YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2019

by Arsalan Sajid, startup community manager at Cloudways. Life is not a box of chocolates and startups are not always easy to start. There is a complete process that governs the startup lifecycle including inception to exit. They make money by starting a product from scratch and then selling it in thousands of dollars.

Startup 113

Startup Technical Cofounder Merger Early Stage 113

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. Over its lifetime a Lean Startup may spend less money than a traditional startup. Lets see why.

Lean 250

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 250

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2016

In my view, starting a new business has never been easier, and according to reports from the Kaufmann Foundation , the numbers are finally here to show it. The number of startups rose in 2015 for the first time in five years, with the largest year-over-year increase in two decades. Establishing your brand with interactive social media.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 120

Up and Running

MARCH 17, 2022

Many business owners know and understand the value of a business plan. The business plan is a key component of the startup and fundraising process and serves as a foundation for your organization. What is a business plan? It lays out who is running the business and what the business does.

Business Plan 145

Business Plan Operations Lean Forecast 145

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 19, 2020

Similarly, customers are more knowledgeable, aware, and conscious to choose from the variety out there, which slows down the company’s revenue and growth. In a conventional business perspective, there are significantly lesser areas to differentiate yourself from the competition.

Technical Review 158

Technical Review Forecast Analytics Social Media 158

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Aligning the Startup Team Strategy with the Capitalization Strategy. The single most important factor to raising capital for any tech startup is the management team. A bonafide team is the assurance that the idea can be executed and that the business can scale when the time is right. Early Stage. Seed to Series A.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development.

Customer Development 241

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 241

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

Learn why the traditional way of writing a five-year business plan is often a waste of time and how to use a Lean Plan instead for smarter, easier strategic planning to establish your long-term vision. But, that doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t plan for the long term. What is a long-term plan?

Business Plan 83

Business Plan Lean Forecast Exit Strategy 83

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

It’s time to update Build, Measure, Learn to what we now know is the best way to build Lean startups. Build a product, get it into the real world, measure customers’ reactions and behaviors, learn from this, and use what you’ve learned to build something better. Waterfall Development. Here’s how.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 30, 2022

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. According to one study a decade ago, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company.

Mezzanine 368

Mezzanine Private Equity Bandwidth Metrics 368

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 2, 2020

90% of all registered startups fail to survive the first year. The truth is, to survive in a startup jungle, you need to prepare yourself for a rollercoaster of emotions. But we need to ask ourselves what makes a difference between a successful and failed startup? The product needs to fit market demands.

Startup 147

Startup Demand Software Acquisition 147

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

billion Iridium was one of the largest, boldest and audacious startup bets ever made. Conceived in 1987 by Motorola and spun out in 1990 as a separate company, Iridium planned to build a mobile telephone system that would work anywhere on earth. With an out-of-this-world business plan. A Business Plan Frozen in Time.

Business Plan 335

Business Plan Customer Business Model Customer Development 335

Steve Blank

MARCH 4, 2014

In the last few years we’ve recognized that a startup is not a smaller version of a large company. We’re now learning that companies are not larger versions of startups. But paradoxically, in spite of all their seemingly endless resources, innovation inside of an existing company is much harder than inside a startup.

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

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. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 264

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 264

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 7, 2023

Here are some guidelines that will help you with the right answers, not only in closing your next investment, but in planning when and how much money to ask for: Investors are most interested in helping you scale the business. They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development.

Elevator Pitch 228

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 228

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. According to one study a while back, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company.

Mezzanine 244

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 244

YoungUpstarts

MAY 3, 2017

From product development to market research, many startups are one-person operations in their early days. Even as their teams grow, entrepreneurs often feel that they must tend to every aspect of the business, including low-level tasks that distract from revenue-generating activity. The result?

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Management Arizona Software Review 113

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

I’ve spent my life in innovation, eight startups in 21 years, and the last 15 years in academia teaching it. the wave of semiconductor startups in the 1960’s/70’s, the emergence of Venture Capital as a professional industry, the personal computer revolution in 1980’s, the rise of the Internet in the 1990’s and finally.

