Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

It took me 8 startups and 21 years to get it right, (and one can argue success was due to the Internet bubble rather then any brilliance.) No internet, no blogs, no books on startups, no entrepreneurship departments in universities, etc. It’s what my textbook on Customer Development describes. I was an idiot.

Silicon Valley 179

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 179

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2021

Shawn immediately said the name I had given the four steps was confusing – I had called it market development – he suggested that I call it Customer Development – and the name stuck. It bears repeating: an early-stage startup must focus on making one customer group excited by a mission-aligned product.

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Product Viral Channel San Francisco 436

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

In venture capital in particular, early-stage companies are often operating in frontier industries, where the rules are unpredictable and conventional analytic frameworks may be misleading. Meyler Capital is taking the analytical rigor of modern internet marketing and applying it to fund marketing. 2) Raise capital.

Private Equity 60

Private Equity Venture Capital Equity Technical Review 60

Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

Think of the Microprocessor, Personal Computer, Internet, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Google, the iPhone. Customer Development There was nothing wrong about Rocket Science having a vision radically different than the conventional wisdom. Founders need to validate their vision in front of customers early and often.

Silicon Valley 207

Silicon Valley RSS Video San Diego 207

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

The companies I spoke to all agreed that the community there was extremely supportive, especially in the critical ulta-early-stage. Then, create an encouraging environment for early-stage companies. Provide early seed capital, and be the ones to make those introductions. And do your customer development.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean 113

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Later he would leave for a few years to start the Computing Directorate at the National Science Foundation , help spec what became the Internet and then come back and run Ardent’s engineering.) A few days later Gordon became a founder.

North Carolina 125

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 125

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Our VP of Business Development had no problems getting meetings and fund raising was easy. The Digital Dream Team Way before the Internet phenomenon, we had created “Rocket Science the brand ” that was much bigger in size and importance than Rocket Science the company.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, November 17, 2008 The four kinds of work, and how to get them done: part one Ive written before about some of the advantages startups have when they are very small, like the benefits of having a pathetically small number of customers. What is customer development?

San Francisco 88

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? But all things are never equal.

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Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

While that’s great when you showed up in your horse and buggy, the strategy-to-tactic-to implementation lag is painful at Internet speeds. In the age of the Internet why do we need to get together in one room on a fixed schedule? Why don’t we have standards for what metrics VC’s want to see from their early stage startup teams?

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Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? This is the usual reason given for a marketing launch, but for most early stage startups, its a failure. Do some Customer Development instead.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

While that’s great when you showed up in your horse and buggy, the strategy-to-tactic-to implementation lag is painful at Internet speeds. In the age of the Internet why do we need to get together in one room on a fixed schedule? Why don’t we have standards for what metrics VC’s want to see from their early stage startup teams?

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

The people who are the lifeblood of an early-stage startup are earlyvangelists. If youre just getting negativity from someone, they are more likely a internet troll - not an earlyvangelist. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Dont confuse passion with volume.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

And at this early stage you’ll be giving up a larger percentage of your firm to investors. A seed round can come from friends, family, Kickstarter, angels – and most importantly, early customers. In times of unlimited cash (internet bubbles, frothy venture climates) you can fix your mistakes by burning more dollars.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

A discounted price is available for early stage entrepreneurs and students. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? The event will include a talk from Eric on The Lean Startup over dinner, followed by moderated table discussion and then final Q&A with Eric.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

And at this early stage you’ll be giving up a larger percentage of your firm to investors. A seed round can come from friends, family, Kickstarter, angels – and most importantly, early customers. In times of unlimited cash (internet bubbles, frothy venture climates) you can fix your mistakes by burning more dollars.

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 225

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

Unfortunately, they are disinterested in doing the hard work to help early stage entrepreneurs and companies. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R. Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Tampa Continuous Deployment Lean 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2009

Many founders dont like to hear that visionary customers are as smart, maybe even more so, than they are. Startups need to spend time with these customers. In fact, early stage companies shouldnt be able to get time from anyone else - who else would be crazy enough to try an truly innovative new product?

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Lean San Francisco Japan Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

When it becomes possible to build products "live" with customers, the cycle time changes and design becomes a much more dynamic process. We still struggle to create Firm software that is defect-free, and it still requires customer insight (and maybe some customer development) to discover what will Delight.

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Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 13, 2011

Steve Blank is a retired serial entrepreneur, educator, thought leader and creator of the rigorous "Customer Development" methodology that helps startups optimize their chances for success while reducing risk. In the age of the Internet why do we need to get together in one room on a fixed schedule? Silicon Valley, New York).

