Up and Running

APRIL 25, 2014

The cast of “Silicon Valley” Image credit: HBO. Silicon Valley is a crazy place. I’ve opted not to return to the Valley for various reasons, but still have plenty of friends who work there and return regularly for business meetings. As the dot-com bubble was bursting, I left to work in the U.K.

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley Business Plan Entrepreneur Cap Table 104

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. If you are outside of Silicon Valley, you ought to jump into them with both feet.

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 15, 2023

As an advisor to entrepreneurs and active angel investor, I often get questions about the realism of the Shark Tank TV series, compared to professional investor negotiations. The simple answer is that with all the staging of TV lights and billionaire investors, it’s nothing like Silicon Valley.

Entrepreneur 279

Entrepreneur Due Diligence Angel Investor Silicon Valley 279

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Not understanding and agreeing what “Entrepreneur&# and “Startup” mean can sink an entire country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Who’s an entrepreneur? There are six distinct organizational paths for entrepreneurs: lifestyle business , small business, scalable startup, buyable startup, large company, and social entrepreneur.

Government 335

Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 7, 2016

Led by a powerful team of entrepreneurs that takes a major role in the entire lifespan of the seed stage startup, a Startup Lab provides the backbone for its startups by building and developing a strong foundation. Silicon Valley is a breeding ground for ideas. What is a Startup Lab? Who does it help? Why choose a Startup Lab?

Seed Stage 100

Seed Stage Silicon Valley Incubator Asia 100

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

I’ve seen the Valley grow from Sunnyvale to Santa Clara to today where it stretches from San Jose to South of Market in San Francisco. I’ve watched the Valley go from Microwave Valley – to Defense Valley – to Silicon Valley to Internet Valley. So how did this happen? Where is it going?

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2021

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. A great business plan doesn’t have to be a book in length, with extensive financial statements.

Silicon Valley 342

Silicon Valley Exit Strategy Business Plan Restful 342

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 25, 2018

Now is the time to be an entrepreneur and create a business from your passion. The cost of rolling out a business has never been lower – it only takes a few hundred dollars to incorporate a Limited Liability Corp (LLC) online, create your own website, use social media to get attention, and you are in business.

Technical Cofounder 184

Technical Cofounder Intellectual Property Silicon Valley LLC 184

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 22, 2018

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Nevertheless, we can all benefit by understanding a collective view from investors on the high-risk elements that every new business has faced historically based on the team, as well as in the marketplace. If you want U.S.

New York City 202

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 202

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 12, 2022

Here are the various ways entrepreneurs and business owners stay motivated in business. #1- I would say, that there are a great number of examples of business people who have taken risks and gone on to achieve tremendous levels of success. I think most entrepreneurs are naturally motivated people.

Entrepreneur 113

Entrepreneur Technical Review Silicon Valley Community 113

Up and Running

OCTOBER 17, 2018

With the help of my friend Jeff, from the University of Oregon, I’ve been looking at academic research on business planning—the actual science around planning and how it impacts both startups and existing businesses. But, before we dive into the data, why do we even need to look at research on business planning?

Business Plan 263

Business Plan Oregon Lean Elevator Pitch 263

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 22, 2023

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. A question I get from time to time is “Can I ever expect any backing from my bank for a great opportunity?” That's just reality.

Equity 303

Equity Silicon Valley Finance Early Stage 303

The Next Web

JULY 20, 2013

They speak about how they love to help entrepreneurs build successful companies, yet when I ask them to give me feedback on my business plan or idea, they usually don’t even bother writing me back. Yes, it is true that some entrepreneurs either don’t receive a response or get a pre-made template. VCs are arrogant.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Mongolia Technical Cofounder Entrepreneur 124

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley, including those working abroad, often have to retool Lean Startup methods to apply them in places with very different business cultures. government fund and as Entrepreneur-In-Residence for the National Science Foundation. On September 24 in the U.S. Here’s what they had to say.

Silicon Valley 168

Silicon Valley Lean Puerto Rico Japan 168

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

But for the last decade “innovation” in Chinese software meant something different than it did in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs in Beijing were knowledgeable about Silicon Valley, entrepreneurship and the state of software and tools available for two reasons. Of course “copy” is too strong a word.

China 323

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 323

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. This week, we discuss how a philosophy degree compares to a much more conventional business background: the masters in business administration or MBA.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

As I discussed last week in the Greymatter podcast with my friend and Blitzscaling co-author Chris Yeh , I believe that a knowledge of philosophy is actually a great asset for entrepreneurs. To say categorically that MBA equals “not entrepreneur” is a foolish assumption, just like saying Masters in Philosophy equals “not entrepreneur.”

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Most retail and commercial banks offer investment services to their customers, but these services have nothing to do with investing in your business. For these fees, they will develop a business plan, solicit investors, and negotiate term sheets to a closing.

Silicon Valley 362

Silicon Valley Private Equity Initial Public Offering Term Sheet 362

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. It’s all about making your business life easier, doing what works best, getting the best results by tracking what works and always improving.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 23, 2023

That’s why angel and equity investors are so sought after by entrepreneurs. Here are some tips and rules of thumb to improve your odds and help you understand when a bank loan or line of credit is possible, and how to get it: Write a good business plan first. Clean up your credit rating before you apply.

