Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Sunset BoulevardBOOTY SHAKE CONTEST GONE [.]

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Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Other Roles in a Startup Generic advice given to entrepreneurs assumes that everyone is going to be the founder/co-founder. Reply steveblank , on June 14, 2009 at 2:22 pm Said: Actually this is the mistake most startup entrepreneurs make – particularly in tough economic times. This is the minimum feature set for founders.

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Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. As entrepreneurs we must never settle for allowing our hypothesis to go unchecked. Product Development Diagram 1.

Customer Development 244

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Forget the Hypertext idea and come on back to California. He and his wife Gwen would found the Computer Museum, first in the lobby of DEC headquarters, then in Boston (and now as the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California.) Reply Karma in the Lean Startup Era , on January 28, 2010 at 5:26 pm Said: [.]

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Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

With your permission, I’d like to tell this tale and direct other aspiring entrepreneurs to follow your lead! As a young entrepreneur in his first startup, this post hits our current situation spot on. EE Reply My take on Customer Development and the Lean Startup | Recess Mobile Blog , on January 9, 2010 at 5:30 am Said: [.]

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Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

The same issues arose time and again: big company management styles versus entrepreneurs wanting to shoot from the hip, founders versus professional managers, engineering versus marketing, marketing versus sales, missed schedule issues, sales missing the plan, running out of money, raising new money.

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Pattern Recognition One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that you are constantly running a pattern recognition algorithm against a continual collection of customer and market data. But at times it’s why entrepreneurs can sink their own companies. More on this in later posts.)

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web. The first question to ask is: “Does your startup have market risk or is it dominated by technical risk?” Lean Startup /Customer Development is used to find answers to the unknowns about customers and markets.

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. There’s lots of lore, emotion, and misconceptions of what VC’s do or don’t do for entrepreneurs. What this meant for entrepreneurs and VC’s was simple– the gold rush to liquidity was on. What Do VC’s Do?

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Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

In the last three posts, we drew the relationship of market risk and invention risk with vertical markets and pointed out verticals where customer development would be useful. would look in each of the verticals. For example, How does sales differ from one market to another? Others you need to know when you execute the plan.

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Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2009

Simulation to Reduce Invention Risk If you’re in a vertical where “invention risk” is dominant, then you want to do everything you can to manage and reduce those risks. When I wrote the Four Steps to the Epiphany , the Customer Development text, I hadn’t yet thought about what vertical markets it might be appropriate for.)

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Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

Unfortunately most startups learn this by going through the “Fire the first Sales VP&# drill: You start your company with a list of potential customers reading like a “who’s who&# of whatever vertical market you’re in (or the Fortune 1000 list.) Your board nods sagely at your target customer list.

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Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

were the first computer entrepreneurs here. So, here is my assignment. Find out Memorex’s position in Silicon Valley. Some say we were the first PCM in the valley. Others say Larry Spitters & Co. Were we anything first? Any answers or pointers will be appreciated.

Technology 143

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Steve Blank

MARCH 20, 2009

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Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

Finally, since no one would believe a set of benchmarks named after our company, we needed a façade of independence, so we named them after the street the company was headquartered on in Sunnyvale California – they became known as the Potrero Benchmarks.

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 21, 2010

BTW, the definition of entrepreneurship I describe at 2:50 into the video is described in detail in the post “ You’re Not a Real Entrepreneur.&# Instead of a brawl it turned out to be collegial, entertaining and informative. Here’s a 6 minute excerpt from the talk.

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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.

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Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

For entrepreneurs good things come to those who ask. Entreprenuers Know How to Ask Successful entrepreneurs have the ability to ask for things relentlessly. Entrepreneurs are fearless, persistent and uninhibited about asking – whether it’s asking to assemble a team, get financing, sell customers, etc.

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Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

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Steve Blank

MARCH 25, 2009

A key lesson is that as an entrepreneur, you get to choose your segment. Getting B-52s through the Soviet Air Defense System » 20 Responses brantcooper , on March 26, 2009 at 3:52 pm Said: Great story, Steve. Glad to see you blogging! The question is, what characteristics do you weigh when making the choice?

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Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

If you’re an entrepreneur, ESL is the most important company you’ve never heard of. When Terman said no, Sylvania, a tube company which built proximity fuse tubes in WWII, won the contract and set up its Electronic Defense Lab (EDL) in Mountain View California in the middle of an orchard. Terman became a consultant to the company.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 27, 2009

My first business trip to the valley was to visit California Microwave. And now am leading a startup of my own ( [link] ) where we’re students of you and Eric Ries’ lean startup principles. Had not yet heard of Silicon Valley at the time, but the siren call was already sounding. Thanks for connecting the historical dots!

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

sgblank Lean Startup Cirle 111909 This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback. Big thanks for the continued sharing, and certainly the link to Lean Startups. They were kind enough to sponsor a meet-up in San Francisco. The video below was my presentation to the group. The slides below go with the video.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

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Steve Blank

AUGUST 17, 2009

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Steve Blank

JUNE 5, 2009

This is incisive and powerful and I hope many entrepreneurs or would-be entrepreneurs “get&# this eloquently stated point. The last thing I want is for new entrepreneurs to read my comment and get dismayed about the importance of facts. You do different things as an entrepreneur when you are creating a new market.

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Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

on April 10, 2009 at 6:58 am Said: Amazing blog.

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Steve Blank

MAY 1, 2009

If you’ve never seen Eric’s Lean Startup presentation, take a few minutes to at least watch his part. Thanks to Dave McClure and Leonard Speiser for the opportunity to speak. The Customer Development talk can be seen here. Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 The slides are here.

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Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

Go to trade shows like it matters.

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Steve Blank

AUGUST 14, 2009

My only excuse is that this week I’m doing public service in my role as a California Coastal Commissioner. Long days, lots of items on the calendar , dedicated staff, very bright fellow commissioners. Greatest hits here.

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Steve Blank

AUGUST 7, 2009

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Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Reply Best books for the lean product managers — Justin Gibbs , on April 28, 2009 at 2:44 pm Said: [.] This product development diagram had become part of the DNA of Silicon Valley. So much so that after I started teaching I’d ask, “Can anybody recognize this model of startups? familiar with Customer Development you should be.

Product Development 159

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Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Eighty some pages later I realized that a) I had some great war stories as a good marketeer and failed CEO, b) I’d have to pay my wife and kids to read them, c) the three of them were probably the entire total available market, and d) when I looked at what I had done and what other entrepreneurs had done at their startups, that there was a pattern.

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Doesn’t it depend on vertical market.? Thanks for sharing.

Customer Development 228

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

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Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2009

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 19, 2009

– Cornell University; University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign; the Pittsburgh Supercomputing Center at Carnegie Mellon University; and the San Diego Supercomputer Center at the University of California at San Diego. A entrepreneur’s idea of closure. And taxpayers are only out $35M on that one machine. What a deal.

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