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Silicon Valley Balance Sheet Metrics Early Stage 117

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

LSC: Tell us about the customer development you did for your book: Alistair: We''ve been thrilled at how Lean Analytics seemed to resonate with founders. The dominant channel by which we reach customers is the Internet, whether you''re a small local restaurant on Yelp or a global maker of tissue paper.

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Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

BetaBrand building apparel MVPs and testing them quickly with targeted customer communities. Telecom O2 learning to move at the speed of the internet 500 Startups and their accelerated feedback loops on what works, and what doesn't work in early-stage investing. The result: a new idea I called The Lean Startup.

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Lean Entrepreneur Agile San Francisco 167

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

Because then you’d miss out on: Whether it’s better experience to build a complete, tiny startup or to do more in-depth customer development for a meatier problem. So that means stuff like thinking about what a business model might be, it does mean customer development. So I have a question for you, Jason.

Cofounder 208

Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

In other words, we want to use the spreadsheet to quantify our progress using the most important unit: validated learning about customers. One way to conceive of our goal in an early-stage venture is to incrementally “fill in the blanks&# for the business model that we think will one day power our startup.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. Coming next Part 2: What’s Wrong with Product Development as a Model?

Silicon Valley 260

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 260

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 17, 2016

Globally, the Boston Consulting Group reports millennials and non-millennials spend about the same amount of time online, but millennials are more likely to use the Internet as a platform to broadcast their thoughts and experiences, as well as contributing user-generated content.

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Customer Singapore Advisory Board Asia 100

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

He is also an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Columbia Business School , and an angel investor hailed as one of New York City’s top 100 early-stage investors. This is of course, pre-Internet. Tune in Thursday at 1 pm PT, 4 pm ET on Sirius XM Channel 111 Filed under: Customer Development.

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Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Silicon Valley New York 120

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

It connects to the internet to automatically download the necessary codes. Ill mention one last thing about knowing what channels of communication your customers engage with. This is important, especially if you are a very early stage company. One of my favorite gadgets at home is the Harmony Universal Remote.

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

VC Cafe covers early stage Israeli and European tech & mobile startups. Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development. Likelihood of Confusion -trademark, copyright and Internet Law. Customer Development. Internet trends. Internet TV. VC & Startup Resources. Seed Startups. Codeacademy.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

www.ashmaurya.com

AUGUST 29, 2012

Running through the complete process in the early stages makes you much more efficient in later stages as you get a feel for the industry and have warm introductions. This is the mold for Internet marketing with the education pitch. It is very common for my insight into a market to improve as I do customer development.

Email 52

Email Customer Tennessee Software Review 52

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 17, 2010

Three premier early-stage venture investors have joined forces to sponsor the event: Baseline , Floodgate , and First Round Capital. Three premier early-stage venture investors have joined forces to sponsor the event: Baseline , Floodgate , and First Round Capital. Take a look and let me know what you think.

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San Francisco Romania Cleveland South Africa 107

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 24, 2009

I liked the flattering Venture Hacks commentary so much Ill just quote it: Many founders believe that early stage startups are endeavors of execution. The customer is known, the product is known, and all we have to do is act. He believes that many early stage startups are labors of learning.

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Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 74

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

are just emerging for business people (customer development, business model generation,). Developers who understand and can execute on a business model. Four developers who have the ability to take on the following roles while cranking out an awesome product in the early stages.

Technical Review 51

Technical Review Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 51

www.instigatorblog.com

MARCH 2, 2010

I’ve read a lot on the internet about start-ups, but I didn’t know about mandatory advisory boards. I’ve read a lot on the internet about start-ups, but I didn’t know about mandatory advisory boards. I guess when I think about start-ups I usually picture people in their young 20s.

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Advisory Board Startup Cofounder Equity 40

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Instead of spending 4 years at university, I spend 4 years starting 2 internet companies that failed. What is the first step in creating an internet-based business (After planning) ? Finding a team of developers, finding funding, or beginning the creation of the site and services with whatever resources are available?

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 12, 2009

I believe this is part of what made the first workshop such a success - the people in the room were visionary customers who therefore came ready to work, not just to be entertained (by contrast with what I see at some of my speaking engagements). The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

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Lean Programming San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 19, 2008

What all these teachers had in common were two things: they were technology early adopters that were willing to take a chance on a new software product, and they all had similar problems organizing their classes and students. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 60