Restful 227

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 227

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 12, 2020

Here are some guidelines that will help you with the right answers, not only in closing your next investment, but in planning when and how much money to ask for: Investors are most interested in helping you scale the business. They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development.

Elevator Pitch 336

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 336

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 4, 2014

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.” Marty Zwilling.

Startup 268

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 268

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

In the startup world, opportunities are fleeting, and obstacles are ubiquitous. Competition from other startups and established incumbents, constraints on time and capital, and limited access to talent and technology resources are just a few of the hurdles nearly every first-time founder faces while trying to build a business.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 7, 2011

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of “formal business processes.” Develop your business plan.

Startup 255

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 255

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. According to one study a while back, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company.

Mezzanine 141

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 141

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 1, 2010

Even when your startup is a one-man show, you will soon find that you are “out of control,” unless you start organizing and writing down how and when key things need to get done. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of “formal business processes.” Develop your business plan. Marty Zwilling.

Startup 239

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 239

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

magazine is publishing a 12-part series of excerpts from The Startup Owner’s Manual , the new step-by-step “how to” guide for startups. The excerpts, which appeared first at Inc.com , highlight the Customer Development process, best practices, tips and instructions contained in our book.

Balance Sheet 335

Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, June 5, 2009 It’s a startup, not a spreadsheet Some people, when they start to realize the power of using data to inform their decisions, become obsessed with optimization. Unfortunately, most decisions that confront startups lack a definitive right answer. But this is wrong, too.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

In fact, SaaS industry revenue is projected to grow from $49 billion in 2015 to $67 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of approximately eight percent. Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Instead of sitting down to write a 40-page business plan, start with a one-page pitch. How to Write a Traditional Business Plan.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

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. It has become an integral part of startup culture. None of mine did.)

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 263

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. In both scenarios, it seems that startup venture initiation and idea validation are strictly dependent on the app. The success of a startup is based on the value it provides to its stakeholders. Testing: The approach that makes sense.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

For decades startups were managed by pretending the company would follow a predictable path (revenue plan, scale, etc.) Luckily most startups now realize there is a better way. Startups Are Not Small Versions of Large Companies. The Revenue Plan – The Third Fatal Assumption. Ritualized Crises.

Burn Rate 248

Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 248

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2013

Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Like it or not, you are now entering the dreaded realm of specifying and documenting “formal business processes.”

Institutional Investors 230

Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping Database 230

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 4, 2015

By definition, second-stage ventures generally have 10 to 99 employees and/or $750,000 to $50 million in revenue, and see that as just the beginning. According to one study a while back, only 45% of founders plan to exit after stage one, and my guess is that less than half the remainder survive the next stage in their own company.

Mezzanine 120

Mezzanine Private Equity Startup Bandwidth 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 31, 2014

Here are some guidelines that will help you with the right answers, not only in closing your next investment, but in planning when and how much money to ask for: Investors are most interested in helping you scale the business. They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development.

Elevator Pitch 285

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 285

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. What kind of objectives would a startup want or need for sales and marketing? For example, some startup sales execs believe hiring the core sales team is a key objective.

Customer Development 220

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 220

Software By Rob

AUGUST 5, 2010

Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed. You’re a startup founder, whether actual or aspiring. The problem is that the premise of all of them – whether true or false – is irrelevant to you as a startup founder. But what about other kinds of business books? Or Panasonic.

Founder 78

Founder Startup Software Review Software 78

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 5, 2018

Here are some guidelines that will help you with the right answers, not only in closing your next investment, but in planning when and how much money to ask for: Investors are most interested in helping you scale the business. They are willing to cover marketing, inventory and scaling, but not product development.

Elevator Pitch 139

Elevator Pitch Salary Angel Investor Viral 139

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2015

I pointed out to Bob the irony – in a large company “fear of failure” inhibits speed and risk taking while in a startup “fear of failure” drives speed and urgency. Startups have finite time and resources to find product/market fit before they run out of money. and how to price the product. That’s now changed.

Widget 120

Widget Lean Business Model Metrics 120