Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

It’s interesting that the question is pitch deck’s being obsolete versus business plans being obsolete. So very few investors want Business Plans any more. If you are outside internet software we are not going to invest. So having spent a lot of time thinking about this Silicon Valley is a thing in and of itself.

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Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

This is perhaps the most reliable source of information on angel investor groups across the world, and the software is used by most of the other angel organizations mentioned below for deal flow. The Founding Chapter is in Silicon Valley, California, (naturally), and I have a connection there if you need a start. Keiretsu Forum.

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Angel Investor North America South America Accredited Investor 255

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

As an advisor to new hardware entrepreneurs, I often hear the myth that a business plan is no longer required to find an investor, if your idea is good enough. You may have heard that venture capitalists in Silicon Valley no longer read business plans.

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Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 13, 2010

The objective of this course is that groups of students finish with a completed software product that has real customers and an identified market. The goal of course IIC3515 is that students get together in teams (probably of 4) and develop their business idea during the semester, developing the software that represents it.

Chile 235

Chile Silicon Valley Lean Agile 235

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

I don’t have an MBA and I don’t live in Silicon Valley. Write a great business plan, but know that few will read it. Business plans are an extremely valuable exercise and should always be presented to show the entrepreneur is serious and has done his homework. List them in your business plan.

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. I remember presenting our ideas for Marketing Automation to one VP of Marketing in a large Silicon Valley company. It’s just a story about what happened to me.

Silicon Valley 225

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 225

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

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The Focus on Execution Versus Learning and Discovery The product development model assumes that customers needs are known, the product features are known, and your business model is known. Given this certainty, it’s logical that a startup will hire a sales and marketing team to simply execute your business plan. Order Here.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 18, 2011

Probably nowhere else in the world is the idea of a startup happy place more entrenched than in Silicon Valley, where one electrical engineering professor, Frederick Terman, spawned an entire culture of new ventures back in the 1950s.

Silicon Valley 106

Silicon Valley Startup Engineer Programming 106

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

Present at the Creation It was early 1991 and Apple’s software development team was hard at work on QuickTime , the first multimedia framework for a computer. So SuperMac engineering also developed video compression software, called Cinepak. The software was idiot proof. There was nothing for the consumer to do.

Video 164

Video Silicon Valley RSS California 164

David Teten

JULY 29, 2011

Franklin Bi became passionate about venture capital and entrepreneurship after he spent a summer in Silicon Valley, working on an information services startup focused on innovation management. He was an early employee of a software start-up born out of the MIT Media Lab, Frictionless Commerce (acquired by SAP). Franklin Bi.

Venture Capital 133

Venture Capital Software Review New Jersey Technical Review 133

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

Start With a Business Model, Not a Business Plan | WSJ – [link]. In Silicon Valley, Technology Talent Gap Threatens G.O.P. Special Report: Silicon Valley’s dirty secret – age bias | Reuters – [link]. In Silicon Valley, Technology Talent Gap Threatens G.O.P.

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

John Jantsch (02:29): So I'm curious, how did you get into the business of advising startups? Well, Steve Hoffman (02:34): First of all, I did three venture funded startups in Silicon valley and two bootstrap startups. You know, could you look at my business plan? So I know what it's like. You put it out there.

San Francisco 97

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 97

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley. ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley , was founded by a PhD in Math and six other scientists and engineers. Why It’s “Silicon” Valley. It might be its most important.

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Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 305

Up and Running

MARCH 9, 2012

But there’s another way we’re unique, and that’s our abundance of business plan competitions and angel investment groups. Are there angel groups, business plan competitions, business incubators and accelerators where you live? So what do you think?

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Business Plan Oregon Angel Groups Silicon Valley 61

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

million raised, per CrunchBase): It was January of second semester of my second year, and Michelle [Zatlyn, Matt’s co-founder] and I were brainstorming different ideas to enter into the business plan competition. NextView Ventures: Did you start to seriously work on the idea during business school or after? Tom Eisenmann.

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Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

Silicon Valley, New York). Startups now understand what they should be doing in their early formative days is search for a business model. The result – an instant technology cluster – with equity at a fraction of Silicon Valley prices. It might be possible to create Virtual Valley Ventures.

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Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

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. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Reply David Binetti , on July 27, 2009 at 11:11 pm Said: (Consequences of ‘no’: zero. Order Here.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120

Up and Running

JULY 11, 2014

It’s the poor quality version of HBO’s Silicon Valley. Attracting angel investment and getting ‘Valley’ respect is. As I’ve spent the last few months doing some heavy learning on all that is ‘business’, I’ve come to realize the value of having a business plan.

Startup 80

Startup Silicon Valley Cofounder Non-Compete 80

YoungUpstarts

MAY 16, 2018

Schramm, author of “ Burn the Business Plan: What Great Entrepreneurs Really Do “ If I asked you to describe the prototypical successful entrepreneur, you may share a story mythologized in our culture of a brilliant young man with an idea so good and so disruptive that he just can’t waste any time finishing college.

