Steve Blank

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Why GE’s Jeff Immelt Lost His Job – Disruption and Activist Investors

Steve Blank

With refrains of “unlock hidden value” and “increase shareholder value,” and powered by over $120 billion in assets , activist investors like Trian look for companies like GE (or Procter and Gamble) that have a share price which is underperforming relative to its peers (or those with large amounts of cash on their balance sheets).

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No Accounting For Startups

Steve Blank

One of the ways our VC’s kept track of our progress was by taking a monthly look at three financial documents: Income Statement, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement. To be clear – Income Statements, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements are really important at two points in your startup. Lessons Learned.

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ESADE Business School Commencement Speech

Steve Blank

Cheered on by finance professors, Wall Street analysts, investors and hedge funds, companies have learned how to make metrics like Internal Rate of Return look great by one; outsourcing everything, two, getting assets off their balance sheet, and three only investing in things that pay off fast.

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Intel Disrupted: Why large companies find it difficult to innovate, and what they can do about it

Steve Blank

It’s a lot easier to get these numbers to look great by outsourcing everything, getting assets off the balance sheet and only investing in things that pay off fast. These metrics make it difficult for a company that wants to invest in long-term innovation. These resulting business models made them look incredibly profitable.

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Death By Revenue Plan

Steve Blank

The Appendix of your business plan has one of the leading cause of death of startups: the financial spreadsheets you attached as your Income Statement, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements. Spread out in front of everyone around the conference table were the latest Income Statement, Balance Sheets and Cash Flow Statements.

Revenue 230
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The Woodstock of K-12 Education

Steve Blank

Learning how to keep track of inventory and cash flow and creating an income statement and a balance sheet are great skills to learn for managing existing businesses. We now understand the distinction between startups – who search for a business model – versus existing companies – that execute a business plan.

Lean 284
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9 Deadliest Start-up Sins

Steve Blank

Financial progress is tracked using metrics like income statement, balance sheet, and cash flow. Traditional business plans and product development models have one great advantage: They provide boards and founders an unambiguous path with clearly defined milestones the board presumes will be achieved.