Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

In the early stages of a startup your hypotheses about all the parts of your business model are your profound beliefs. Here’s how I learned why they were critical to successful customer development. And he proceeded to lay out a fairly complex and innovative sales and marketing strategy for our next 18 months.

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Business Model Product Development Early Stage Customer Development 305

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

This is a customer development problem. By the end of this article, you should have a better understanding of how to develop new products or tweak your existing offerings by working with existing or prospective customers to incorporate their feedback to create viable solutions to their problems, and clearly communicate their value.

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Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 126

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Nand changed the culture of the JAIC, bringing in Silicon Valley tools for product development, product management and for the first time a culture that focused on UI/UX, MVPs and continuous integration and deployment. Selling JAIC Like Enterprise Sales. We needed to be building leveraged business models in scale.

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Artificial Inteligence Fractional CTO Technology CTO 388

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

Defense and Intelligence organizations drove the pace of innovation in Silicon Valley by providing research and development dollars to universities, and defense companies built weapons systems that used the Valley’s first microwave devices and semiconductor components. This might mean competing with and if necessary killing your own products.

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Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2018

The problem is that professional investors (angels and venture capital) want a proven business model before they invest, ready to scale, rather than early projections and product development. Apply for contests and business grants. Consider licensing your product or intellectual property, and “white labeling.”

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Intellectual Property Technical Review Startup Incubator 134

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2013

Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. The product is behind schedule. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%.

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Founder Startup Software Developers Software Development 250

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

Try innovating inside a large company where 99% of the company is executing the current business model, while you’re trying to figure out and build what comes next. Do they have better sales, marketing, or product development groups? You think startups are hard? Is it that some CEOs are better than others?

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Incubator Lean Agile Business Model 402

K9 Ventures

AUGUST 13, 2010

So the departments either didn’t have the capacity to pay or it would be an endless sales-cycle, where we would spend lots of time on the sales, but it still wouldn’t close. In the end the revenue simply wasn’t enough to make a sustainable business and so we had to switch gears once more (in today’s parlance that would be a “Pivot”).

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Revenue Developer Java Customer Development 72

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 24, 2012

Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. The product is behind schedule. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%.

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Software Developers Software Development Business Model Product Development 229

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

When Sloan arrived at GM in 1920 he realized that the traditional centralized management structures organized by function (sales, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing) were a poor fit for managing GM’s diverse product lines. billion in sales in today’s dollars). What Does GM Have to Do with Tesla And Elon Musk?

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Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 268

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 6, 2011

Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. The product is behind schedule. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%.

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Startup Software Developers Software Development Business Model 245

conversionxl.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

It’s Not a Conversion Problem, It’s a Customer Development Problem. Not because they have a conversion problem but because they never really nail the product or how to market it. This is a customer development problem. So What is Customer Development? The Problem With Traditional Product Development.

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Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 60

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

Berkeley were heavily funded to develop Cold War weapon systems. Starting in the 1950’s, Stanford’s engineering department became “outward facing” and developed a culture of spinouts and active faculty support and participation in the first wave of Silicon Valley startups. The Business Plan is Dead. Berkeley-wide.

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Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2015

Image via Flickr by Side Wages Some entrepreneurs forget that they need an innovative business model along with an innovative solution to have a successful startup. Inventors alone, or business gurus alone, generally fail. Technologists forget that investors are buying a chunk of the business, not the product.

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Technical Review Startup Angel Investor Social Media 120

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Software Development Process via Wikipedia. Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Develop your business plan. Product development process.

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Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

You take that money and invest a good portion of it in traditional sales and marketing efforts — including product developers, creative people, and salespeople, all of whom are paid to figure out what buyers want and to say good things about your company — in a quest to get even more customers. Close the sale.

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Customer Social Media Retention Canada 168

ConversionXL

JUNE 14, 2021

In this guide, you’ll learn how to differentiate your business and attract your ideal customers by creating a unique selling proposition. They developed features with their specific audience in mind. For example, two days after they cancelled their subscription to your SaaS product. Best practice is within the first few weeks.

Software Review 158

Software Review Audience Differentiation Framework 158

Steve Blank

MARCH 15, 2011

By now the nine teams in our Stanford Lean LaunchPad Class were formed, In the four days between team formation and this class session we tasked them to: Write down their initial hypotheses for the 9 components of their company’s business model (who are the customers? what’s the product? what distribution channel?

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Cracking the Code

OCTOBER 1, 2020

Snyk was founded with the mission to help developers make their code secure, providing a platform to automatically assess and remediate open source vulnerabilities. The company’s success has been largely driven by its developer-led freemium model, going from Series A funding to a valuation of $2.6B in just 30 months.

