Steve Blank

OCTOBER 7, 2011

—— I was invited to Finland as part of Stanford’s Engineering Technology Venture Program partnership with Aalto University. At Tekes, government employees (and their hired consultants) – with no equity, no risk or reward, no startup or venture capital experience – try to pick startup winners and losers.

Finland 324

Finland Venture Capital Government Russia 324

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

Though they’re familiar with technology in the valley, I picked up some important cultural difference from students and startup engineers I talked to. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital' Fear of Failure.

China 323

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 323

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees Tweet Recently someone asked me for advice on how much equity they should give to their early employees. 1% but they’re not going to be overwhelmed by it, or insanely incentivized by that equity alone. I do believe that early employees should trade salary for equity.

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Posted on September 14, 2009 by steveblank Over the last 30 years Wall Street’s appetite for technology stocks have changed radically – swinging between unbridled enthusiasm to believing they’re all toxic. 3) invest in and take equity stakes in exchange for capital. Each VC firm/partner has a different spin on what to weigh more.)

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 217

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

Though they’re familiar with technology in the valley, I picked up some important cultural difference from students and startup engineers I talked to. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital' Fear of Failure.

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2012

Nearly four in five CEOs complained that CMOs can’t explain how brand equity can be linked to recognized financial measures such as firm equity. It’s a myth that social networks and their technologies are creating new approaches to marketing.

Marketing 234

Marketing Software Review Technical Review Social Network 234

David Teten

MARCH 28, 2012

This study is effectively a sequel to the study David Teten led with Chris Farmer of General Catalyst on best practices of venture capital and private equity funds in originating new deals , published in Journal of Private Equity , Harvard Business Review , Institutional Investor , etc.

Portfolio 144

Portfolio Private Equity Venture Capital Early Stage 144

Steve Blank

JUNE 12, 2020

This was followed by an 8-minute slide presentation describing their customer discovery journey over the 10-weeks. All the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ) Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, but all of their journeys were unique. He runs H4X Labs.

Oakland 301

Oakland Asia Lean Video 301

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

However, you will be dealing with almost daily change, (new customer feedback/insights from a Customer Development process and technical roadblocks ,) as the company searches for a repeatable and scalable business model. This means you still need to have a resilient personality, and be agile. You’re not joining a big company.

Cofounder 219

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 219

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first post described how China built a science and technology infrastructure to support advanced weapons systems development. The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. Like the U.S.

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 271

Steve Blank

JUNE 4, 2012

This is a 3-day program for entrepreneurship faculty from around the world how to teach entrepreneurship via the Lean LaunchPad approach ( business model canvas + customer development ) and bring their entrepreneurship curriculums into the 21st century. Filed under: Customer Development , Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Silicon Valley 305

Silicon Valley Lean Utah Customer Development 305

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

customer development. Some general customer development slides click here. Called “ How to Build a Startup: The Lean LaunchPad ,” it walks you through the Business Model Canvas and an overview of the customer development process. agile engineering. Berkeley presentations, lectures and syllabus here.

Open Source 335

Open Source Silicon Valley Lean Customer Development 335

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 13, 2011

I was invited to Finland as part of Stanford's Engineering Technology Venture Program partnership with Aalto University. Steve Blank is a retired serial entrepreneur, educator, thought leader and creator of the rigorous "Customer Development" methodology detailed in his book, "The Four Steps to the Epiphany."

Finland 158

Finland Venture Capital Government Russia 158

Steve Blank

JANUARY 20, 2014

When Customer Development and the Lean Startup were just a sketch on the napkin, Dino Vendetti, a VC at Bay Partners, was one of the first venture capitalists I shared my ideas with. Dino and I kept in touch as he moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. Startups in Bend.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Oregon Lean Venture Capital 312

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 26, 2013

While a few of the I-Corps teams are in web/mobile/cloud, most are working on advanced technology projects that don’t make TechCrunch. The program pays scientists $50,000 to attend the program and takes no equity. It’s success is measured not only by the technologies that leave the labs, but how many U.S.

Lean 262

Lean Washington Incubator Agile 262

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. It may be that all the doomsayers are right.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

blog.aparttimecto.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

A Part-Time CTO Technology. Flexibility - You won’t need to commit to something, either cash, equity or involving other people, upfront. Cons: Money - Unless you have cash to pay, the pool of developers willing to work for equity is small. Access - Good developers are tough to find. In Plain English.

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Equity Vesting 40

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 30, 2014

The landscape for how to turn life science and health care technologies into viable companies has changed more in the last 3 years than in the last 30. ———– The National Institutes of Health recognizes that Life Science/Health Care commercialization has two components: the science/technology, and the business model.

San Diego 261

San Diego North Carolina Chicago Lean 261

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

The first post described how China built a science and technology infrastructure to support advanced weapons systems development. The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. Like the U.S.

Venture Capital 163

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 163

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

A revolution has taken hold as customer development and agile engineering reinvent the Startup process. Reinventing the board meeting may offer angel-funded startups that don’t have formal boards or directors (because of geography or size of investment) to attract experienced advice and investment outside of technology clusters (i.e.

