Steve Blank

AUGUST 23, 2010

At times I’ll do what I consider an extension of teaching; a two-day Customer Discovery/Validation intensive session with a large corporation serious about Customer Development at my ranch on the California Coast. Customer Development Without Agile Engineering Is A Plan For Failure.

Customer Development 235

Customer Development Developer Customer South America 235

conversionxl.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

Extra Lucrative Conversion Advice. Conversion Optimization Services. Conversion Research. It’s Not a Conversion Problem, It’s a Customer Development Problem. I feel like “conversion rate optimization” is in 2013 what “social media marketing” was in 2009.

Customer Development 60

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 60

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

Customer development” has become its own skill and body of knowledge, and there are some crucial nuances to understand up front before beginning your customer dev discussions. https://blog.kissmetrics.com/26-customer-development-resources/. https://blog.kissmetrics.com/26-customer-development-resources/.

Customer Development 120

Customer Development Developer Customer Seed Stage 120

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I believe it is the best introduction to Customer Development you can buy. As all of you know, Steve Blank is the progenitor of Customer Development and author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany. It is written in a conversational tone, doesnt take itself too seriously, and avoids extraneous fluff.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 16, 2009 Combining agile development with customer development Today I read an excellent blog post that I just had to share. In most agile development systems, there is a notion of the "product backlog" a prioritized list of what software is most valuable to be developed next.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 19, 2012

He wanted to get input from me on what he's doing, and he wants to begin to ask developers what it would take to build his product. I asked some of the same questions I ask in my Free Startup CTO Consulting Sessions and then I get to a very common conversation: Me : Do you have specs? Founder : Ummm. what do you mean? Founder : Umm.

Developer 354

Developer Technical Review Fractional CTO Software Review 354

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

“ I have too little traffic to test; hence, I can’t do conversion optimization. You can do conversion optimization on any website – even on sites that have so little traffic that a split test would take 2 years to run until statistical significance is reached. Talk to your customers or prospects. B t , I say.

Conversion 124

Conversion Framework Technical Review Analytics 124

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. How Microcopy Can Improve UX & Conversions.

Conversion 105

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Search 105

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. How Microcopy Can Improve UX & Conversions.

Conversion 112

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Green 112

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action article, a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. Headlines – 20%. Copy – 8%.

Conversion 101

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Green 101

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. How Microcopy Can Improve UX & Conversions.

Conversion 84

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Search 84

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

In previous posts I’ve talked about what the combination of Business Model Design, Customer Development and Agile Methodologies mean to startups and intrapreneurs in large companies; it’s the beginning of entrepreneurship as a science with its own rules and methodologies. She posted her notes from the talk here.)

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Business Model Developer Design 270

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

I was having breakfast with Radhika, an ex-grad student of mine who wanted to share her Customer Discovery progress for her consumer hardware startup. She started by sketching her business model canvas on a napkin, but somehow the conversation quickly shifted to what was really on her mind. Filed under: Customer Development.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

As part of our Lean LaunchPad classes at Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia and for the National Science Foundation, students build a startup in 8 weeks using Business Model Design + Customer Development. Set up the Lean LaunchLab or a WordPress blog to document your Customer Development progress. Size the market opportunity.

Lean 333

Lean Web Coder Business Model 333

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 24, 2022

Either way, social media provides you with an opportunity to build a rapport with your target audience, which can eventually lead to conversions. You should also consider running social media ads, as they can be very effective in reaching out to potential customers. Develop a Strong Online Presence.

Social Media 118

Social Media Startup Audience Web Development 118

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

I’ve spoken to dozens of customers, I have a validated customer persona, built an MVP to test key behavioral hypotheses, and the data doesn’t back what you’re saying." " Today I had two conversations with early stage startups (see Free CTO Consulting ). Customer Validation 101. billion dollar mistake.

Customer 227

Customer Fractional CTO Viral Lean 227

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 10, 2024

Efficient Marketing Campaigns: SMS automation in Salesforce enables businesses to execute targeted marketing campaigns, delivering promotional messages and offers directly to customers’ fingertips for increased conversion rates.

SMS 117

SMS Customer Campaign Social Media 117

Up and Running

MARCH 21, 2018

He has been an entrepreneur since he was young, founding top conversion and marketing companies like Crazy Egg, Kissmetrics, Quick Sprout, and more. These don’t require coding skills—they’re usually visual templates that are easy to use but don’t allow for great customization (that would require technical skills). Custom development.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Technical Review Hosting SEO 107

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 3, 2014

When I started with Forward Partners I went out to speak with a bunch of our target customers, entrepreneurs, and I learned a bunch of stuff which helped shape our strategy of empowering great entrepreneurs with minority stake investments and real-world useful help – but I’d have learned much more if I’d read this book first.

