Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

90 days later, I found out our games are terrible, no one is buying them, our best engineers started leaving, and with 120 people and a huge burn rate, we’re running out of money and about to crash. Now when I listen to entrepreneurs who’ve cratered a company, I listen for their stories of failure and redemption.

Redemption 330

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 330

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

90 days later, I found out our games are terrible, no one is buying them, our best engineers started leaving, and with 120 people and a huge burn rate, we’re running out of money and about to crash. Now when I listen to entrepreneurs who’ve cratered a company, I listen for their stories of failure and redemption.

Redemption 222

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 222

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

There were tons of young entrepreneurs showing their latest Web 2.0 I will quote a prominent, well-known entrepreneur whom I like and respect and who told me when he was raising money, “I don’t know how much I’m going to charge for my product so why should I create an artificial spreadsheet? Better to model that now.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Mucker Lab

MAY 28, 2020

Some entrepreneurs think that (more) money will solve all their company’s problems. Until you have product-market fit, hire builders: engineers, designers, and growth and product people. More and more investors have begun to shun high burn rates. Honestly, we don’t know.”? Be trigger shy about hiring.

Startup 78

Startup Cofounder Burn Rate Technical Review 78

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 13, 2013

My mom was an entrepreneur – she was kind of my inspiration for entrepreneurship. You know, the weird thing, Derek, and I should probably let you speak some time, but I was deeply technical when I went into Andersen consulting, and I got paid much less than engineers who graduated, because I had a degree in economics.

Cofounder 337

Cofounder Technical Cofounder San Diego Startup 337

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Ari Newman is an entrepreneur, mentor, investor, and a friend. He works at Techstars where his responsibility is to ensure that the connections between alumni, mentors, and staff are as robust as they can be – helping entrepreneurs “ do more faster ” day in and day out. The plan would have to get way tighter, way faster.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

Luck, timing and social engineering are bigger components than most entrepreneurs care to imagine,” adds Werdelin. Considering Facebook’s scale, the company is now in the business of operating power plants to operate its servers, therefore, Schippers estimates that Facebook has a $30 million dollar monthly burn rate just for hosting.

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 10, 2014

Why entrepreneurs should learn to say “I don’t know” more often – crowdspring.co/1pGXXeF. Refocusing the Startup Burn Rate Debate | OpenView Blog – crowdspring.co/1n8paLq. 44 engineering management lessons – crowdspring.co/1x7TVkf. ” – crowdspring.co/1slKVZ2.

Social Media 97

Social Media Small Business Design Media 97

crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

The Paradoxical Traits of an Entrepreneur | by Jody Porowski – crowdspring.co/1piN6X6. Are startup burn rates out of control? Hiring startup engineers? The 3 Myths Most Entrepreneurs Tell Themselves About Marketing | by Dharmesh Shah – crowdspring.co/1uyrQ4U. | WordStream – crowdspring.co/1tOs1vg.

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 28, 2016

The job of chief financial officer (CFO) may sound like a nightmare assignment to technical entrepreneurs, but the tasks and skills required are key to every new venture. Every team member, from engineer to CEO, lives or dies based on cash flow, so the more they can tune their activities to revenue and expenses, the more valuable they become.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Burn Rate Leadership Salary 120

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 15, 2011

That’s a burn rate of at least $10K per month that can be eliminated if you are handy with computers and Quickbooks. Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) yourself. As a result, being an entrepreneur in now within the financial reach of almost everyone. Technology costs. Sales and marketing costs.

Entrepreneur 235

Entrepreneur Burn Rate SEM Social Network 235

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 2, 2015

It’s the nature of most entrepreneurs, honestly. They can show the projections on what this does to burn rate. Another thing entrepreneurs f**k up? Most entrepreneurs would like to stick their heads in the sand or would rather hear fingernails on chalkboards (there still are chalkboards, aren’t there?)