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Silicon Valley Forecast Venture Capital Business Plan 157

crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 7, 2012

Business Plans Are an Historic Artifact | WSJ – [link]. Why Bravo’s ‘Start-Ups: Silicon Valley’ Is Bad for Entrepreneurship - [link]. Micro VC’s and Super Angels Two Years Later – Looking Back and Some Predictions for the Future | Business Insider – [link]. How to Get Startup Ideas - [link].

Social Media 104

Social Media Small Business Design Media 104

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 10, 2013

crowdSPRING’s Small Business Spotlight: Red Poppy Floral Design – [link]. Defending the Brash Arrogance of Silicon Valley | by Mike Greenfield – [link]. Startups: You Should Value Software More | by Wade Foster – [link]. The Business Plan. – [link]. Redux – [link].

Social Media 93

Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

thebarefootvc

FEBRUARY 1, 2011

I have the opportunity to build bridges from NYC to Nairobi, from Dhaka to Denver, from Silicon Valley to Singapore. Or the boy in Detroit who becomes a software developer and creates an app to educate a child in the slums of Brazil. And learn from each other.

Silicon Valley 45

Silicon Valley India Africa Burma 45

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Concept and Seed Stage In the Concept and Seed Stage, founders capture their passion and vision for the new company and turn them into a set of key ideas, which quickly becomes a business plan, sometimes on the back of the proverbial napkin. Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure.

Silicon Valley 260

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 260

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

Well … I have had many late nights and I really didn’t contemplate writing many blog postings this month because I spent November in this interesting venture capital / fund raising dance involving lots of late night sessions reviewing legal documents, rewriting business plans and preparing for pitches. Page 4: Business Model.

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Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Since the term “cloud computing” was coined in 1996—at least as we have come to understand its meaning—the software as a service industry has exploded. 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 Business Plan in Under an Hour.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. Software companies had to buy specialized computers and license expensive software. Carpe Diem. We’re now in the second Internet bubble.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2013

And the academic community, while strong, still teaches traditional the business plan approach to startups, rather than Customer Development, so ideas have typically evolved far more slowly. . The first 8-week Lean LaunchPad Colombia program. We held the first cohort of 25 teams in Oct 2012.

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Colombia Lean Silicon Valley Coder 321

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2013

And the academic community, while strong, still teaches traditional the business plan approach to startups, rather than Customer Development, so ideas have typically evolved far more slowly. . The first 8-week Lean LaunchPad Colombia program. We held the first cohort of 25 teams in Oct 2012.

Colombia 271

Colombia Lean Silicon Valley Coder 271

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 16, 2012

A while back I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. In any case, it’s time to look again at the options you really have.

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Early Stage Finance Seed Stage Entrepreneur 253

Up and Running

MAY 17, 2012

Business Plan Competitions. After we finalized our business plan, we researched and applied to several business plan competitions and eventually won the MillerCoors Urban Entrepreneur Series. We launched a crowdfunding campaign directed at our friends and family through our own software and website.

Silicon Valley 103

Silicon Valley Startup Campaign Incubator 103

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

Customer Development by Vertical - Click to Enlarge (As a reminder, the Customer Development process says your business plan is just a series of untested hypothesis (unless you’re a domain expert.) How does product development differ in communications hardware versus enterprise software, etc. Order Here. Now In Print!

Vertical 122

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 122

Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 28, 2023

For some, ChatGPT promises to revolutionize the way we search for information, draft articles, write software code, and create business plans. That’s why I switched from a planned career in academia to one in Silicon Valley in the first place.

ChatGPT 36

ChatGPT Technology Silicon Valley New York 36

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 1, 2011

Recently I heard a talk by Dave McClure, a long-time angel investor, who also proclaims to be one of the “new breed” of venture capitalists in Silicon Valley, as CEO of 500Startups , which is either a micro-VC seed fund, or a startup incubator, or both. In any case, it’s time to look again at the options you really have. Lean startup.

Early Stage 231

Early Stage Seed Stage Angel Investor Silicon Valley 231

Seeing Both Sides

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

While Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s decision to drop out of Harvard and move to Silicon Valley was a plot point in in the movie “The Social Network,” it looked like a watershed event to many in the local technology community.

Massachusetts 33

Massachusetts Silicon Valley Washington Boston 33

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2009

For example, in the semiconductor business engineers spend enormous time, money and effort on simulation , the process of actually building the chip in software and running tests to see how well it will perform – well before they ever get to first silicon. This approach works for software. Order Here. Now In Print!

Vertical 128

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing RSS 128

Reid Hoffman

JULY 27, 2021

When I decided I wanted to start a company, I realized that I needed to pick up certain skills first, like product management, knowledge of online services, and a practical understanding of commercial software development. The problem is that these competitions seldom produce massively successful businesses.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Venture Capital Balance Sheet Cofounder 69