majority of apps to crack the consumer consciousness. Dont do PR upfront, dont put out a press release.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Retention SEM 68

Steve Blank

JUNE 22, 2009

Its latest product was an oscilloscope, the HP 150a. That year HP introduced its first computer, the HP 2116A , as an instrument controller for HP’s test and measurement products. The original Hewlett Packard which made test and measurement products was spun-out and renamed Agilent. Agilent is a $5.8

Silicon Valley 164

Silicon Valley RSS California Agile 164

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 29, 2017

I’m a big believer of lean startup. People often are ashamed of shipping their products before they are truly completed. I think it’s a myth that you only get one chance to come out with a new product or solution. Validate as early as possible and keep improving the product / solution.

Entrepreneur 48

Entrepreneur LLC Cofounder Montana 48

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

We go to mixers, buy fancy offices, focus on PR, and try to one-up each other. All my products and ideas focus on early cash and a business model that works from the first day. You made me remember that maybe, and just, MAYBE, the early days is not at there to earn money, but rather understand your user and improve your product.

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Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Engineers are offenders in this category too, but so is any gender-segregated activity, like an all-female PR or marketing team. The work product is a more realistic test, although it requires much more work on the part of the candidate. I already advocate cross-functional teams as part of the lean startup methodology.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

In lean times, it’s most important to focus on cutting costs in ways that speed you up, not slow you down. Journalists, PR firms, investors, and the public at large love a scrappy come-from-behind story about two guys in a garage who figured out how to take down Goliath. A crisis is sometimes needed to force that reexamination.

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 117

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 7, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Learning is better than optimization (the local maximum problem) Lean startups don’t optimize. In fact, the curse of product development is that sometimes small things make a huge difference and sometimes huge things make no difference. That’s the local maximum.

San Francisco 154

San Francisco Lean Metrics Design 154

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Even worse, entrepreneurs are faced with a constant barrage of vanity metrics from competitors and other companies engaged in PR. Most of the article is about the features – new and old – of the product. The PR firm helpfully left out that context.) Vanity metrics are generally bigger. But is that true?

San Francisco 154

San Francisco Metrics Lean PR 154

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 13, 2018

Your company’s brand is a promise you make to customers and prospects about your products, your services, and your company. Branding is a process designed to develop, among other things, a unique business name and custom logo design for a company, product, or service. How they interact with your products or buy your services.

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Marketing Charlotte Naming Design 162

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 27, 2011

Steve Blank, author of Four Steps to Epiphany , has helped formulate the thinking behind the Lean Startup methodology , together with Eric Ries. He observed that most startups that succeed aren't lean: their goal is to have an exit rather than a scalable business. Flip startups are agile startups that aim to exit quickly.

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Lean Startup Agile Coder 144

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

I’ve spent this year working with corporations and government agencies that are adopting and adapting Lean Methodologies. Once he even spray-painted an exhortation to ship a new product on time on our main hallway wall (so crude I can’t even paraphrase it, but still remembered 30 years later). Bells and gongs would ring.

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Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 16, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, December 16, 2008 Engagement loops: beyond viral Theres a great and growing corpus of writing about viral loops, the step-by-step optimizations you can use to encourage maximum growth of online products by having customers invite each other to join. And what causes them to choose one product over another?

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Steve Blank

MAY 4, 2009

Every marketing communication hire couldn’t wait to produce the next great ad or PR program. Every product marketer thought they should help define the product feature set, etc. In an early stage startup, instead of sales being up front, the point departments are likely to be product development and customer development.

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