Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

I asked Tsutsumi-san to write a guest post for my blog to describe his experience with Customer Development in Japan. I discovered my product was a “nice to have,” not a “must have,” and we shut the company down a year a later. in a startup no facts exist inside the building, get out of the building to talk to customers”.

Japan 296

Japan Customer Development Developer Customer 296

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

The presentation didn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development. You already have the hockey stick and exponential growth. Your “Customer Development Process&# has really resonated for me. The primary goal of customer development is to reduce the cost of mistakes.

Venture Capital 216

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 216

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. They never understood Market Type. Why does Market Type matter?

Customer Development 203

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 203

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2010

It had taken the company almost twice as long as planned to get their product out the door. Another VC added that engineering should redesign the product to meet the price and performance of current users in an adjacent market. It was going to be the right product – someday – but right now it was not the mainstream.

Revenue 231

Revenue Balance Sheet Hockey Stick Burn Rate 231

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Now with customers and early revenue, it was out raising its first round of venture money. Not only did their sales curve look like a textbook case of a VC-friendly hockey stick, but their Lessons Learned funding presentation was an eye-opener.). They wanted to build an industry not just a product or a company.

Hockey Stick 284

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 284