Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Jeff Katzenberg has a great track record – head of the studio at Paramount, chairman of Disney Studios, co-founder of DreamWorks and now chairman of NewTV. Startups wrote business plans, generated expansive 5-year forecasts and executed (hired, spent and built) to the plan. ” Fire, Ready, Aim. The result?

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

In previous posts I’ve talked about what the combination of Business Model Design, Customer Development and Agile Methodologies mean to startups and intrapreneurs in large companies; it’s the beginning of entrepreneurship as a science with its own rules and methodologies. She posted her notes from the talk here.)

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Business Model Developer Design 270

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

In both cases, the founder and I brainstormed on ways to shift the product in order to get closer to what I perceived as something that would be great. Neither had done enough customer validation to be able to say the second line that Tristan suggested. Customer Validation 101. Would the consumer one get traction and be viral?

Customer 227

Customer Fractional CTO Viral Lean 227

Steve Blank

JANUARY 27, 2011

This startup search process is the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. When founders discover their assumptions are wrong, as they inevitably will, the result isn’t a crisis , it’s a learning event called a pivot — and an opportunity to update the business model.

Business Model 275

Business Model Utah Intellectual Property Agile 275

Steve Blank

AUGUST 18, 2010

Here’s his story of when Customer Development failed. We were lucky to learn about Customer Development early on in the life of our startup. It made more sense than our 60 page business plan predicated on a B-school class and a supernatural ability to predict the future. The founders do.

Customer Development 230

Customer Development Developer Customer California 230

Steve Blank

AUGUST 29, 2011

The benchmark is not perfect, it may even be flawed, but it is head and shoulders above what we have now – which is nothing – for giving Internet startups founders specific advice on best practices. Filed under: Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan , Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Market Types.

Software Review 292

Software Review Early Stage Technical Review Startup 292

Steve Blank

JANUARY 6, 2021

No Business Plan Survives First Contact With Customers. The Business Model. An introduction to The Business Model Canvas. How to Get, Keep and Grow Customers ? How to Get Out of the Building and Test the Business Model. What is Customer Development. What Do Customers Get from You?

Lean 356

Lean Customer Development Business Model Video 356

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Instead the business press dumped on the founders for “selling out.” Many founders mentioned this as a reason not to incorporate or grow their companies in Finland. Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Teaching , Venture Capital.

Finland 324

Finland Naming Russia Government 324

Feld Thoughts

DECEMBER 4, 2012

This article ( Business Plans Are An Historical Artifact ) first appeared last week in the Wall Street Journal The Accelerators Column , which I’m contributing to on a regular basis. . Timmons’ classic book “New Venture Creation” and the course ended with the submission of a written business plan.

Business Plan 193

Business Plan Lean Cofounder Venture Capital 193

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2021

By the end of the 20th century, case studies and business plans had reached an evolutionary dead-end for entrepreneurs. The Rise of Business Schools – Management as an Occupation. The business school was invented in the first decade of the 20th century in response to a massive economic transformation in the U.S.

Lean 433

Lean Agile Business Model Business Plan 433

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

While it sounds simple , the Build Measure Learn approach to product development is a radical improvement over the traditional Waterfall model used throughout the 20 th century to build and ship products. Back then, an entrepreneur used a serial product development process that proceeded step-by-step with little if any customer feedback.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

Founders Dilemmas: Equity Splits. The following is an excerpt from HBS Professor Noam Wasserman’s new book, The Founders Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup. Noam is one of a rare breed of business academics: he studies entrepreneurship using a rigorous empirical approach. by Eric Ries.

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Entrepreneurs put together their funding presentation by extracting the key ideas from their business plan, putting them on PowerPoint/Keynote and pitching the company – until they get funded or exhausted.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2014

Kauffman launched Founders School - a new education series to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses during the startup stage by highlighting how startups are different from big companies. In January 2014 Part 1 of the “ Startups ” section of Founders School went online. 1:28: Using the Business Model Canvas.

Intellectual Property 328

Intellectual Property Lean Customer Development Acquisition 328

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2021

This was followed by an 8-minute slide presentation describing their customer discovery journey over the 10 weeks. While all the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ), Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, each of their journeys was unique. It Started With An Idea.

Lean 385

Lean Security Asia SBIR 385

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

But founders need to know how to ask for their advice and when to ignore it. Startup Insights From Paul English, Co-Founder of Kayak - OnStartups , May 10, 2010 I’m just wrapping up several weeks of attending conferences across both coasts. They’re deep into Customer Development ,” he said. Why Entrepreneurs Hate Lawyers.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2012

One of the confusing things to entrepreneurs, investors and educators is the relationship between customer development and business model design and business planning and execution. When does a new venture focus on customer development and business models ? Don’t Throw the Tomatoes.

Search 320

Search Business Model Customer Development Agile 320

viniciusvacanti.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

Home About Contact Me How To Make It as a First-Time Entrepreneur Vinicius Vacanti Guide to Finding a Technical Co-Founder September 7, 2010 | View Comments Steve Job's Technical Co-Founder “I’ve got this HUGE idea. I just need to find a technical co-founder.&# I was in this situation and we barely escaped.

