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. Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking?

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

David Teten

MARCH 28, 2012

This study is effectively a sequel to the study David Teten led with Chris Farmer of General Catalyst on best practices of venture capital and private equity funds in originating new deals , published in Journal of Private Equity , Harvard Business Review , Institutional Investor , etc. Are VCs a different breed of “investors”?

Portfolio 144

Portfolio Private Equity Venture Capital Early Stage 144

Steve Blank

JULY 29, 2010

One of the toughest problems for entrepreneurs is to keep score as they search for their business model. One of the key concepts of Customer Development is writing down your initial hypotheses (guesses) of all the parts of your business model, then updating them with the facts you find outside the building. Keeping Score.

Customer Development 211

Customer Development Business Model Early Stage Channel 211

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

A revolution has taken hold as customer development and agile engineering reinvent the Startup process. Board meetings that guide startups haven’t changed since the early 1900’s. Startups now understand what they should be doing in their early formative days is search for a business model. Victor Hugo.

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

I hate business plan competitions. I Love Business Plan Competitions I had a breakfast with a friend who has founded a few companies in Thailand and started the New Ventures Program at one of their universities. For all the reasons why business plan competitions are wonderful for students from outside the U.S.,

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

Steve Blank

MARCH 7, 2012

We trying to teach students a methodology that combines customer development, agile development, business models and pivots. Our goal is to teach them the art, science and strategy of entrepreneurship that will forever change how they view early stage ventures. And do it in 8 weeks. Team EngineKites.

Lean 256

Lean Business Model Agile United States 256

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Why don’t we have standards for what metrics VC’s want to see from their early stage startup teams? Data from the Startup Genome project shows that startups that have helpful mentors, listen to customers, and learn from startup thought leaders raise 7x more money and have 3.5x Angels In America. better user growth.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Business Model Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Why don’t we have standards for what metrics VC’s want to see from their early stage startup teams? Data from the Startup Genome project shows that startups that have helpful mentors, listen to customers, and learn from startup thought leaders raise 7x more money and have 3.5x Angels In America. better user growth.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Business Model Balance Sheet 258

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2009

Reducing Risk – Simulation versus Customer Development If you remember the first part of this discussion, startups face two types of risk; invention risk and/or customer/market risk. The Customer Development Process I teach and write about is designed to do just that. However, for the Web 2.0

Vertical 128

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 128

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

LSC: Tell us about the customer development you did for your book: Alistair: We''ve been thrilled at how Lean Analytics seemed to resonate with founders. As operators of an accelerator—and founders in our own right—Ben and I had constantly struggled with what the “right” numbers are for a business.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

Unfortunately, they are disinterested in doing the hard work to help early stage entrepreneurs and companies. My startup business (web development) is being shunned by virtually every other potential investor I approached thus far. The only folks who invested in me were the ones who barely understood the business plan.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Tampa Lean Continuous Deployment 60

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. With that information in hand, Engineering estimates delivery dates and development costs.

Silicon Valley 260

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 260

Steve Blank

APRIL 29, 2009

As a founder you need to prepare yourself to think creatively and independently, because more often than not, conditions on the ground will change so rapidly that the original well-thought-out business plan becomes irrelevant. It may not be for you.

Silicon Valley 170

Silicon Valley Iraq RSS Vietnam 170

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

Certainly venture-backed startups don’t have this luxury – every business plan has a model in it. In other words, we want to use the spreadsheet to quantify our progress using the most important unit: validated learning about customers. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

They assume that the tasks that they are performing during the early stage of startup development are the same tasks that will be performed during the next and very different stages. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development. But such a best-case approach is hazardous. Uncertainties abound.

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

It starts with “Plan-As-You-Go” instead of detailed, formal business plans. Lean Planning started with Tim Berry ‘s 2008 “ Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan ” which was a new way for entrepreneurs to think about planning. The business plan should no longer be just a single event.

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Feld Thoughts

OCTOBER 4, 2013

We learned how to do customer development, conduct empathy interviews, and build a real MVP (not just an alpha version). We learned hands-on, functional, pragmatic skills for building a startup; not high-level theory or “how to write a business plan.” We got off the ground and out of the building right away.

Startup 130

Startup Vesting Cofounder Lean 130

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? This is the usual reason given for a marketing launch, but for most early stage startups, its a failure. Do some Customer Development instead.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

After I retired, I began teaching Customer Development , a theory of how to reduce early stage risk in entrepreneurial ventures. The first time I taught the class at the Haas Business School, U.C. Love/Hate Business Plan Competitions……… 39. Customer Development Manifesto.

Silicon Valley 202

Silicon Valley Customer Development IP Developer 202

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Instead of sitting down to write a 40-page business plan, start with a one-page pitch. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

And here’s where life gets really interesting, as the reality of product development and customer input collide, the facts change so rapidly that the original well-thought-out business plan becomes irrelevant. Let me know what you think. Does any of this match your experience or people you know?

Founder 297

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 297

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Rethinking “F@#$ You Money” - Tony Wright dot com , August 2, 2010 Now that I’ve stepped down from RescueTime, I’m pondering my next thing (whether it’s a product role at a very early stage startup or spinning up my own for the 3rd time). Retirement Plans. Develop your business plan. Why do startups?

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

Because then you’d miss out on: Whether it’s better experience to build a complete, tiny startup or to do more in-depth customer development for a meatier problem. So that means stuff like thinking about what a business model might be, it does mean customer development. What’s the worst case?

Cofounder 208

Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

The best entrepreneurship textbooks and blogs assume that advice to startups is generalizable. But as I learned from my students this “one-size-fits-all” approach does not work for all startups. We’ll talk about the implications of what vertical market you’re entering in the next few posts.

Vertical 149

Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 149

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

When it comes to early stage investing – it’s all gut. Does it make sense to spend this time speaking about your early stage start-up when your product has not even entered Alpha testing? Only if you’re doing it with the intention to learn about the market and customers. No investor cares about a business plan.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Up and Running

JULY 14, 2015

Or what if a new brilliant idea that you hadn’t considered when you were planning emerges? Build in fluidity to your business plans. I’d implemented a business plan including marketing, engagement, sales strategy and realized a few months in that it wasn’t servicing a key influence or in the sales process.

Incubator 60

Incubator Email Startup Oregon 60

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 22, 2009

As often happens in a startup, we confused our own vision and passion with the passion of our potential customers. What did the company do when we heard customer input that contradicted our business plan and assumptions? What was the “Aha&# moment that made you realize you didn’t do Customer Validation?

Silicon Valley 172

Silicon Valley RSS Vertical California 172

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

" => I have not bothered to put up a landing page, survey to test customer demand, or done any customer development whatsoever. "Where is the best place to find a rockstar developer to bring it to life?" you can steal an idea just from hearing it, it is not really a good defensible business idea.

Developer 42

Developer Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder 42

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Updated Business tools for Startups. Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development. BPS : Business Plan Servicesâ?? s leading practice that is dedicated to providing full assistance with business planning. SW Courses.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53