Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

In the last three posts, we drew the relationship of market risk and invention risk with vertical markets and pointed out verticals where customer development would be useful. In contrast to simply executing your business plan, the Customer Development process is built on low-cost and continuous learning and iterating.

Vertical 123

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 123

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. Since 2017 we’ve managed $3 million in revenue-based financing, which helps cash-strapped technology companies grow. Unlike many RBI investors, a full 50% of our investment activity is in non-tech businesses.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 13, 2020

The same report from research and policy advisory organisation ‘Start-up Genome’ says that globally, 65 per cent of start-ups have less than six months of runway – most of whom will face a double dip recession, with sales dropping up to 80% depending on the vertical. Businesses could have anywhere from half a dozen to hundreds of KPIs.

Management 194

Management Founder Asia Cofounder 194

Hearpreneur

JUNE 26, 2016

1 – Business Model. Our business is unique because our business model addresses 2 major shifts in the fashion industry today: 1) the rise of fast fashion and its affect on major more traditional fashion companies like Gap, J. Photo Credit: Stefanie Tacata. crew, Aeropostale, etc.

Entrepreneur 92

Entrepreneur Technical Review Harvest Portfolio 92

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

VI: Revenue-based financing: The next step for private equity and early-stage investment. This is a summary of: Revenue-Based financing: State of the Industry 2020. VII: Flexible VC, a New Model for Companies Targeting Profitability. IV: Should your new VC fund use Revenue-Based Investing? 20% initial ownership.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

And they probably never will be unless business model viability is reassessed across the board. We didn’t have to change our business model entirely, we just realized what was working and what wasn’t and moved on from there. they still aren’t profitable.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 119

Hunter Walker

MAY 4, 2014

Second, we did an investment where we actually decided to own more than 10% because of the nature of the business model. New VCs are vulnerable to fashionable verticals. Our strategy isn’t to necessarily be contrarian but we decided there were certain verticals that we weren’t going to pursue in 2013.

Software Review 100

Software Review Vertical Seed Stage Portfolio 100

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? How many are there?

Customer Development 264

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 264

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 16, 2012

TripAdvisor may be one of the most fascinating companies I know and so I was excited to dig into their business model as part of my series on scaling. TripAdvisor is more of a classic consumer Internet success story, but with even more powerful network effects and an amazing business model. Henry Harteveldt, Forrester.

Part-Time VPE 54

Part-Time VPE Software Review Costa Rica Technical Review 54

Growthink Blog

FEBRUARY 27, 2010

Lee, quite simply, has forgotten WAY more about the entertainment business than most of will ever know (see his biography below). And he has graciously agreed to give us the answers to the above questions, which winning business models to run with, which losers to run from, and much, much more!

Los Angeles 85

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Technical Review Distribution 85

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

So what’s wrong the product development model? 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.)

Customer Development 241

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 241

Growthink Blog

JUNE 19, 2010

Lee, quite simply, has forgotten WAY more about the entertainment business than most of us will ever know (see his biography below). And he has graciously agreed to share the answers to the above questions, which winning business models to run with, which losers to run from, and much, much more!

Los Angeles 76

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Technical Review IP 76

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 18, 2011

mile manufacturing complex, with 100,000 workers – vertically integrated and optimized mass production. By 1923, through a series of continuous process improvements, Ford had used the cost advantages of economies of scale to drive down the price of the Model T automobile to $290. Car Financing. Consumer Research.

Detroit 305

Detroit Distribution Vertical Finance 305

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

The initial hypothesis for Epiphany (from my much smarter partner Ben ) was that as departments in the enterprise (manufacturing, finance, customer support sales) became automated, the marketing department would eventually get its turn. We had validated our new assumptions by a set of orders, and we had pivoted on our business model.

Silicon Valley 232

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 232

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Which at this stage of the company was marketing and financing. Our “Hollywood meets Silicon Valley” story played great in Silicon Valley, they ate it up in Hollywood, and the business press tripped over themselves to talk to us. The story had universal appeal, and we spun the tale and keep the buzz going. We all know how that ends up.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

VC Cafe

JUNE 19, 2020

“As big businesses begin to measure their impact, they begin to show it is fundamental to their future business models.” This is also backed by other research findings, such as the International Finance Corporation (IFC) which noted that the impact investing market is “growing and maturing”. Sir Ronald Cohen.

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Global South Africa 174

www.pakman.com

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

And I believe, even at their scale, their ad load will need to further increase (along with their targeting abilities) in order to signficantly grow the business. But if your service attracts particular verticals of content engagement, not all content is created equal, and some is much more valuable than others. Andres Moran.

Social Media 47

Social Media Vertical Advertising Distribution 47

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

It may just be that the message of building companies that have predictable revenue and profit models hasn’t percolated through the VC business model. Unfortunately, regardless of a VC’s age, their business models are suffering and IPOs seem to be a thing of the past for at least a while longer. Warning sign?

Silicon Valley 223

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 223

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 20, 2020

Another movement we’re seeing right now is DeFi, or Decentralized Finance. This track brings together founders and funders and showcases exciting new companies, products, services, and business models across different verticals and industries. While regular software handles data, DeFi handles money (digital money).

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Cofounder Colorado Security 97

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

See Betmarkets talk about their business model in the category Innovative World Technology between 5 and 6 pm Saturday, March 14, before a live audience and a panel of expert judges. As someone who is passionate about finance and automated decision-making, I had a great time reading “ Thinking, Fast and Slow ” by Daniel Kahneman.