Operations 150

Operations Metrics Early Stage Non-Compete 150

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 12, 2010

I was WAY off between my book research about what the engineering & construction market would want (my first company) and what they actually wanted. If you can’t figure all of this out then adding a non-founder sales person isn’t going to solve your problems – it’s just going to add to your burn rate.

Hiring 346

Hiring Sales Startup Early Stage 346

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 18, 2012

That’s a burn rate of at least $10K per month that can be eliminated if you are handy with computers and Quickbooks. Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) yourself. As a result, being an entrepreneur in now within the financial reach of almost everyone. Technology costs. Sales and marketing costs.

Cost 255

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 255

Hearpreneur

JULY 7, 2019

Some entrepreneurs will say the future is definitely bright but to others, some of these changes work against their expansion and business operations. We asked entrepreneurs their thoughts on the future of entrepreneurship and here’s what they had to say; #1- Solopreneurship. 2- Growth in entrepreneur movement in the US.

Entrepreneur 93

Entrepreneur Distribution Employee Arizona 93

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

You would think that would be enough to get wrong, but entrepreneurs and investors compound this problem by assuming that all startups grow and scale by executing the Revenue Plan. Another VC added that engineering should redesign the product to meet the price and performance of current users in an adjacent market. They don’t.

Revenue 230

Revenue Balance Sheet Hockey Stick Burn Rate 230

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2010

For me Pier Loans fall under the category of “penny wise, pound foolish.&# What VCs who have never been entrepreneurs and have therefore never been on the receiving end of small bridge loans don’t realize is that they skew the behavior of startup management teams in ways that can be self destructive. And it adds up.

Startup 290

Startup Burn Rate Warrant Bankruptcy 290

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

This partnership speaks to a core philosophy of the program where we encourage entrepreneurs to get as much customer validation as possible before raising too much money, use other people's channels if you can get to them, don't burn too much cash, and all that good fiscal conservative stuff. LetsGiftIt. Photo by nosheep. Discuss.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Gust

JUNE 10, 2012

That’s a burn rate of at least $10K per month that can be eliminated if you are handy with computers and Quickbooks. Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM), like cohort analysis , yourself. As a result, being an entrepreneur in now within the financial reach of almost everyone. Technology costs.

Cost 139

Cost Burn Rate SEM Startup 139

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 4, 2011

Every area has networking events, like the NYC Tech Meetup , and organizations like the Silicon Valley Association of Startup Engineers. What's the monthly burn rate? Then you find someone you know in one of these companies, or polish your resume for submission to the startup websites advertising openings.

Silicon Valley 227

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Startup Stock Options 227

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

The only numbers in those documents that are important in the first year of a startup’s life are burn rate and cash balance. What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? Yet while we’ve reinvented how startups build their companies , startup investors are still having board meetings like it’s the 19 th century.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

The only numbers in those documents that are important in the first year of a startup’s life are burn rate and cash balance. What is the entrepreneur supposed to be doing? Yet while we’ve reinvented how startups build their companies , startup investors are still having board meetings like it’s the 19 th century.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2010

That’s a burn rate of at least $10K per month that can be eliminated if you are handy with computers and Quickbooks. Do basic Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Marketing (SEM) yourself. As a result, being an entrepreneur in now within the financial reach of almost everyone. Technology costs. Sales and marketing costs.

Burn Rate 125

Burn Rate SEM Social Network Angel Investor 125

Professor VC

MARCH 10, 2009

His goal in building the company was to spend 3 years building value and find a good home for the engineers and product. In this economy, all entrepreneurs are going to hear a lot of "nos", but time spent going after customers rather than investors should provide a higher return on investment. Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught?

Bootstrapping 28

Bootstrapping San Jose Silicon Valley Software Review 28

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

The key contributors to an out-of-control burn rate is 1) hiring a sales force too early, 2) turning on the demand creation activities too early, 3) developing something other than the minimum feature set for first customer ship. And most startup code and features end up on the floor as customers never really wanted them.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Professor VC

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

At a high level, I definitely agree that being an entrepreneur and being in school dont necessarily mix. Most of us know of Exhibits 1 ( Bill Gates ) and 2 ( Mark Zuckerberg ) from Harvard, but I have met dozens of other successful entrepreneurs who felt a greater need to get going on an opportunity than to wait around to complete a degree.

