article thumbnail

The Lean LaunchPad Class: It’s the same, but different

Steve Blank

We just finished the 8 th annual Lean LaunchPad class at Stanford. So in 2011, with support from the Stanford Technology Ventures Program (the entrepreneurship center in the Stanford Engineering School), we created a new capstone entrepreneurship class – the Lean LaunchPad. It’s the same, but different. I-Corps @ NIH ).

Lean 248
article thumbnail

What is the Right Burn Rate at a Startup Company?

Both Sides of the Table

We want a strong balance sheet (um, ok. but that’s our firm’s money on your balance sheet. Gross margin (GM) is the amount of profit you make per sale of your product or service taking into account your total costs of selling that product or service. otherwise I prefer to invest less and risk less).

Burn Rate 383
Insiders

Sign Up for our Newsletter

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

article thumbnail

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

Steve Blank

In his Harvard Business Review article summing up his tenure, Immelt recalls that the two things that influenced him most were Marc Andreessen’s 2011 Wall Street Journal article “ Why Software Is Eating the World, ” and Eric Ries’s book The Lean Startup. Are lean innovation and the Startup Way a failure in large companies?

article thumbnail

A Standard Business Plan Outline [Updated for 2017]

Up and Running

If you don’t have a specific immediate need to show a formal business plan to a banker or investor, then you are probably better off doing just a lean business plan , for your internal use only. Others like to focus on the numbers first, so they start with a sales forecast or spending budget. Sales Plan. Revenue/Sales Forecast.

article thumbnail

Lean Planning Drives Growth For Small Business

Up and Running

After 5 years of being CEO of Palo Alto Software , and over 15 years in the start-up and entrepreneurial world I am convinced that the only way to grow your company as quickly as possible, while not getting ulcers, becoming an insomniac, and aging more than your years, is to engage in Lean Planning. what is Lean Planning?

Lean 83
article thumbnail

Turn What-if to What-Now: The Importance of Scenario Analysis

Up and Running

.” It’s been a favorite management tool of mine since my time as VP for a market research firm, and it’s a method I used for decades growing a software company from zero to well over $10 million in annual sales. Impact on sales: If sales go down 30%? What is a scenario analysis? Will businesses open slowly?

Forecast 120
article thumbnail

What Is a Business Plan?

Up and Running

Most of us need just a Lean Business Plan, for internal use, with just bullet point lists and important projections. Good businesses always keep their Lean Plan up to date. The lean business plan is great news because it makes the planning process much less daunting. More on that in the section on the Lean Plan.