Portugal 62

Portugal Investment Bankers United States Cofounder 62

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 10, 2020

See Betmarkets talk about their business model in the category Innovative World Technology between 5 and 6 pm Saturday, March 14, before a live audience and a panel of expert judges. As someone who is passionate about finance and automated decision-making, I had a great time reading “ Thinking, Fast and Slow ” by Daniel Kahneman.

Portugal 62

Portugal Investment Bankers United States Cofounder 62

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

– Mike [link] Reply Jeff Skinner , on May 24, 2010 at 9:28 am said: Steve, you don’t know me though I use your ‘Customer Development process’ video in my classes (Entrepreneurship at London Business School). Jeff skinner Faculty, London Business School. Can we touch base on this.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

was OK a few months ago, the hurdle is now higher and should be close to CAC>1 – Keep only reps making quota and cut marketing activities with lower ROI Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV) >0 – Adjust operations, RD and GA to make your business model profitable 3. Rethink vertical segmentation: Healthcare? at 4:04 PM.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Portfolio 48

mashable.com

OCTOBER 27, 2010

Here, developers and dev shops are organized by vertical so you can find a shop that has expertise in the kind of app you want to build. Fees for these devs and shops run from under $5,000 to more than $20,000. Another good resource is Appolicious’ directory. PM OK, agree.

Small Business 104

Small Business Technical Review Social Media Software Review 104

Up and Running

OCTOBER 31, 2017

Or simply not having to worry about your finances in general? He has read many books on investing, personal finance, and business. Some of his favorites include “ The Intelligent Investor ” by Benjamin Graham, and “ Business Adventures: Twelve Classic Tales from the World of Wall Street ” by John Brooks.

Entrepreneur 121

Entrepreneur Affiliate Finance United States 121

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 11, 2011

On the topic of business models, Spencer proposed building traffic and then selling the company, which I pushed back on. We spent considerable time exploring ways to verticalize the app and creating an ad-supported business model instead, which would also broaden his exit options considerably.

Silicon Valley 105

Silicon Valley Columbus Ohio Incubator 105

Occam's Razor

OCTOBER 14, 2014

This recommendation also valuable for companies that have very unique business models, or face other unusual circumstances (geographic, size, amount of innovation, and many others). Outcomes of the conversations with your Finance team and Sr. For this blog, Benchmarking classifies me into Internet & Telecom vertical.

Analytics 133

Analytics Vertical Metrics Web 133

Lightspeed Venture Partners

APRIL 13, 2015

SaaS is no longer a new business model. I believe most of the greenfield opportunities in SaaS today are beyond the traditional horizontal/vertical enterprise software areas. Sure, and I’m actively looking for those. What are the areas that haven’t seen a modern piece of software in years?

Sales Cycle 60

Sales Cycle Government Demand Distribution 60

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Technographics vendors such as Builtwith , Datanyze , HG Data , Stackshare, and Stacklist help CEOs identify the right tech platform on which to build their business; they’re also helpful for investors to due diligence a company’s tech stack choices. Harvard Business School Current Research Sources for Private Equity.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

www.chubbybrain.com

SEPTEMBER 28, 2011

For four years we have offered the synchronization service for no charge, predicated on the hypothesis that a business model would emerge to support the free service. We had the wrong business model. Dave Jones made a virtue of having no business model for APB. Finances were just one part of the story.

Software Review 79

Software Review Startup Technical Review Vesting 79

www.informationarbitrage.com

FEBRUARY 24, 2010

It is gently laying the foundation for a subsequent financing, helping the CTO set sensible milestones to be achieved that can demonstrate execution skill and release cycle management. It is helping with recruiting by leveraging my networks and experience in a particular domain.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Founder Cap Table Vesting 40

Up and Running

APRIL 30, 2013

Honchos are found by looking vertically. Ninjas can help you optimize an aspect of your business that you are struggling with. Who is the best at marketing, finance, or whatever happens to be the most pressing issue? They probably don’t know — or care — much about your business model or technology, but they know a lot of people.

Equity 89

Equity Vertical Naming Networking 89

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

You literally have to take your vision of the opportunity and against all rational odds assemble financing, and a team to help you execute. You literally have to take your vision of the opportunity and against all rational odds assemble financing, and a team to help you execute. And that’s just to get started.

Founder 302

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 302

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

So that means stuff like thinking about what a business model might be, it does mean customer development. So it’s not necessarily true, but if you are like another popular group in Chexts is younger people who don’t have a lot of money to manage, but they don’t need financing and all of that stuff.

Cofounder 208

Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

Cracking the Code

DECEMBER 2, 2006

The time they spend with customers is usually limited to transactional core products sales, generating lower margins – The resource allocation is not always matching the opportunity (geography, customer segment, vertical.) – The rules of engagement for technical resources (solution or product specialists) are not clear.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Europe Software 48

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

A founder may feel like she has made amazing strides in the 18 months since a series A, only to find few investors excited about investing in their business with a meaningful valuation step up. The reason is that the next MAJOR and OBVIOUS value-inflection point is evidence of a repeatable and scaleable business model.

Business Model 65

Business Model Seed Stage Valuation Vertical 65

Austin Startup

MARCH 31, 2010

If you have a difficult question or problem that requires deep vertical knowledge, you can post it as a brainstorm on the site, along with a reward ranging from $1000 to $5000. The current business model for expert consultants is a brick and mortar industry with revenues of about 1/2 a Billion dollars per year.

Elevator Pitch 63

Elevator Pitch Curation Vertical Bootstrapping 63