Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times Ardent would be my third technology company as a VP of Marketing (Convergent Technologies and MIPS Computers were the other two.) It was my ex boss from Convergent Technologies, “Steve we’ve all just resigned from Convergent and we’re starting a new company.

North Carolina 131

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 131

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

Kathy Sierra at Business of Software 2009 - Business of Software Blog , May 4, 2010 "In the old days, getting customers was easy. Draw Your Ideas - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , May 16, 2010 I saw Jack Dorsey give this talk at The 99% Conference last month. They’re deep into Customer Development ,” he said.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

We wanted an agile approach that would allow us to build our software architecture as we needed it, without downtime, but also without large amounts of up-front cost. After all, the worst kind of waste in software development is code to support a use case that never materializes. Seth Godin: How often should you publish?

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Agile Lean 94

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

As Ive written previously , lean startups are built upon three main trends: Technology commoditization. It is becoming easier and cheaper for companies to bring products to market, leveraging free and open source software , cloud computing, open social data (Facebook, OpenSocial ), and open distribution (AdWords, SEO).

Lean 102

Lean San Francisco Agile Continuous Deployment 102

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

What does your Chief Technology Officer do all day? When Ive asked mentors of mine who have worked in big companies about the role of the CTO, they usually talk about the importance of being the external face of the companys technology platform; an evangelist to developers, customers, and employees. Heres my take.

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

This was a modern city in a hurry to make a first impression – think of what Rome looked like in the time of the empire or New York in the 1920’s – now it’s Beijing announcing that China has arrived. Startups here are primarily in what they call the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) segment.

Silicon Valley 272

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 272

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2008

He previously co-founded and served as Chief Technology Officer of IMVU. He serves on the advisory board of a number of technology startups, and has worked as a consultant to a number of startups, companies, and venture capital firms. I know many people who think that software works like magic, but to me it actually was magic.

San Francisco 155

San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

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 317

Silicon Valley Oregon Lean Venture Capital 317

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 20, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, February 20, 2009 Work in small batches Software should be designed, written, and deployed in small batches. The batch size is the unit at which work-products move between stages in a development process. For software, the easiest batch to see is code. This is easiest to see in deployment.

San Francisco 161

San Francisco Software Review Continuous Deployment Development Team Review 161

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

I thought Id share a little bit of that, too: I’ve been interested in different approaches to software development going back to 1987 when – in my first company Feld Technologies – my partner Dave Jilk and I started talking about “semi-custom software development&# (way ahead of its time).

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Its inspired by the classic OODA Loop and is really just a simplified version of that concept, applied specifically to creating a software product development team. Were a software company, so what we do everyday is turn ideas into code. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 142

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 142

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, September 2, 2008 On deployment My favorite question to ask a software development team is "how do you do a release." How long does the software sit un-deployed? The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? How fast do they iterate?

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 60

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 9, 2009

The Lean Startup is a practical approach for creating and managing a new breed of company that excels in low-cost experimentation, rapid iteration, and true customer insight. It uses principles of agile software development, open source and web 2.0, Labels: events 2comments: Andrew Meyer said. Expo (and a call for he.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Web Advisory Board 68

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. New approaches to translational medicine have emerged. But a new class of life science/healthcare co-working and collaboration space is another.

San Diego 265

San Diego North Carolina Chicago Lean 265

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

This was a modern city in a hurry to make a first impression – think of what Rome looked like in the time of the empire or New York in the 1920’s – now it’s Beijing announcing that China has arrived. Startups here are primarily in what they call the TMT (Technology, Media and Telecommunications) segment.

Silicon Valley 164

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 164

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

I am convinced one of Joel Spolskys lasting contributions to the field of managing software teams will turn out to be the Joel Test , a checklist of 12 essential practices that you could use to rate the effectiveness of a software product development team. Now lets take a look at some new questions: Do you work in small batches?

