Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

In previous posts I’ve talked about what the combination of Business Model Design, Customer Development and Agile Methodologies mean to startups and intrapreneurs in large companies; it’s the beginning of entrepreneurship as a science with its own rules and methodologies. Teaching In the Big Apple.

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Business Model Developer Design 270

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2021

While all the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ), Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, each of their journeys was unique. Tom Bedecarré , the founder and CEO of AKQA, the leading digital advertising agency. It Started With An Idea. He runs H4X Labs.

Lean 385

Lean Security Asia SBIR 385

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2021

By the end of the 20th century, case studies and business plans had reached an evolutionary dead-end for entrepreneurs. The Rise of Business Schools – Management as an Occupation. The business school was invented in the first decade of the 20th century in response to a massive economic transformation in the U.S.

Lean 433

Lean Agile Business Model Business Plan 433

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. You may have heard that venture capitalists in Silicon Valley no longer read business plans. Provide specifics on the customer business model.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

But founders need to know how to ask for their advice and when to ignore it. Startup Insights From Paul English, Co-Founder of Kayak - OnStartups , May 10, 2010 I’m just wrapping up several weeks of attending conferences across both coasts. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers. was having coffee with a friend who teaches at the U.C.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

SoCal CTO

MARCH 11, 2010

Tim Berry has a great post on Why I Hate Those Huge Market Numbers tells us that he doesn’t like to see business plans with multi-billion market numbers used as the basis for projections. Show me how much each unique visitor is going to cost you in search engine optimization and pay-per-click search engine expense.

Metrics 159

Metrics Startup Retention Software Developers 159

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2010

In my last post I described my approach to one of the three classes I teach at Stanford in the engineering school: Fundamentals of Technology Entrepreneurship. The key things I want students to take from the class are: Understand that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a profitable business model.

Business Model 226

Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 226

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley. ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley , was founded by a PhD in Math and six other scientists and engineers. It might be its most important. ———-. Cold War Spin Outs.

Engineer 305

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 305

Steve Blank

JUNE 12, 2020

All the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ) Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, but all of their journeys were unique. I observed that teaching case studies and/or how to write a business plan as a capstone entrepreneurship class didn’t match the hands-on chaos of a startup.

Oakland 301

Oakland Asia Lean Video 301

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) release of the product.

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

blog.captainrecruiter.com

MARCH 8, 2012

Technical Co-Founders Are A Myth. Two years ago I got the bug to do an online recruiting startup and I began the hunt to find a technical co-founder - a software engineer who works for no cash - to help me build my dream website. I learned something: technical co-founders are a myth. Captain Recruiter. Real Advice.

Cofounder 40

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Software Engineering 40

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

business models. And while startups and entrepreneurship courses are now being added to the curriculum, “How to write a business plan” seems to be the state of the art. Though they’re familiar with technology in the valley, I picked up some important cultural difference from students and startup engineers I talked to.

China 323

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 323

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2012

One of the confusing things to entrepreneurs, investors and educators is the relationship between customer development and business model design and business planning and execution. When does a new venture focus on customer development and business models ? Here’s an attempt to put this all in context.

Search 320

Search Business Model Customer Development Agile 320

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board. — all great things when you are executing and scaling a known business model.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

business models. And while startups and entrepreneurship courses are now being added to the curriculum, “How to write a business plan” seems to be the state of the art. Though they’re familiar with technology in the valley, I picked up some important cultural difference from students and startup engineers I talked to.

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

Any dispassionate observer would recognize that on Day One, a start-up has no customers, and unless the founder is a true domain expert, he or she can only guess about the customer, problem, and business model. Founders, presuming they know their customers, assume they know all the features customers need.

Balance Sheet 335

Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 11, 2010

A place to start would be by recognizing the fundamental difference between an existing company and a startup: existing companies execute business models, while startups search for a business model. (Or Therefore the very foundations of teaching entrepreneurship should start with how to search for a business model.

Agile 250

Agile Business Model Customer Development Lean 250

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

A revolution has taken hold as customer development and agile engineering reinvent the Startup process. Reinventing the board meeting may allow venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Founders operate in a chaotic regime. Victor Hugo.

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Christian Reber, CEO and co-founder of Berlin-based 6Wunderkinder. So far I have shared with you 9 simple steps to start your own tech business ((don’t miss part 1 , part 2 , and part 3 ). Most first-time entrepreneurs write huge business plans, instead of creating a short pitch-deck.

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Management Cofounder Startup Bootstrapping 120

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

How Small Businesses Can Compete with Big Business – [link]. crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight of the Week: mor.sl | crowdSPRING Blog – [link]. The Founders Lie About Comfort Zones – [link]. How To Choose A Market For Your Startup Or Small Business – [link]. Just got acquired?

