Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2016

And going for crowdfunding before you do customer discovery with customers can lock you into the wrong idea too early. These topics were the focus of interviews with the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern).

Detroit 120

Detroit Baltimore Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

SuperMac sold our graphic boards for the Macintosh through multiple distribution channels: direct sales to major accounts, national chains, independent rep firms, etc. But the computer retail channel was a large part of our sales. Or blame my MarCom department who approved it.

Sales 120

Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

The trap most of them fell into (common almost everywhere): they were reading the blog posts and advice of Silicon Valley-based companies and believing that it uniformly applied to them. But other critical hypotheses such as activities, resources, partners, channels needed testing offshore. It doesn’t. Born Global or Die Local.

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

Steve Blank

JULY 9, 2009

So I got out out of the building to meet and understand our customers and distribution partners. I remember after a month or two of talking to 14-22 year old male gamers (our potential target market,) I realized that for the first time in my career I had no emotional connection to my customers or channel partners.

Silicon Valley 139

Silicon Valley RSS California Video 139

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2012

From sources that the studios at one time claimed would put them out of business: Pay-per view TV, cable and satellite channels, video rentals, DVD sales, online subscriptions and digital downloads. The music and movie business has been consistently wrong in its claims that new platforms and channels would be the end of its businesses.

Silicon Valley 336

Silicon Valley Distribution Washington Channel 336

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

At a university business plan competition, for the first time they can swim in the sea of expertise that we/I take for granted in the middle of Silicon Valley. I love business plan competitions (and with my valley-centric bias, I think Berkeley and Stanford have two of the best.) I was simply confused about what a plan was for.

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

Everyone should have a chance to walk the floor looking for deals, technology, distribution, customers, etc. Reply steveblank , on May 22, 2009 at 2:39 pm Said: Morteza, The comments about “ignore this post&# were meant that if your sales channel is the web you rarely go to trade shows. What didn’t? Order Here.

Silicon Valley 128

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 128

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 3, 2014

Like all great Silicon Valley companies they started with a technology and guessed who the customers will be. The Customer Development process, this relentless drive to turn hypotheses into facts is what makes this learning so rapid. Filed under: Customer Development , Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

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Lean Silicon Valley Customer Development Incubator 272

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

The term “Growth Hacking”, invented by Sean Ellis , and made popular by Andrew Chen , a Silicon valley marketer and entrepreneur, is a combination of two disciplines – marketing and coding: Growth hackers are a hybrid of marketer and coder, one who looks at the traditional question of “How do I get customers for my product?”

API 167

API Viral Startup Retention 167

Steve Blank

APRIL 15, 2016

In Silicon Valley for three decades, spent eight years as a partner at US Venture Partners. My career pretty much mirrors Silicon Valley; because I always wanted to get on the next wave. I was always curious to find out what the next developments were. But coming to Silicon Valley is not nirvana.

Silicon Valley 139

Silicon Valley California Entrepreneur Cofounder 139

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

I think you can blame Customer and Agile Development for a small part of it. When I first came to Silicon Valley the world of Venture Capital looked pretty simple. VC’s invested in things that ran on electrons: hardware, software and silicon. Filed under: Customer Development , Venture Capital.

Lean 258

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 258

Steve Blank

JANUARY 25, 2010

A business model diagram also shows how the product gets distributed to your customers and how money flows back into your company. At Stanford, Ann Miura-Ko and I have been working on a simplified Silicon Valley version of this model. What’s the distribution channel. How do we price and position the product?

Agile 335

Agile Startup Silicon Valley Business Model 335

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. After that there’s a discussion of how the product will reach the customer and the potential distribution channel. Marketing is at its peak.

Silicon Valley 260

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 260

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

One is explaining the world as it used to work: the importance of gatekeepers, the scarcity implied by limited distribution, and the resulting quality bar that the industry is so proud of. Mostly it is the time and expense required to create the means of distribution for that industry. It’s just taking some longer than others.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Steve Blank

APRIL 15, 2016

In Silicon Valley for three decades, spent eight years as a partner at US Venture Partners. My career pretty much mirrors Silicon Valley; because I always wanted to get on the next wave. I was always curious to find out what the next developments were. But coming to Silicon Valley is not nirvana.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley California Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Rob Go

SEPTEMBER 9, 2013

Lean Startup Circle Boston – Meetup dedicated to the lean startup and customer development methodology. Barrington Coffee – Fort Point Channel. Flour – Bakery and Coffee Shop in Fort Point Channel. Gridco Systems – Power Distribution Systems (backed by General Catalyst and Northbridge). Journalists and News.

Boston 71

Boston Technical Review Community Cofounder 71

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2016

Silicon Valley’s pay-it-forward culture means that others will help when you’re starting up. Looking to create their accelerator/incubator, Wayne and seven other founders rented a Silicon Valley house together one summer. And a company culture and values need to be design and engineered just like the product. .

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley North Carolina Cofounder Entrepreneur 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 5, 2009

You make several first order approximations about your business model, distribution channels, demand creation, and customer acceptance. Customer Development This strategy of starting on faith, and quickly turning them into facts is the core of the Customer Development process. Order Here.

Silicon Valley 212

Silicon Valley RSS Vertical California 212

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. In contrast to simply executing your business plan, the Customer Development process is built on low-cost and continuous learning and iterating.

Vertical 122

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 122

Steve Blank

APRIL 5, 2010

Students formed teams, came up with a business idea then talked to customers, vendors and sales channel partners to validate their business model. However, working full time while simultaneously attempting to participate in a team based project and Customer Discovery outside the classroom just didn’t work.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley Business Model Customer Development Engineer 126

Steve Blank

AUGUST 20, 2009

Some of the conversations went like this: Startup 1 Entrepreneur -“I’m competing against Company x and have been following the Customer Development process and I’ve talked to lots of customers.” Do you know have they distribute their product? Do you know the archetype of their customers? This is easy to test.

Silicon Valley 181

Silicon Valley Startup RSS Customer Development 181

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

In the tactics section, list your sales channels and describe how you will be selling your products. Also, make a bullet list of the marketing activities that will drive customers to your door. Eric Ries, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author of The Lean Startup, popularized this strategy for web applications.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Steve Blank

MAY 16, 2016

In companies this would be product line extensions, more efficient supply chain, new distribution channels. Note that they plan a trip to San Diego to visit the customer. With a great assist from the State Departments innovation outpost in Silicon Valley.) Slide 2, John Boyd and the OODA Loop (finally!)

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San Diego Metrics Indonesia Silicon Valley 142

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Especially if you aren’t from around Silicon Valley. I too am looking for someone to work with that knows the manufacturing and distribution end of a solid product. thanks to advice like yours, people like me spent that time developing rather than begging for money. Cant wait for more posts on Techcrunch [link] ?

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

I have 2 options: set up a new startup or share my idea with google (or maybe another big silicon valley’s company). I am trying to target potential customers (web developers) with ads on Facebook but I’m getting zero click thrus. Curate great links for your ideal customers and share them 3 times per day.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development. free, distributed source code control management system. Customer Development. Roku Channel Store. Silicon Roundabout. silicon valley. Silicon Valley Bank. Silicon Wadi. Codeacademy. Lean Methodology Sources. Steve Blank.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Most normal customers – even among early adopters - do not pay attention to the trolls. They are largely invisible in the normal channels where customer service and community management pays attention. I agree that listening and communicating is a key to success, but customer development can only do so much.

Community 158

Community Management Lean Software Review 158