Steve Blank

OCTOBER 19, 2009

While the last post was titled “ You Know You’re Getting Close to Your Customers When They Offer You a Job “, this post should probably be titled, “You Know You’re Getting Close to Your Customers When You Offer Them a Job.&# Context here.)

Engineer 214

Engineer Silicon Valley Part-Time VPE Advisory Board 214

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. But for the rest of us mortals whose eyes glaze over at the buzzwords, the questions are, “How do I get my great idea on the web?

Lean 334

Lean Web Coder Business Model 334

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

The Times Square Strategy discussion I had with Eric Ries , was still top of mind, so instead of my standard Customer Development lecture , I offered my thoughts on: the origin of Customer Development, where we are today, and where does Customer Development go, and how you can help get it there.

Customer Development 223

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 223

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2014

We’re changing the order in which we teach the business model canvas and customer development to better-fit therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. “Customer Development” to test the hypotheses outside the building and. That works for almost all markets.

Intellectual Property 286

Intellectual Property Lean IP Open Source 286

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2023

Here’s how I learned why they were critical to successful customer development. I was an aggressive, young and a very tactical VP of marketing at Ardent , a supercomputer company – who really hadn’t a clue about the relationship between profound beliefs, customer discovery and strategy. I was a great marketer.

Business Model 331

Business Model Product Development Early Stage Customer Development 331

Steve Blank

MARCH 25, 2009

Was SuperMac attempting to introduce radically new products and create a new market ? Was the company attempting to be a low cost provider by introducing cheaper products to an existing market? Was the company attempting to be a low cost provider by introducing cheaper products to an existing market? No, not really.

Silicon Valley 149

Silicon Valley Marketing RSS California 149

Steve Blank

JANUARY 25, 2011

For a company in a rapidly changing market, that’s usually the beginning of the end. As we’ve grown we’ve become less and less responsive to changing market and customer needs. While our revenue is looking good, we can be out of business in two years if we can’t keep up with our customer’s rapid shifts in platforms.

Part-Time VPE 322

Part-Time VPE Agile Engineer Startup 322

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

We want to make a bet that your Lean Launchpad class can apply the scientific method to market-opportunity identification. We taught them the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. And since the rest of the slides were about Customer Development, I taught those.

Incubator 306

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 306

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

It’s often said that you shouldn’t talk about price during customer development interviews. Price is as important as any other feature to determine product/market “fit.” In a huge market this is probably still OK because there’s enough customers for everyone to thrive in different ways. .”

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Bootstrapping Technical Review B2C Sales Cycle 294

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

But he left to work on what he told me he came to do - crack the innovation code of Silicon Valley and share it with the rest of the world. Founders overestimate the value of IP before product market fit by 255%. . Startups need 2-3 times longer to validate their market than most founders expect. Congratulations.

Technical Cofounder 334

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 334

Steve Blank

APRIL 7, 2020

finding product/market fit). The key principles of customer development are: There are no facts inside the building so get the heck outside. It’s what you can show a potential customer/ user/ beneficiary/partner that will get you the most learning at a point in time.

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Customer Business Model Restful Video 418

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

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc. It is the key to “customer development” that Steve Blank talks about. And market your brand, not your personality.

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PR Technical Review Portfolio Customer Development 279

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

For the last 10 years China essentially closed its search, media and social network software market to foreign companies with the result that Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Dropbox, and 30,000 other websites were not accessible from China. Sea Turtles and VPN – the connections to the rest of the world. business models.

China 326

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 326

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2016

You must also understand the value the product provides customers (along with the rest of your business model.). And going for crowdfunding before you do customer discovery with customers can lock you into the wrong idea too early. Filed under: Customer Development , SiriusXM Radio Show.

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Detroit Baltimore Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

It taught lean theory ( business model design , customer development and agile engineering) and practice. We use Customer Development and the Lean LaunchPad to train and accelerate teams U.C. You will see great startups focused on solving real customer problems emerge as well. Seeing Is Believing. Berkeley-wide.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2020

Do you have a startup idea or new technology that you’d like to learn how to bring to market in the post-pandemic economy? The first 5-day class will be aimed at “Finding New Business Models” for businesses to adapt and pivot to find new customers, new markets, new products and new services to win in the recovery.

Lean 436

Lean Business Model Affiliate Incubator 436

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

For the last 10 years China essentially closed its search, media and social network software market to foreign companies with the result that Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Dropbox, and 30,000 other websites were not accessible from China. Sea Turtles and VPN – the connections to the rest of the world. business models.

China 218

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 218

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

As the (very junior) product marketing manager I got a call from our local salesman that someone at Apple wanted more technical information than just the spec sheets about our new (not yet shipping) chip. Your board nods sagely at your target customer list. Market Type But most startups aren’t in existing markets.

