Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

For decades large companies have gone shopping in Silicon Valley for startups. What can companies learn from others’ failed efforts to integrate startups into large companies? The answer - there are two types of integration strategies, and they depend on where the startup is in its lifecycle. The Innovation Portfolio.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

A single innovator can envision or even build an innovative prototype, but it takes a team to build the solution into a business. Even adding money won’t do it – you need to create a committed and engaged team and partners for marketing and sales, as well as production and distribution.

Technical Review 201

Technical Review Government Agile Differentiation 201

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? Surprisingly if you’ve filled out the business model canvas you already know who you need. She started by sketching her business model canvas on a napkin, but somehow the conversation quickly shifted to what was really on her mind.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2014

We’re changing the order in which we teach the business model canvas and customer development to better-fit therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. The Lean LaunchPad class uses the three “ Lean Startup ” principles: Alexander Osterwalders “ business model canvas ” to frame hypotheses.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Lean IP Open Source 281

ReadWriteStart

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Among its many implications, the digital office means that jobs don’t necessarily need to be done in-person, and today’s startup leaders are realizing that many projects can be done at a lower cost remotely, without any drop in quality. Still, COVID-19 helped tip the balance towards a globally distributed model.

Distribution 145

Distribution Global Agile Startup 145

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2015

But for startups with limited resources and experience, I always recommend a soft launch or toe-in-the-water approach in a local market -- and scale up later. In fact, for startups, it usually makes sense to announce your solution on social media and blogs even before you have built the first one.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Startup Stealth Agile 120

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. But the reality is that I engage with about 5 new startups each year which means that I end up working with less than 5% of the startups where I provide these free consulting sessions. Do you have a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

Fractional CTO 264

Fractional CTO CTO Hire NDA Technical Review 264

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

I talk to roughly 2 or 3 new startups every week who need advice from an experienced CTO. But the reality is that I engage with about 5 new startups each year which means that I end up working with less than 5% of the startups where I provide these free consulting sessions. Do you have a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

Fractional CTO 259

Fractional CTO CTO Hire NDA Technical Review 259

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key partners.

Business Model 143

Business Model Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor 143

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

Make sure your plan answers every relevant question that you could possibly imagine from your business partners, spouse, and potential investors. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. Show personal investment.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 13, 2024

Startups in the cybersecurity sector are facing a daunting market environment , contending with decreased valuations and increasing pressure to sell while competing for vital funding and collaborations.

Down Round 154

Down Round Marketing Artificial Inteligence Startup 154

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 15, 2020

Many companies need venture capital funding, including startups. The process of getting venture capital funding may be difficult, but it pays off in a cash infusion for your business which may be able to make the difference between failure and success. Your pitch deck provides an overview of your entire business.

Venture Capital 144

Venture Capital Technical Review Software Review Security 144

View from Seed

JANUARY 6, 2021

When a company is pitching a VC, there is typically one partner who is the advocate for the deal and is shepherding the process. Part of what I like about working with my partners is that I really believe that our collective decision-making is better than our decision-making as individuals.

Partner 180

Partner Distribution Founder Acquisition 180

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

Make sure your plan answers every relevant question that you could possibly imagine from your business partners, spouse, and potential investors. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. That means skip the jargon and include explanations and examples. Show personal investment.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

It’s time to update Build, Measure, Learn to what we now know is the best way to build Lean startups. Only after shipping and attempting to sell the product would a startup hear any substantive feedback from customers. Then came the Build-Measure-learn focus of the Lean Startup. Here’s how. Build-Measure-Learn.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web. Union Square Ventures The next morning I got to spend time with Brad Burnham , partner at Union Square Ventures talking about their investment strategy and insights about web-based businesses.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Steve Blank

MARCH 26, 2019

The class was unique in that it was 1) team-based, 2) experiential, 3) lean-driven (hypothesis testing/business model/customer development/agile engineering). When we started this class, the concept of Lean (business models, customer development, agile, pivots, mvp’s) was new to everyone. Class Velocity/Depth.

Lean 248

Lean Business Model Balance Sheet Video 248

Austin Startup

MARCH 13, 2020

Q1 2020 marks Reset ’s two year anniversary, from when we had our first conversation about how we could help distributed teams find affordable space to meet and work. Your partner matters To all those solo-founders out there?—?kudos Since our pivot, we’ve served an additional 15 companies, half of which are outside of Austin.

B2C 62

B2C Austin B2B Cofounder 62

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 10, 2016

The right channel for marketing and distribution is one of the basic “four Ps” of business (product, promotion, price and placement). Every startup has limited resources and people, so rolling out your solution in multiple channels will likely mean a weak implementation in all, and customer confusion.