Silicon Valley 292

Silicon Valley CPA Small Business Administration Startup 292

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 8, 2014

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Nevertheless, we can all benefit by understanding a collective view from investors on the high-risk elements that every new business has faced historically based on the team, as well as in the marketplace. If you want U.S.

New York City 254

New York City Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Technical Review 254

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Therefore when money is hard to come by, entrepreneurs (and their investors) look for ways to reduce cash burn rate and increase the chance of finding product/market fit before waste you bunch of money. The Customer Development Venture Pitch At this point I often hear entrepreneurs say, “We don’t have the money to scale.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Product Development – Getting Funded as The Goal In a traditional product development model, entrepreneurs come up with an idea or concept, write a business plan and try to get funding to bring that idea to fruition.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

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. Do startups have a manual?

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2022

Most of you business professionals that I know have at least thought about or talked about starting their own business, to get more control, make more money, or to get more satisfaction out of their life. The challenge is when and how to make the switch to the entrepreneur lifestyle. You can’t keep all these in your head.

Silicon Valley 286

Silicon Valley Angel Investor LLC Incubator 286

crowdSPRING Blog

JANUARY 25, 2010

In March, Ross and I will be hosting a talk at South by Southwest; it’s called “ Third Coast: How to be a Startup Outside of Silicon Valley.&# We have been thinking a lot about this lately and discussing the challenges we have faced on our own path. Funding, too, was a challenge. Research, research, research.

Chicago 81

Chicago Silicon Valley Bootstrapping Entrepreneur 81

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 27, 2020

Many entrepreneurs are convinced that banks are not worth the effort for startups, especially early-stage ones that still don’t have a revenue stream, or collateral to back up their financing needs. All banks are looking hard these days to get back in the game, and certain ones, like Silicon Valley Bank, are more focused on small businesses.

Silicon Valley 406

Silicon Valley Equity Startup Finance 406

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

But for the last decade “innovation” in Chinese software meant something different than it did in Silicon Valley. Entrepreneurs in Beijing were knowledgeable about Silicon Valley, entrepreneurship and the state of software and tools available for two reasons. Of course “copy” is too strong a word.

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

That’s why angel and equity investors are so sought after by entrepreneurs. Here are some tips and rules of thumb to improve your odds and help you understand when a bank loan or line of credit is possible, and how to get it: Write a good business plan first. Clean up your credit rating before you apply.

Silicon Valley 431

Silicon Valley CPA Small Business Administration SBA 431

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

As an entrepreneur, simply enter your location online, and it will list the angel and VC organizations near you. As a member of one of these local organizations, I use Angelsoft on the investor side to review business plans, deal flow, and help orchestrate presenters at monthly meetings of the local organization.

Angel Investor 255

Angel Investor North America South America Accredited Investor 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2015

If you sold your last startup for $800 million, you probably already know how to build a business, and even conservative investors won’t worry about the quality of your next business plan. A great business plan doesn’t have to be a book in length, with extensive financial statements.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Startup Exit Strategy 120

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

There was a lot of consumer internet activity again…resurgence of things, but it was still mysterious, venture capital was still kind of closed, 1st time entrepreneurs had a lot of questions that were unanswered, and there was still some sort of hand waiving around all the financing stuff and so we took it on….”. was starting.

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2017

In some cases, visionary entrepreneurs have been able to break into industries and markets they’re not personally experienced in by buying a business with experienced teams already on board before seeking funding for growth. So, no: VC funding isn’t such a rare thing in Silicon Valley or anywhere else. Bruce is the U.S.

Silicon Valley 86

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Valuation Later Stage 86

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2016

If you aren’t willing to take some risk as an entrepreneur, then don’t expect any gain. Nevertheless, we can all benefit by understanding a collective view from investors on the high-risk elements that every new business has faced historically based on the team, as well as in the marketplace. If you want U.S.

New York City 120

New York City Silicon Valley Startup Bootstrapping 120

Up and Running

MAY 3, 2012

Entrepreneurship continues to be a sexy topic for governments, with every country worth its salt trying to create its own tech hub, mimicking Silicon Valley. After all, entrepreneurs can do many good things, not least to create wealth and employment, pay taxes and help the balance of trade through exports.

Entrepreneur 82

Entrepreneur Technical Review Silicon Valley Lean 82

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2021

I observed that teaching case studies and/or how to write a business plan as a capstone entrepreneurship class didn’t match the hands-on chaos of a startup. Steve Weinstein , 30-year veteran of Silicon Valley technology companies and Hollywood media companies. It Started With An Idea. He runs H4X Labs.

Lean 385

Lean Security Asia SBIR 385

YoungUpstarts

MAY 12, 2016

If you are an aspiring entrepreneur, launching your startup will be everything you have ever dreamed of. You may look to Silicon Valley for inspiration, where hyped tech startups have investors vying to get their money in the stocks. Create a Killer Business Plan. Find Important Supporters in the Industry.

Technical Review 100

Technical Review Silicon Valley Startup Business Plan 100