Silicon Valley 137

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 137

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

They had this great architecture, and Apple had figured out to get movies into their own computers for a demo, but for the rest of us there was no physical device that allowed an average consumer to plug a video camera or VCR into and get video into a Mac. But the rest of the management team really skeptical. Little did we know.

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Video Silicon Valley RSS California 176

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

To do this they have to accomplish five things; 1) get deal flow – via networking and legwork, they identify likely industries, companies and teams with the potential for rapid growth (less than 10 years), 2) evaluate those companies and teams on the basis of technology, market opportunity, and team.

Silicon Valley 230

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 230

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2021

By the early 1920s a new dean changed the curriculum – shifting it from an industry orientation (steel, railroads, etc.) – to a functional one (marketing, factory and employment management (HR), etc.). Lean-driven (hypothesis testing/business model/customer development/agile engineering). experiential.

Lean 436

Lean Agile Business Model Business Plan 436

Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

We had thought really hard about “ market type ” and decided to reposition the company from a technology provider to a solutions provider. Metrics – Mine is Bigger Than Yours The first thing SuperMac needed to do was to change how our potential color desktop publishing customers viewed our products versus our competitors’ products.

Silicon Valley 125

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 125

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 11, 2014

In the 20 th century corporate skunk works were used to develop disruptive innovation separate from the rest of the company. ——– In the 20 th century companies could be leaders in a market for decades by just focusing on their core product(s). They were the hallmark of innovative corporations. Lessons Learned.

Channel 291

Channel Customer Development Distribution Restful 291

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. The rest is worth reading as well. You’re not joining a big company. steve Am I a Founder?

Cofounder 227

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 227

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Scalable startups are on a trajectory for a billion dollar market cap. But if you want to build a scalable startup you need to be asking how you can you get enough customers/users/payers to build a business that can grow revenues past several $100M/year. has a large enough market that most U.S. ———-.

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Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

ConversionXL

JANUARY 31, 2014

Step Zero – Really Understand Your Target Market. Do This: Really get to know your market. Conduct surveys & interviews to understand your customer’s pain points. These questions help you uncover trends within your market and tell you things analytics alone can not. The Conversion Funnel Survival Guide.

Analytics 134

Analytics Video Matching Conversion 134

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2016

If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I believe that: a product is just a part of a startup, but understanding customers, channel, pricing, – the business model – is what turns a product into a business. Understanding their market in week 6, slide 31. Every week the teams present their results. Share and Tell.

Lean 120

Lean Incubator Business Model Channel 120

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

I know that this all seems obvious now with the movements started by Steven Blank ( Four Steps of Epiphany ) with the whole Customer Development processes / Lean Startup movements also popularized by people like Eric Ries. Many people at a young startup are trying to manage their finances like the rest of their user base.

Customer 280

Customer Technical Review Software Review Mexico 280

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 310

Silicon Valley Lean Utah Customer Development 310

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

Market research tools to help you figure out the size of the opportunity your startup is pursuing, are here. customer development. Some general customer development slides click here. So for the rest of us I put together this Visitors Guide to Silicon Valley. agile engineering. The Entreprenuers Checklist.

Open Source 335

Open Source Silicon Valley Lean Customer Development 335

Steve Blank

JANUARY 6, 2014

For the last 75 years products (both durable goods and software) were built via Waterfall development. This process forced companies to release and launch products by model years, and market new and “improved” versions. And these changes may have unintended consequences leading to customer dissatisfaction and confusion.

Continuous Deployment 331

Continuous Deployment Customer Agile Cloud 331

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 21, 2020

In general, successful startups do three major things: They understand who their customers are, what they want and clearly define the product or service Unique Selling Point(USP). However, the key difference between a successful and unsuccessful startup rests on the shoulders of the entrepreneur themselves. By customer development.

Startup 156

Startup Acquisition Business Model Finance 156

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 7, 2010

Wait a minute, what about the rest of Customer Development ? Aren’t you going to validate your hypotheses by first getting some customers?”. Now I was confused, and I asked, “Well what do you guys believe – Customer Development or launch on a schedule?” I was a great marketer. To Do list.

Customer Development 312

Customer Development Singapore Channel PR 312

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

If you are a practitioner of Customer Development, ESL was doing it before most us were born. And in the 1960s ESL’s customers asked the company to analyze and interpret telemetry data even though this was a traditional function of the “customer.&# And the rest is history. Arms control with the U.S.

Silicon Valley 185

Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 185

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

Maybe It’s Me When I got to the SuperMac, our Marketing Communications group told me about our “award-winning&# retail packaging for our graphics boards. Her packaging class was so good that we sent every new marketer at SuperMac to take it. Yet when I saw our retail package, I was confused. Worry about the sales results.

Sales 120

Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

You can almost set your watch to six months or so after first customer ship, when Sales starts missing its “numbers,” the board gets concerned and Marketing tries to “make up a better story.” Now the company is in crisis mode because the rest of the organization (product development, marketing, etc.)

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Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 250