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Early Stage Open Source Development Team Review Security 62

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

But startups require money upfront for product development and later to scale. For the first few years, your VCs want you to keep your head down, build the product, find product/market fit and ship to get to some inflection point (revenue, users, etc.). But there’s only one reason your company got funded. ——-.

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Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Venture Capital 120

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 10, 2012

If so, the business world is full of specialists who are all too eager to help. Talented product developers. In short, they provide a natural, organic, and deeply reliable way to grow a business. . This has resulted in dramatic increases in sales. Brilliant ad agencies and clever marketing communications experts.

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Customer Fractional CTO Canada Technical Review 154

Hearpreneur

SEPTEMBER 22, 2021

Tesla Tesla invented a successful business model for bringing compelling electric cars to the market. Tesla has always put a huge emphasis on product development and technological advancement. because of how they're disrupting application development across all sectors. It is also one of my most admired companies.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Entrepreneur Software Review SEO 118

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 9, 2023

The startup costs are low; you can set your product prices and build a successful brand without paying for inventory or building a physical store. Online businesses have also massively grown in popularity over the last few years. In 2022 alone, e-commerce sales reached 5.2 trillion dollars worldwide.

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Business Model Stock Cost Email 121

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2015

In the Installation Period , a great surge of technology development (Perez calls this Irruption) is followed by an explosion of investment (called the Frenzy.) For example, US Steel had integrated vertically and was involved in the mining of the iron ore all the way to the production of various steel products, e.g., nails.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Venture Capital United States Technical Review 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

About twenty people on Answers OnStartups have asked this question in one form or another: When I meet an angel investor, he may ask: "What if a big company copies your idea and develops the same website as yours after your website goes public?". Adriana has been a psychiatrist for 10 years; she understands the ins and outs of that business.

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2010

Starting a business is a lot like starting a marriage. Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. The product is behind schedule. When I was a software development manager, I tried to get a “bottoms up” time estimate from the team, and then pad it by 50%.

Software Developers 122

Software Developers Software Development Business Model Design 122

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

The excerpts, which appeared first at Inc.com , highlight the Customer Development process, best practices, tips and instructions contained in our book. ———– Whether your venture is a new pizza parlor or the hottest new software product, beware: These nine flawed assumptions are toxic.

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Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 242

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 22, 2012

It must cross boundaries, working cooperatively with other divisions in your business such as sales, marketing, social media, PR, product development, and the like. Too often salespeople may “hoard” their prize references, fencing them off from big opportunities to promote or close business for you.

Programming 145

Programming Customer Social Media Advisory Board 145

Steve Blank

JANUARY 6, 2014

For the last 75 years products (both durable goods and software) were built via Waterfall development. This process forced companies to release and launch products by model years, and market new and “improved” versions. The Old Days – Waterfall Product Development. Adobe and Tesla offer two examples.

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Continuous Deployment Customer Agile Cloud 329

Steve Blank

MARCH 4, 2014

These groups are adapting or adopting the practices of startups and accelerators – disruption and innovation rather than direct competition, customer development versus more product features, agility and speed versus lowest cost. Every large company, whether it can articulate it or not, is executing a proven business model (s).

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 4, 2021

Modern entrepreneurship began at the turn of the 21 st century with the observation that startups aren’t smaller versions of large companies – large companies at their core execute known business models, while startups search for scalable business models. Other products used and their functions.

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Customer Marketing Lean Vertical 420

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Twenty eight years ago I was the bright, young, eager product marketing manager called out to the field to support sales by explaining the technical details of Convergent Technologies products to potential customers. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products.

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Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 138

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. In addition, I’ve noted a few multi-product lending firms, e.g., Kapitus and United Capital Source , which provide RBI as one of many structural options to companies seeking capital. . Alternative Capital. “

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

A business plan has a set of assumptions (who’s the customer, what’s the price, what’s the channel, what are the product features that matter, etc.) that make up a business model. Yet by first customer ship most of the business model hasn’t been validated or tested. Pivots By Firing Executives.

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Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 247

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

When it was spun out as a a separate company, Iridium’s 1990 business plan had assumptions about potential customers, their problems and the product needed to solve that problem. They made other assumptions about the type of sales channel, partnerships and revenue model they would need. It All Came Crashing Down.

Business Plan 335

Business Plan Customer Business Model Customer Development 335

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

The Founder’s New Insight Smart founders are never satisfied with simply executing their current business model, they are constantly observing, orienting and deciding whether their current business model can be made better. It’s a natural part of learning about your customers and business model.)

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Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 195