Business Model Channel Customer Development Portfolio 
Steve Blank
AUGUST 31, 2009
In the next few posts that follow, I’ll describe more specifically how this model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. The greatest risk in startups —and hence the greatest cause of failure—is not the technology risk of developing a product but in the risk of developing customers and markets.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 5, 2018
First Movers” didn’t understand customer problems or the product features that solved those problems (what we now call product-market fit). To be fair, in the 20 th century, there really wasn’t a model for how to build startups other than write plan, raise money, and execute – the bubble was this method, on steroids.
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Steve Blank
JANUARY 22, 2014
Few entrepreneurs find this scalable and repeatable business model because it’s not easy. The cloud , open-source development tools and web 2.0 as a distribution channel have vastly reduced the amount of capital a startup needs at the early stage when the risk is greatest. Valley-sized VC funds don’t work.
Steve Blank
FEBRUARY 11, 2010
The Customer Development process is the way startups quickly iterate and test each element of their business model , reducing customer and market risk. The first step of Customer Development is called Customer Discovery. outside the building and test them in front of customers.
Steve Blank
JUNE 26, 2015
The first, the notion of the “ ambidextrous organization ” from O’Reilly and Tushman , posits that companies that want to do continuous innovation need to execute their core business model while innovating in parallel. Horizon 1 activities support existing business models. Horizon 1 is the company’s core business.
SoCal CTO
JUNE 9, 2010
The Yin and Yang of Product and Engineering - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 22, 2010 For a tech company, product and engineering are the heart and soul of the business. They’re deep into Customer Development ,” he said. Tech support keeps angry customers at bay while having no power to effect change.
Seeing Both Sides
JULY 11, 2013
Before this occurs, the sales process is a craft or an art - custom-made by the founder or evangelist sales VP. You dive deep into a customer development process, working closely with a few customers who feed you requirements and are willing to trial an imperfect product that is evolving quickly.
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