Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. 15:05] Do you think that the no headquarters model is going to impact startups going forward? [17:14]

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

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.)

Customer 195

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 195

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

They couldn’t keep up with the fast product development times that were enabled by using standard microprocessors. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products. I’ve tried to read a lot of your History of Silicon Valley posts. They are very interesting.

Technology 138

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 138

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

At a university business plan competition, for the first time they can swim in the sea of expertise that we/I take for granted in the middle of Silicon Valley. I love business plan competitions (and with my valley-centric bias, I think Berkeley and Stanford have two of the best.)

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, developed a methodology for creating businesses that runs in parallel with the traditional product development process. The core idea behind customer development is that the assumptions you make about a target market are only guesses. image source.

Customer Development 126

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 126

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. RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 12, 2013

Super-angel investors are a new category of investors (like Mike Maples Jr. ), closer to venture capitalists, who are perceived to be more sophisticated, insightful, or well-connected in the startup community, particularly with respect to technology companies in Silicon Valley and other technology centers (also called micro-VCs).

Entrepreneur 274

Entrepreneur Accredited Investor Silicon Valley Angel Investor 274

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

AgileZen – project management visually see and interact with your work Kanbanery – Simple online team or personal kanban board LeanKit Kanban – Great for visualizing work of product development Kanban Pad – “Nice and lean” and free online Kanban tool Banana Scrum – A tool simple as Scrum itself.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

Austin Startup

AUGUST 20, 2017

Kalanick, former investor BFF turned highly disappointed by founder behavior. That will keep the Silicon Valley wags buzzing for some time to come. Usually the founders duke it out among themselves as to titles and responsibilities and relative shareholdings. How about your Investors ? Are the logistics manageable?

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Cap Table Securities and Exchange Commission 48

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.

Customer Development 242

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 242

conversionxl.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Steve Blank, a serial entrepreneur in Silicon Valley, developed a methodology for creating businesses that runs in parallel with the traditional product development process. The core idea behind customer development is that the assumptions you make about a target market are only guesses. image source.

Customer Development 60

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 60

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. Your pitch is going to cover your strategy (what you’re going to do), your tactics (how you’re going to do it), your business model (how you will make money), and your schedule (who is doing what and when).

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

YoungUpstarts

MAY 10, 2012

Get inspired by the interviews of 33 startup founders in this book, as they discuss how everything got started. Start Small Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start and Run Your Own Successful Business. Getting to Plan B: Breaking Through to a Better Business Model. Founders at Work: Stories of Startups’ Early Days.

Startup 247

Startup Lean Silicon Valley Open Source 247

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

Execution by Vertical Market As the class progressed, students asked how the activities/functions of a startup; (Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Product Development, etc.) Is marketing different if you’re in the cleantech business versus medical devices? Innovation – Business Model?

Vertical 122

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 122

infochachkie.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

There is an inherent conflict in a consultant’s business model and the needs of a startup. Such positions include: PR, Sales, Product Development, Lead Generation, Strategic Planning, Fund Raising, etc. Yet, it does nothing to help you execute your business model. Rhymes with a Type of Pasta.

Equity 40

Equity Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Review 40

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

So for this first post, here’s the best advice I can give you: join an awesome founding team and get your product out the door ASAP. One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. Especially if you aren’t from around Silicon Valley.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

what are the most crucial steps to be taken by a new tech startup when outsourcing major part of the tech to IT firms or outsourcing “product development” eg new social media website project? Near shoring development with your team (ex: your team is based in Canada / India) is cool, but not outsourcing.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 15, 2010

His posts are born of tremendous research into the secret history of Silicon Valley , and if you haven’t read those essays, you should. We can’t even rely on a suite of line-extension products. When private capital is available in sufficient quantities to satisfy investor and founder liquidity needs, why go IPO?

IPO 166

IPO San Francisco Lean Silicon Valley 166

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

And a few words about Persistent Systems, an outsourced software product development (OPD) company that is navigating its next phase of evolution are also warranted. Persistent is breaking out of the mold of labor arbitrage, and looking at new and exciting business models.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. And I tried to evaluate the idea and figure out: What did the founder really need here? Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ? You got it.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

You have to know your business model. Most startups launch before theyve figured out what business theyre in. If the product needs to be tweaked just a little bit in order to convert users into customers, you want to figure that out before the launch. Founders push for it. In some ways, founders are even worse.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

.” Hackernews list of “Tools of the Trade” for startups - includes over 150 SaaS tools used by startups, and over 150 comments with interesting insights from founders. Great for visualizing work of product development. TechStars Model Seed Funding Documents â?? Founder Equity Issues. Kanbanery â??

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

No business model, either. And then, at my first Silicon Valley startup , I watched friends get laid off in successive waves as it started to fail. In fact, I remember sending him and his obscure-to-me co-founder (aka Reid Hoffman ) a bug report early-on, instead of taking them up on their offer of an in-person meeting.

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94