Software Review 144

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 144

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 289

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 289

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 27, 2009

Im going to be speaking on June 3rd at an event sponsored by the Technology Entrepreneurs Exchange (TeXchange), "the premier networking organization in Texas for business executives and entrepreneurs to meet, exchange ideas and share experiences." It uses principles of agile software development, open source and web 2.0,

Lean 60

Lean Austin San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 1, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 1, 2008 Test-Driven Development as andon cord You cannot control what you cannot see, and the hardest part of managing software projects is that the final product is so intangible. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Developer Continuous Deployment DC 68

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. Five Reasons You Haven’t Launched - Software By Rob , November 10, 2010 Photo by stevendepolo. have focused this as advice to entrepreneurs building enterprise software ventures today. This post is an accusation.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

They just assumed it was the way software companies worked. Unfortunately, threats work a lot better at incentivizing people to CYA than getting them to write quality software. When I first encountered agile software techniques, in the form of extreme programming , I thought I had found the answer. Sound good? It didnt work.

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

His post is ostensibly about how often to release new work (whether youre a blog writer, movie star, software team.) I’ve been in the software industry for a long time. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? That’s all fine and dandy.

San Francisco 76

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 76

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

My son is planning a software product that will take the mystery out of wikis and make the technology easier for consumers to use. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? I just emailed your article to him and recommended that he take your advice to heart.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Tampa Continuous Deployment Lean 60

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

The other revels in the world as we all know it will be someday: limitless distribution enabled by new technologies, the importance of collaborative filters, and on-demand availability of all content for end-users. Or follow all of the New York Times columnists equally? There are too many products clamoring for attention.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2009

That data is completely consonant with the people I know who are successful technologists today, and similar patterns are documented in each recent wave of technology innovation. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Its this second point I want to emphasize.

Programming 143

Programming San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 143

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? incubators, e.g., the many options in New York. intrapreneurs, e.g., the employee of GE who is tasked with launching a new business.

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

Its enourmously helpful when you need to generate new ideas about what to do, or when you face a product problem you dont know how to solve. For example, we used to be baffled at IMVU by the significant minority of people who would download the software but never chat with anyone. So why you? Seth Godin: How often should you publish?

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 133

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

As one engineer recently told me, “Once we had money in the bank and were near-profitable, I think we would have been well-served by increased up-front product and technology planning. Let's consider cases: Can you have a piece of software with good product design and bad technical design? He’s right. Eric, great post.

Technical Review 168

Technical Review Software Review San Francisco Lean 168

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 284

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 284

Steve Blank

APRIL 5, 2017

I was having coffee with the CEO of a new startup, listening to her puzzle through how to communicate to potential customers. She was an academic on leave from Stanford now selling SAAS software to large companies, but was being inundated with marketing communications advice. “My Filed under: Customer Development , Marketing.

Marketing 316

Marketing Audience Technical Review PR 316

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, February 11, 2009 The free software hiring advantage This is one of those startup tips Im a little reluctant to share, because its been such a powerful source of competitive advantage in the companies Ive worked with. Especially for a startup, not taking maximum advantage of free software is crazy.

Software Review 68

Software Review Software Hiring San Francisco 68

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 176

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 176

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

We now have the tools, technology and data to take incubators and accelerators to the next level. ————– We’ve spent the last 3 years building a methodology, classes, an accelerator and software tools and we’ve tested them on ~500 startups teams. We think we can do better. Some background.

Oakland 329

Oakland Incubator Lean Metrics 329

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

Each company would enroll two leaders in the series, one on the technology side, one on the business side. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and what. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

Lean 102

Lean Programming San Francisco Continuous Deployment 102

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 3, 2009

Refreshing to finally see lean and agile thinking emerge in product/business-floors and not only in technology. Critical also, as the lean company/start-up can not be lean by just using lean principles in IT and not in Product Development/Management - a common misinterpretation of the Toyota Production System.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco Product Lean Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 20, 2009

Heres the excerpt: Today’s high-tech entrepreneurs have at their command more than just the ability to invent new technologies — they have mastered the discipline and the methodology required to harness those technologies in order to serve customers. Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and what.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 11, 2008

Its an academic treatise that tries to answer a seemingly straightforward question: after World War II, why did Silicon Valley become the undisputed leader of the technology world, while Bostons Route 128 corridor did not. Worldwide developments based on this research led to modern radio communication, television, and the electronics age.

Silicon Valley 68

Silicon Valley San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 68