Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 8, 2008 What is customer development? But too often when its time to think about customers, marketing, positioning, or PR, we delegate it to "marketroids" or "suits." Many of us are not accustomed to thinking about markets or customers in a disciplined way.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I believe it is the best introduction to Customer Development you can buy. As all of you know, Steve Blank is the progenitor of Customer Development and author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany. I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, September 7, 2008 Customer Development Engineering Yesterday, I had the opportunity to guest lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at the Berkeley-Columbia executive MBA program. Its a nice complement on the product engineering side to his customer development methodology.

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Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 26, 2009 A real Customer Advisory Board A reader recently asked on a previous post about the technique of having customers periodically produce a “state of the company&# progress report. Many companies seek to involve customers directly in the creation of their products.

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Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2016

If you’re a technical startup founder, one of the painful lessons is that it’s not enough just to build a great product. You must also understand the value the product provides customers (along with the rest of your business model.). Clay Hebert , founder of Crowdfunding Hacks. Clay Hebert.

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Detroit Baltimore Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. They are gaining valuable customer data.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Putting customers first. Legendary customer support. But founders need to know how to ask for their advice and when to ignore it. Kayak is great Boston-area success story.

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Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

View from Seed

JULY 8, 2021

Today Lula announced its $18M funding round led by Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. We couldn’t be more thrilled for co-founders Michael and Matthew for this next phase of building the business with substantial additional backing. I first met the Lula co-founders in Boston about 2 1/2 years ago, at the very end of 2018.

API 156

API Miami Cofounder Boston 156

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 16, 2009 Combining agile development with customer development Today I read an excellent blog post that I just had to share. The breakthrough idea of agile is that software should be built iteratively, with the pieces that customers value most created first. Enter Jims post.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111

Agile VC

APRIL 17, 2011

Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Co-founder & CEO Steve Hafner and the business team are based in Norwalk, CT. I co-founded NextView Ventures , a seed-stage VC firm based in Boston, in 2010.

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Pre-Money Valuation Liquidation Preference Dividend Common Stock 113

View from Seed

MAY 14, 2015

But since almost every founder goes through this, I feel it’s a necessary one. So, when should a seed-stage founder — who, let’s face it, isn’t launching a business because they’re pumped to find corporate real estate — actually start looking for a legitimate office? There’s momentum. You’re growing.

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Seed Stage Startup Cofounder Technical Review 120

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 8, 2018

Despite repeated efforts, only a few cities outside the Valley (New York and Boston) have historically had the critical mix of VC funding, network, and talent to fuel vibrant startup centers. Boulder, CO. Foundry Group’s founder Brad Feld noted : Entrepreneurs here use a ‘give before you get’ mentality.

United States 113

United States Las Vegas San Francisco Denver 113

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 27, 2018

I worked throughout different areas in Cybersecurity/Identity and Access Management and in 2013 I took the big step and moved to the Boston area. I started Good Dog Labs in early 2014 and a year later I officially became a co-founder with the on-boarding of my brother Dino in 2015. New England has been good to me?—?I

Texas 48

Texas Fractional CTO Cofounder Austin 48

View from Seed

AUGUST 10, 2021

We first invested in co-founders Ben Forgan & Pat Wilbur in early 2015, when NextView led a $1.3M And early-stage VC investors have increasingly ventured beyond their backyards of SF, NYC, and Boston to more actively invest in (and in some cases relocate to) places like Miami, Austin, Chicago, Seattle, and other cities.

Chicago 177

Chicago Cofounder Miami B2B 177

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 4, 2012

So Member Desk is a virtual and yet it can also be physical, literally sitting in the front of the co- working space inexpensive way to do that for pretty much any organization. But the answer is the co-founder’s been in the industry for 30 years and he’s somebody and so they can get meetings. Jason: Right.

Cofounder 199

Cofounder Technical Review Chicago Technical Cofounder 199

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, September 14, 2008 How to listen to customers, and not just the loud people Frequency is more important than talking to the "right" customers, especially early on. Youll know when the person youre talking to is not a potential customer - they just wont understand what youre saying.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

Even for those who don’t care to dive into the numbers, it’s worth a quick glance because co-founder/CEO Andrew Mason wrote a letter which forms the preamble of the full document. Cumulative customers (unique buyers of Groupons): 15.8M (Q1 2011), 9.0M (2010), 0.4M (2009). in net revenue and passes $0.58

North America 100

North America Chicago Boston Silicon Valley 100

View from Seed

AUGUST 10, 2021

We first invested in co-founders Ben Forgan & Pat Wilbur in early 2015, when NextView led a $1.3M And early-stage VC investors have increasingly ventured beyond their backyards of SF, NYC, and Boston to more actively invest in (and in some cases relocate to) places like Miami, Austin, Chicago, Seattle, and other cities.

Chicago 156

Chicago Cofounder Miami B2B 156

ReadWriteStart

MAY 2, 2022

Its popular SnackPass provides customized snacking favorites for employees in large or small offices, both on-site and remote, and its private-label bulk snacks are vastly more exciting and cleaner than what’s in most office pantries. The HUNGRY x NatureBox advantage . The company is headquartered in Washington, D.C.,

Los Angeles 152

Los Angeles Employee San Francisco New York City 152

View from Seed

JULY 8, 2021

Today Lula announced its $18M funding round led by Founders Fund and Khosla Ventures. We couldn’t be more thrilled for co-founders Michael and Matthew for this next phase of building the business with substantial additional backing. I first met the Lula co-founders in Boston about 2 1/2 years ago, at the very end of 2018.