Cofounder 43

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Ruby 43

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

And while startups and entrepreneurship courses are now being added to the curriculum, “How to write a business plan” seems to be the state of the art. ” A good number of startups in Beijing seem driven by the VCs – and not the founders. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital.

China 323

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 323

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2011

Filed under: Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan , Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Family/Career. I wrote about entrepreneurs as artists in a previous post. If you can’t see the video click here.

Entrepreneur 313

Entrepreneur Business Model Customer Development Business Plan 313

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

This book will teach you how to test your vision continuously, and adapt and adjust your plans so that you don’t become part of the business failure statistics. This is the planning methodology of choice for startups worldwide.” ” Lean Business Planning: Get What You Want From Your Business.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

However, in meeting some of the sports startups one of the things that struck me is that most of the founders who said they wanted to grow big hadn’t given much thought about how they would go about building size and scale. Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development.

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

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. Founders, presuming they know their customers, assume they know all the features customers need. Writing a business plan that doesn’t allow for trial and error.

Balance Sheet 335

Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

Steve Blank

JUNE 12, 2020

This was followed by an 8-minute slide presentation describing their customer discovery journey over the 10-weeks. All the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ) Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, but all of their journeys were unique. It Started with an Idea.

Oakland 301

Oakland Asia Lean Video 301

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2010

The key things I want students to take from the class are: Understand that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a profitable business model. Learn how to put together a business model , not a business plan. Class Logistics. As described in the previous post , this is a hands-on class.

Business Model 226

Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 226

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

In fact, you could say that all that remains from my last book are the four steps of Customer Development. Integrates Alexander Osterwalders “Business Model Canvas” as the front-end and “scorecard” for the customer discovery process. Briefly, the new book.

Entrepreneur 289

Entrepreneur Lean Business Model Customer Development 289

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2015

Future guests include Marc Pincus, founder of Zynga , and other interesting founders and investors. Filed under: Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan , Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Family/Career/Culture , Lean LaunchPad , Life Sciences (NIH) , Teaching , Technology , Venture Capital.

Channel 120

Channel Venture Capital Lean Business Model 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

And while startups and entrepreneurship courses are now being added to the curriculum, “How to write a business plan” seems to be the state of the art. ” A good number of startups in Beijing seem driven by the VCs – and not the founders. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital.

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 11, 2010

This startup search process is the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. When founders discover their assumptions are wrong, as they inevitably will, the result isn’t a crisis , it’s a learning event called a pivot — and an opportunity to update the business model.

Agile 250

Agile Business Model Customer Development Lean 250

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 3, 2014

It’s now been over 3 years since the team has left my classroom and I thought I’d share with you what the two founders, Jorge Heraud and Lee Redden, learned then and what they’re doing now. They could have never figured this out sitting inside a classroom writing a business plan. The Autonomous Lawnmower.

Lean 272

Lean Silicon Valley Customer Development Incubator 272

Steve Blank

JUNE 4, 2012

This is a 3-day program for entrepreneurship faculty from around the world how to teach entrepreneurship via the Lean LaunchPad approach ( business model canvas + customer development ) and bring their entrepreneurship curriculums into the 21st century. Small businesses make up 99.7% Lessons Learned.

Silicon Valley 305

Silicon Valley Lean Utah Customer Development 305

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 10, 2015

Our LivePlan customers are entrepreneurs, our founder and staff have run and sold companies, the Bplans readers are aspiring entrepreneurs (or actual entrepreneurs), and as I sell my own handmade jewelry, I like to think I have a very small claim to the title. Getting your thoughts organized into a business plan pays off.

Curation 60

Curation Lean Software Review Finder 60

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

What makes an individual a great startup founder (versus an employee) has been something I had been thinking about since I retired. A Day in the Life of A Founder For those of you who’ve never started a company, let me assure you that it never happens like the pleasant articles you read in business magazines or in case studies.

Founder 297

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 297

Steve Blank

JUNE 7, 2019

Our keynote speaker was Palmer Luckey , founder of Oculus and the designer of the Oculus Rift. He’s now the CEO/founder of the AI-focussed defense contractor Anduril Industries. Followed by an 8-minute slide presentation follow their customer discovery journey over the 10-weeks. Presentation Format. Team: Panacea.

Oakland 266

Oakland Lean SBIR Afghanistan 266

Steve Blank

JANUARY 25, 2010

Ann will be guest posting more on business models soon.). But What Does a Business Model Have to Do With My Startup? Your startup is essentially an organization built to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Most of the time the darn customers don’t behave as you predicted. What’s the distribution channel.

Agile 335

Agile Startup Silicon Valley Business Model 335

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

JULY 27, 2009

OK, done.) “Steve, I would really appreciate it if you could review my business plan and forward it to Mike Maples at Maples Investments. I’ve built my company using the Customer Development Model from Day One. On a more serious note, any tips on attracting founders? Benefits of ‘yes’: huge.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120