San Jose 43

San Jose Silicon Valley Las Vegas Venture Capital 43

Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Nelson has some tips: Know your burn rate. Nelson encourages up and coming entrepreneurs to get out to industry events, and strategically plan who they want to connect with. Five useful tools and an entrepreneur’s workspace. What helps a busy entrepreneur get work done? How do you balance it all?

Bootstrapping 107

Bootstrapping Cofounder Portland Burn Rate 107

Professor VC

DECEMBER 18, 2008

The NIF (in its 5th year), is essentially a science fair for entrepreneurs. The NIF brings together students from all parts of the university (business, computer science, mechanical engineering, design, life science, etc.) This was a collaboration between students in industrial design, electrical engineering and business.

San Jose 28

San Jose Silicon Valley Technical Review Angel Investor 28

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

Personally, I think leading VC firms do a pretty good job of being supportive of their companies, and most entrepreneurs funded by good funds like their investors. In my view, many if not most of them haven’t done enough in their careers to earn the right to advise entrepreneurs, a job I consider laden with responsibility.

Burn Rate 87

Burn Rate Hiring Engineer Entrepreneur 87

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 13, 2011

Steve Blank is a retired serial entrepreneur, educator, thought leader and creator of the rigorous "Customer Development" methodology that helps startups optimize their chances for success while reducing risk. The only numbers in those documents that are important in the first year of a startup's life are burn rate and cash balance.

Silicon Valley 117

Silicon Valley Balance Sheet Metrics Early Stage 117

Transformify

AUGUST 27, 2017

It is your team that will save you, the entrepreneur, from a disaster. Their investors may push them into that direction too, as the high burn rate is often seen as a prerequisite for high growth. The compromise results in failed market entry strategies, lost clients, high burn rate, etc. Team comes first.

Hiring 64

Hiring Software Review Burn Rate Startup 64

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2009

And throughout my career as an entrepreneur I kept asking questions of my VC investors and friends; Where did entrepreneurship come from? They were all fun reads about plucky entrepreneurs who start from nothing and against all odds, build a successful company. Was it because entrepreneurs keep moving forward and rarely look back?

Silicon Valley 270

Silicon Valley RSS San Francisco Technical Review 270

Professor VC

FEBRUARY 26, 2008

Do you have the right make-up to be an entrepreneur? You need to be true to yourself and many people arent cut out to take the personal and professional risk associated with being an entrepreneur. I was glad to see he didnt try and upstage Mr. Hogan by adding another one. Can Entrepreneurship Be Taught? ► October. (1).

Technical Review 28

Technical Review San Jose Angel Investor Silicon Valley 28

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

Customer Development is Low Burn by Design The Customer Development process keeps a startup at a low cash burn rate until the company has validated its business model by finding paying customers. It’s just that until now, no one has ever explicitly mapped their journey to success. armed forces in both Gulf Wars – and by others.

Customer Development 242

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 242

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 15, 2020

Human talent, marketing, engineering, R&D. To talk to other manufacturers and say, "Why don't we organize together and release information about what our daily production is, what our daily deliveries are, what our order rates are, so we reflect demand. Maybe it's this entrepreneur. Everything gets less expensive.

Dallas 68

Dallas Employee Government Social Media 68

Steve Blank

MAY 15, 2009

Signs of Success One of the things you do right in a startup, is you move from one cheap and cramped building to another as you grow, with desks, cubicles and engineers piled cheek to jowl. Engineers were packed in cubicles or desks right on top of each other? Now every engineer can have their own office. A VERY nice office.

Silicon Valley 205

Silicon Valley RSS Lean Agile 205

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

The full formula works like this: runway = cash on hand / burn rate # iterations = runway / speed of each iteration Very few successful companies ended up in the same exact business that the founders thought theyd be in (see Founders at Work for dozens of examples). Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable (for Ha.

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 117