API 120

API Miami Cofounder Boston 120

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 2, 2023

By Danielle Ofek Before I was a banker, I was a founder. My journey over the last decade founding and leading startups has been a successful one, but it has also come with challenges, many of which are shared by other women founders and entrepreneurs. The numbers begin to tell the story.

Founder 146

Founder Affiliate Cofounder Boston 146

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? ) He previously co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU. He is the co-author of several books including The Black Art of Java Game Programming (Waite Group Press, 1996). Eric, love the blog.

San Francisco 155

San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 3, 2013

High-tech startups need technical co-founders more than just about anyone else. But with demand for technical talent at an all time high, your startup doesn’t stand much of a chance of finding a first-class technical co-founder. A technical co-founder wants to build your company with you, not for you.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Founder Chicago Boston 60

View from Seed

AUGUST 10, 2021

We first invested in co-founders Ben Forgan & Pat Wilbur in early 2015, when NextView led a $1.3M And early-stage VC investors have increasingly ventured beyond their backyards of SF, NYC, and Boston to more actively invest in (and in some cases relocate to) places like Miami, Austin, Chicago, Seattle, and other cities.

Chicago 136

Chicago Cofounder Miami B2B 136

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 4, 2018

Most of these rhyme with what we’ve said in the past, but some have also evolved to fit the changing landscape and our own convictions about what really matters for founders and their investors at the seed stage. Of the last 15 investments we’ve made, we’ve been the lead or co-lead investor over 80% of the time. .

North America 36

North America Seed Stage Early Stage Lead Investor 36

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

by Graham Beck , founder of DropDesk Coworking. In recent years, the co-working landscape has dramatically shifted, especially in major cities like New York and Boston, where the tech industry’s demand for these spaces is high. How do you compete with the best co-working spaces in New York?

Cofounder 147

Cofounder New York Denver Flash 147

View from Seed

JULY 17, 2019

Although you still hear stories of investors that require founders to move to SF, it’s more likely these days that investors see a winning business outside of the Bay Area as a positive, given the costs and competitive pressure in that local market. How should a founder go about it? But doing this takes extra work.

San Francisco 243

San Francisco Cofounder B2B Seed Stage 243

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 4, 2010

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Take a look and let me know what you think.

Agile 99

Agile Software Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 99

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Unlike Intel chips, MIPS chip architecture also made it possible to plug in a math co-processor. Oh, and since it was not code compatible with anything, we were going to have to port all the key scientific applications our customers needed (as soon as we figured out who they were.) A few days later Gordon became a founder.

North Carolina 127

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 127

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 3, 2020

My goal for 2020 as a founder is to celebrate the small moments more. In 2019, we focused on expanding our product line at BestSelf Co. In 2020, we’re looking forward to now expanding our relationship with each customer by creating a deeper sense of community. Thanks to Cathryn Lavery, BestSelf Co. ! #7-Make

Entrepreneur 96

Entrepreneur Technical Review San Diego Software Review 96

Duct Tape Marketing

JUNE 1, 2023

Mary is also the co-creator of a new course with Reforge and hosts the popular Women In Product Marketing podcast. Her new book The Pocket Guide to Product Launches: Get Confident, Go to Market, and Win, is a quick-start guide to nailing your first product launch, whether you are a product marketer, product manager, or founder.

Product 60

Product Framework Technical Review Cofounder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 2, 2008

Its to everyones advantage to let the world think the founders thought of everything. I say this as a founder: the contribution of founders is always overestimated. The danger here is that new founders, looking at existing founders, will think that theyre supermen that one couldnt possibly equal oneself.

San Francisco 125

San Francisco Software Review Technical Review Continuous Deployment 125

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

See Customer Development Engineering for my first stab at articulating the theory involved) Ferocious customer-centric rapid iteration, as exemplified by the Customer Development process. Labels: customer development , lean startup 8comments: Amy said. September 11, 2008 2:06 PM Editor said.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 2, 2010

As start-ups scale, this agility will be lost unless the founders maintain a consistent investment in that discipline. As start-ups scale, this agility will be lost unless the founders maintain a consistent investment in that discipline. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ▼ June (3) What is a startup?

Technical Review 132

Technical Review San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 132

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 25, 2010

Defective prototype code was as often thrown out (because customers didnt want it) as it was fixed (when customers did). Defective prototype code was as often thrown out (because customers didnt want it) as it was fixed (when customers did). Firefighting was part of the fun of living on the edge. Amazon PostRank

Software Review 141

Software Review San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 141

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

In the early fall of 2009, as kaChing prepared for its marketplace launch, the management team showed the app—which included real time market data, SEC-grade accounting, analytics, compliance and customer management tools—to a number of investment pros to get feedback and endorsements. The response was surprisingly positive.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment SEC 158

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 3, 2009

The same has been true of an unfortunate number of startups, they manage to generate a lot of hype, raise a lot of money, and sometimes make some of their investors, employees, or founders rich. bigs : @ericries says Stealth dev is a (undesirable, failure-presaging) customer-free zone. Iterating at whiteboard !=

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Cofounder 60