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Steve Blank

JULY 2, 2015

military can work together – for access to advanced technology and to learn how to move with agility, speed and urgency. Prior to that, he worked for the Industrial Bank of Japan and General Electric specializing in deliberative trading, private equity investment, and post merger integration.

Channel 120

Channel Japan Bosnia Silicon Valley 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

The previous post described how China built its science and technology infrastructure. This post is about the how the Chinese government engineered technology clusters. Torch has four major parts: Innovation Clusters , Technology Business Incubators (TBIs), Seed Funding (Innofund) and Venture Guiding Fund. Innovation Clusters.

Programming 278

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 278

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

You’ve got a great idea and domain expertise, but limited money and insufficient technology resources. Should you co-found your company with a software development shop? Not surprisingly, the list above also is ranked from least to most equity stake in an investment for the investor, relative to the cash they invest.

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 15, 2011

The process they use to guide that search is "Customer Development" ; and to track their progress startups now have a scorecard to document their week-by-week changes – the business model canvas. They would: Blog their Customer Development progress as a narrative. What Does This Change? Now they can.

Silicon Valley 118

Silicon Valley Startup Early Stage Business Model 118

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 3, 2009

Worries from the garage One of the worries I hear from entrepreneurs (not just my students) is that Customer Development means getting out of the building and sharing what you are working on. In the end, the CEO couldn’t get his board to give us the cash in exchange for the Japanese distribution rights and some equity.

Silicon Valley 149

Silicon Valley RSS Startup California 149

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

The previous post described how China built its science and technology infrastructure. This post is about the how the Chinese government engineered technology clusters. Torch has four major parts: Innovation Clusters , Technology Business Incubators (TBIs), Seed Funding (Innofund) and Venture Guiding Fund. Innovation Clusters.

Programming 170

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 170

rob.by

MARCH 8, 2012

” I believe that by this he means they want cash rather than equity. My hunch is that most good software engineers only work for cash because they don’t feel that working for equity is worth the risk of failure. Business & Technology (18). I absolutely want cofounders when the time comes. Thoughts on. Music (10).

Technical Cofounder 42

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Engineering Fractional CTO 42

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

August was a slow month in terms of traffic and I was away for a lot of the month, but there were some really great posts at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. equity debate. m the f%*kin’ boss.”. More tiers = more complication = more confusion. Have convertible notes really won? Final Thought.

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

viniciusvacanti.com

SEPTEMBER 7, 2010

If I were starting a company like that, I would recognize that technology is one of the key risks (for most web startups, it isn't). I do believe the only reason the developers were willing to work for some equity is because they became friends with us at Hackers and Founders, so that part worked. davetomback Great post.

Cofounder 43

Cofounder Technical Cofounder Founder Ruby 43

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

I read what they did, and I was like, “You know, what they had is one really interesting technology” … …I was like, “Why am I writing about this for trivial amounts of money? Tune in Thursday at 1 pm PT, 4 pm ET on Sirius XM Channel 111 Filed under: Customer Development. Maybe I should do it.”

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Silicon Valley New York 120

www.instigatorblog.com

MARCH 2, 2010

This is typically done with a small piece of equity. lol [link] Ben Yoskovitz @Zack: You don’t necessarily have to pay your Advisory Board with money – generally you compensate with equity. A Few Quick Tips on Advisory Boards A few additional thoughts: Compensation. You will most likely have to compensate board members.

Advisory Board 40

Advisory Board Startup Cofounder Equity 40

The Equity Kicker

MAY 12, 2015

First up was the story of Blue River Technology an agriculture robotics company whose first product is called LettuceBot. In conversations with customers they discovered that was a bad idea, but also learned that farmers have a problem with weeding fields of carrots. Their first idea was an autonomous lawn mower.

Lean 60

Lean Startup Flash Customer Development 60

The Equity Kicker

NOVEMBER 28, 2012

Regular readers will know that I’m excited about the emerging opportunities that 3D printing technologies are enabling. in most new product categories demand is evident because companies have hacked together custom solutions. the spend to be displaced is money given to custom developers and systems integrators.

Marketing 100

Marketing Demand Hosting Customer Development 100

www.aaronkharris.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

Well, thats what Im figuring out every day.Observations on that, technology in general, and what I encounter along the way will form the substance here. We were well aware that it would be a mix of cash and equity, and that there was no golden number for either. How am I going to do that? Have fun with it, play safe. startupcto

CTO Hire 40

CTO Hire New York City .Net Cofounder 40

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 9, 2016

Startups don’t have access to the same resources or brand equity. On Sean’s GrowthHackers.com , categories include… So, essentially everything from customer development and onboarding to persuasion and social marketing fall under the umbrella of growth hacking. Conducted Customer Development.

Retention 48

Retention Metrics Acquisition Conversion 48

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

There’s been a lot of hand-wringing about gender equity in the high-tech and entrepreneurship worlds lately. We laugh at people who think software patents are awesome, or want to give the RIAA more power, or think big companies should have a veto power over new technologies that are “too disruptive.&#

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Sweden Continuous Deployment 167

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

what are the most crucial steps to be taken by a new tech startup when outsourcing major part of the tech to IT firms or outsourcing “product development” eg new social media website project? I think it’s a huge mistake to outsource technology as a startup. Initial developer: partner or hired? A few nuggets.

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44