Channel 120

Channel Distribution Partner Acquisition 120

The Startup Magazine

JANUARY 26, 2021

That could be a standard sale contract, i.e. buy and sell single items or batches, or a partnership agreement, i.e. contract manufacturing, sales agency, or distribution agreement. Founded in New York City in 2012, Kinnek bases its business model on quality over quantity. Not all businesses like that.

B2B 124

B2B Saudi Arabia Global United Kingdom 124

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Dino Vendetti a VC at Bay Partners, moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. Success depends on finding startups that have identified acute customer pains in large markets where conditions are ripe for a new entrant. I visited Bend last year and caught up with his progress.

Early Stage 286

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 286

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2012

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. I support her assertion that a business model consists of at least the first seven of the following ten basic elements: Value proposition.

Business Model 242

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 242

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 31, 2022

It’s a tough time for a lot of startup founders right now. Mature startups with proven business models and the potential to reach the public markets within a few years will be the safest place to park any new venture capital that comes into the ecosystem. Startups, Don’t Pin Your Hopes on VC Dry Powder ( Source ).

Founder 173

Founder Technical Review Down Round Liquidation Preference 173

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Customer support is more than handling exceptions.

Business Model 414

Business Model Angel Investor Bootstrapping Revenue 414

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Make sure your plan answers every relevant question that you could possibly imagine from your business partners, spouse, and potential investors. It doesn’t prove your business model of pricing, distribution, and support. milestones entrepreneur startup funding business' Show personal investment.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2015

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Customer support is more than handling exceptions.

Business Model 120

Business Model Angel Investor Startup Bootstrapping 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. Perhaps that’s because where established companies might see risks or threats, startups see opportunity. Innovation.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 25, 2020

Yet, every business expert tells me that finding good business partners is just as tricky as a good marriage, minus the sex. As with personal relationships, unbalanced deals don’t work, since the dominating entity finds it hard to adapt and appreciate the value of a partner.

B2B 388

B2B Matching Partner Algorithm 388

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 26, 2021

We all hate to see your proposal rejected , when a bit more effort and homework could expedite your startup funding and rollout. Of course, you can find these elements embodied in many of the business plan templates and tools out there, such as the Business Model Canvas. Provide initial and long-term sources of revenue.

Intellectual Property 332

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Channel 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2011

I expect that should seem intuitive to all entrepreneurs, but every investor I know has many stories about startup funding requests with major business model elements missing. I support her assertion that a business model consists of at least the first seven of the following ten basic elements: Value proposition.

Business Model 246

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 246

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs look for that one magic bullet -- an exciting new technology, perhaps, or their own determination to make the world a better place -- to override any shortcomings in their startup model. Yet, magic bullets are not sufficient to assure business success. A large and growing market opportunity.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Technical Review Distribution Viral 120

VC Cafe

JANUARY 27, 2021

As teams become increasingly distributed, video communication is important for both internal alignment and external business development. –JJ Oslund, The Startup. Next47 and American Insight Partners VC, demonstrates growing trust in its current and future business model.

Vertical 148

Vertical Video Technical Review Europe 148

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

In the last five years “ Lean Startup ” methodologies have enabled entrepreneurs to efficiently build a startup by searching for product/market fit rather than blindly trying to execute. Companies pursuing innovation can Buy, Build, Partner or use Open Innovation. We can adapt these startup tools for use inside the corporation.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 15, 2017

Even if you already know what a SWOT analysis is and what it’s used for, it can be tough to translate that information and examine your own business with a critical eye. Reading an example SWOT analysis for a business that is either in your industry or based on a comparable business model can help get you started.

Botswana 148

Botswana Business Plan Oregon Distribution 148

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. My partners will tell you that I am an incredibly impatient person. You want someone who will challenge you and be an intellectual sparring partner.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

David Teten

MARCH 18, 2021

A typical VC thesis: “we invest in tech startups in Europe at an early stage” However, our experience shows that in many cases: . Thirty-four VC firms in OpenVC call themselves “early-stage” Yet, 30% of those don’t actually invest in pre-revenue startups. 2) Business model-defined funds.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Cofounder Venture Capital Deal Flow 78

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Scalable startups are on a trajectory for a billion dollar market cap. Not all start ups want to go in that direction – some will opt instead to become a small business. There’s nothing wrong with a business that supports you and perhaps an extended family. What’s the playbook for your region or country to make it so?

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335