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Kalanick, former investor BFF turned highly disappointed by founder behavior. Usually the founders duke it out among themselves as to titles and responsibilities and relative shareholdings. If you are the lead founder, if behooves you to sort all this out and get started with a clean organization. How about your Investors ?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

Steve Blank

JUNE 7, 2019

Our keynote speaker was Palmer Luckey , founder of Oculus and the designer of the Oculus Rift. He’s now the CEO/founder of the AI-focussed defense contractor Anduril Industries. Tom Bedecarré was the founder and CEO of AKQA, the leading digital advertising agency. If you can’t see the video of Palmer Luckey click here.

Oakland 266

Oakland Lean SBIR Afghanistan 266

Up and Running

MAY 10, 2017

We didn’t know anything about small business accounting or finance. We didn’t even know how to write a business plan. I had some limited knowledge about search engine marketing, but knew nothing about marketing in a more general sense. Writing up a contract is especially important if you’re working with co-founders.

Startup 119

Startup SEO Montana Argentina 119

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Yet boards of large companies exist to monitor efficient strategy and execution of a known business model. Wastes Founders Time.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2010

Very cool concept and I want to thank the founder Adil Mohammed for inviting me to take part in it. It doesn’t mean that you should change your business model because one person suggested it, but listed to the feedback and if you see similar patterns over and over again, make changes. Business Plan.

Elevator Pitch 102

Elevator Pitch Incubator Technical Review Startup 102

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 10, 2013

It’s difficult to fake corporate culture | Business Insider – [link]. How a 1-Page Business Model Will – and Won’t–Help Your Lean Startup | by Kevin Dewalt – [link]. The critical metrics for each stage of your SaaS business | by Lars Lofrgren – [link]. The Business Plan.

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2018

To organize my thoughts, I found a new book, “ Burn the Business Plan ,” by Carl Schramm, who speaks from experience founding five companies, working major corporate roles, and being an active venture investor. You need a business degree to start a venture today. Business strategies are best learned from experience.

Incubator 180

Incubator Angel Investor Dilution Equity 180

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Yet boards of large companies exist to monitor efficient strategy and execution of a known business model. Wastes Founders Time.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2019

Steve Blank: When I first starting teaching, the capstone entrepreneurship class was how to write a business plan. But years ago, we had no alternative – how to write a business plan was it. My contribution has been, “Why don’t we design classes more closely modeled to what innovators and entrepreneurs actually do.”

Incubator 331

Incubator Lean Programming Government 331

YoungUpstarts

MAY 26, 2017

by Edmund Buckley , co-founder & CEO of CampusSafe. Your pitch deck is the most important assets your business will have, arguably more than the business plan itself. Because if you get the pitch right, you’ll get the plan right. Think of your business as a house you’re building. Answer the Little Man.

Cofounder 185

Cofounder Silicon Valley Forecast Business Plan 185

rob.by

MARCH 8, 2012

He argued that software engineers don’t finish what they start, and that you’re better off paying a technical person than partnering with one. Twelve months into my startup journey I had four half-built websites that had been built by my four ex-technical co-founders. He was a delegator, not a doer. There’s the team.

Technical Cofounder 42

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Engineering Fractional CTO 42

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The Business Plan (Concept- Alpha-Beta - FCS ) became the playbook for startups. VC’s engineered financial transactions, working with entrepreneurs to brand, hype and take public un profitable companies with grand promises of the future. Thus began the 5-year dot-com bubble. Rules For the New Bubble: 2011 -2014.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Over breakfast he got me up to date on his life since school (two non-CEO roles in startups,) but he wanted to talk about his third startup – the one he and two co-founders had started. In this first step, the goal of a startup is to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

Startup 120

Startup Lean Venture Capital Advisory Board 120

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

Applying teams must have at least one women and one technologist (engineer, scientist, etc) on the founding team. To enter the competition, submit your application , your "napkin business plan," and film a quick video pitch. The deadline to apply is October 1. The mission of Women 2.0

San Francisco 135

San Francisco Incubator Startup Early Stage 135

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

I think this idea is particularly appealing to those of us from an engineering background. And yet, it’s not really fair to ask that the company’s money be spent without anyone bothering to build a financial model that can be used to judge success. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

www.xconomy.com

JUNE 9, 2012

Ministry of Supply Puts MIT Engineering Cred Into Dress Shirts. Sakti3 Founder Sastry to Step Down From U-M. Q&A: Group Commerce Plans Hires, European Growth with $21M Funding. VP of Strategic and Emerging Business Development, Microsoft. Co-Founder and CEO, Wetpaint. of Computer Science and Engineering, Univ.

San Diego 40

San Diego Venture Capital Technical Review San Francisco 40

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 21, 2018

Without it, even a startup with the best product idea and business plan can fail in the face of challenges and obstacles. Many founders choose to recruit great leaders to take their startups to success. A few years ago, tech and non-tech startups were recruiting engineers for their natural ability to solve problems.

Architecture 60

Architecture Startup Leadership Design 60