Customer Development 94

Customer Development Developer Customer Hosting 94

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

In the big picture, “conversion optimization” boils down to getting more of the right people clicking on the things you want them to click. Dave McClure’s conversion metrics visualize where different conversion optimization opportunities lie—including those for acquisition. Image source ).

Acquisition 111

Acquisition Software Review PPC Analytics 111

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe 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. And the converse is true; Palm would have failed, burning through all their cash, using Handspring’s strategy.

Customer Development 196

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 196

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

He’ll talk about making a profit and making a difference in a conversation with New Media Ventures’ Christie George. Ben Horowitz ’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things is driving the conversation around startup management this year. For example: Mitch Kapor was a founder of Lotus. Todd Park convened the team that saved Obamacare.

Lean 165

Lean Fractional CTO Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE 165

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

No, the conversation was about to get more interesting. We taught them the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. This methodology forces rapid hypothesis testing and Customer Development by getting out of the building while building the product. billion U.S.

Incubator 301

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 301

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2021

The key to understanding value propositions is in building interviews that are based on a set of hypotheses (about the problem, the stakeholder and potential solutions to be explored) and data to be captured while using minimum viable products (just enough “product” to increase the efficacy of a conversation and increase the speed of learning).

Curation 344

Curation Technical Review Lean Australia 344

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. The first class was an introduction to the concepts of business model design and customer development. The Adventure Begins.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

When growing your online presence, be sure to join in on the conversations that those in your industry are having. Reach out to your loyal customers and offer incentives for them to write reviews and rank services. Professionalisms business financing business growth customer development Jake Dacillo sales'

Customer 155

Customer PPC Software Review Finance 155

Steve Blank

APRIL 5, 2017

At times, you may have to communicate what the company stands for before a customer is ready to listen to you talk about product messages. For example, to outflank a competitor who had faster products, Intel moved the conversation about microprocessors away from speed and technology to create a valued brand.

Marketing 310

Marketing Technical Review Audience PR 310

ConversionXL

JUNE 14, 2021

Your product or service is likely built of many features or components, but which of those do your customers truly value? Asking your most loyal customers why they keep coming back can put your marketing biases to the test. Use these conversations to understand the needs and desires your customers are struggling to fulfil.

Software Review 158

Software Review Audience Differentiation Framework 158

The Equity Kicker

MAY 16, 2014

Today customer development is a bit the ‘new thing’, and lots of companies are once again jumping on the band wagon but not doing it in the right way. The thought for the weekend then is to avoid vanity conversations and concentrate on getting facts. Check out the links above for more on these points.

Conversion 123

Conversion Metrics Customer Development Startup 123

Steve Blank

APRIL 19, 2010

One of the best ways to get a debate going into the entrepreneurial world is to throw the “Nature versus Nurture” hand-grenade into a conversation. The conversation then goes into making the case whether these can be taught or you’re born with them. Filed under: Customer Development , Venture Capital. Taking Sides.

Silicon Valley 219

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital New York 219

ConversionXL

JANUARY 24, 2014

Today, I was fortunate enough to get Hunter Boyle – Senior Business Development Director of AWeber to talk with us about what exactly business development is, and the role it can play on conversions. In my interview with Hunter, we discuss: The key responsibilities of a business development professional.

Developer 104

Developer API Cofounder New Jersey 104

ConversionXL

MARCH 4, 2020

Google Analytics shows 104 conversions. That includes how each one defines and measures sessions, users, conversions, etc. For example, “conversion rate” in Google Analytics is conversions/sessions, while in VWO and Optimizely it’s conversions/unique visitors. Issue: Google Analytics conversions are duplicated.

Analytics 88

Analytics IP Metrics Conversion 88

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. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 9, 2009

This reminded me of a conversation with one of my direct reports years before my daughter was born. Our conversation went like this: Me: Jim, how are we doing with getting Ansys ported? When I explained this to him, the conversation got heated. I realized that my daughter had confused motion with action.

Silicon Valley 324

Silicon Valley RSS Software Review Technical Review 324

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

Do you really want to spent $100k building a product to discover through Customer Development that the market is too small? Let’s start with how much value you think you’ll create for your customer if they use your product in terms of hours saved, costs avoided, extra sales, better conversion rates or whatever.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 11, 2016

Oh we had a happy, fun conversation over a couple of beers, but we did not sit down and say, ‘Hey wait, where’s everyone want to go with their life?”. Filed under: Customer Development , SiriusXM Radio Show. We had never discussed everyone’s expectations when we founded the company. Tune in Thursday, Oct.

Columbus 245

Columbus Entrepreneur Cofounder Ohio 245

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 16, 2013

On Customer Development in a growing company, Wyatt offered the following advice: Wyatt: We''ve employed a number of systems in the organization that keep all of us close to the customer. There are 5-10 customers in our office (or remote) per week for developers, product owners and marketers to speak to and validate learning.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Software Engineering Agile 167