Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2016

Assume you already know what your customers need and want. Just because you love a new solution doesn’t mean your customers will love it. Before spending any money, make sure you interact directly with potential customers, industry experts and investors. Forecast revenue growth that defies business principles.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Forecast Angel Investor 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. He just hired Meg Whitman.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2012

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. The proactive solution is to hire sparingly, and spend the time and effort needed to hire existing experts in all cases.

Advisory Board 240

Advisory Board Forecast Early Stage Product Development 240

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 6, 2016

To create this first year in business checklist, I turned to our in-house experts here at Palo Alto Software: Sabrina Parsons, CEO; Noah Parsons, COO; Josh Cochrane, Vice President of Product Development; and Josh Fegles, Academic and Government Channel Sales Director, and founder of gluten-free cookie company Jude’s Foods.

Forecast 60

Forecast Software Review Lean Finance 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2011

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. The proactive solution is to hire sparingly, and spend the time and effort needed to hire existing experts in all cases.

Advisory Board 232

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 232

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 7, 2024

They promise to disrupt the industry and completely change how their clients or customers view technology, society, or a little bit of everything. During the hiring process, consider whether you can see these being the same people who will take the business to new heights. Every new startup is exciting. You want to soar.

Startup 145

Startup Forecast Social Media Cost 145

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

In this post, we’re sharing a build vs. buy framework to help you consider the opportunity costs and make an informed decision on whether to buy software off the shelf or build a custom solution. Gartner forecasts enterprise software spending will total almost $572 billion worldwide by 2022. How many people will be contributing?

Software Review 96

Software Review Technical Review Software Acquisition 96

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

A description of the problem you’re solving for your customers, and your solution to the problem, which is usually your product or service. Also, make a bullet list of the marketing activities that will drive customers to your door. If you don’t yet have a team yet, list the roles you need to hire for. The business model.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2010

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. The proactive solution is to hire sparingly, and spend the time and effort needed to hire existing experts in all cases.

Advisory Board 125

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 125

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. The meaning of alpha test , beta test, and first customer ship are pretty obvious to most engineers. For example, some startup sales execs believe hiring the core sales team is a key objective.

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Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 227

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 20, 2017

Besides the general focus on customer and product development, an entrepreneur should foresee the next moves that will serve to guide him on the right path.When an entrepreneur can forecast his next moves, even his/her employees become part of the moves the business makes. 7- Several forecasts. Thanks to Camille D.

Forecast 59

Forecast Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur SEO 59

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

When you put together a business plan, you have to spend time thinking about things like your target market , your sales, and marketing strategy , the problem you solve for your customers, and who your key competitors are. Beyond understanding your business strategy, investors will also want to understand your financial forecasts.

Business Plan 138

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Exit Strategy 138

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

The excerpts, which appeared first at Inc.com , highlight the Customer Development process, best practices, tips and instructions contained in our book. ———– Whether your venture is a new pizza parlor or the hottest new software product, beware: These nine flawed assumptions are toxic.

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Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

YoungUpstarts

MAY 16, 2018

There, he would be showered in venture capital, build a team of similarly brilliant twenty-somethings, acquire millions of customers seemingly overnight, and steer his startup to an IPO and himself to the cover of Inc magazine well before his 30th birthday. People in big companies see innovation through the lens of new product development.

Silicon Valley 157

Silicon Valley Forecast Venture Capital Business Plan 157

Up and Running

OCTOBER 8, 2015

We ended up with a product that was searching for a market instead of first spending the time to figure out who our ideal customer was and building a product specifically for them. Instead, we built a product first (that’s expensive!) Instead, do market research to get to know your customers and prospects better.

Marketing 60

Marketing Forecast CTO Hire Finder 60

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 12, 2022

It has less focus on financial forecasting and a greater focus on the big picture. They have to have some degree of faith and certainty about what customers are going to want in the future. Successful entrepreneurs do actually predict the future — they know what customers are going to want and when they’re going to want it.

Business Plan 83

Business Plan Lean Forecast Exit Strategy 83

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

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. Labels: product development 15comments: mukund said.

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. The Product Development Diagram Emerging early in the twentieth century, this product-centric model described a process that evolved in manufacturing industries.

Silicon Valley 268

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 268

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

The chicken-egg issue of getting customers to your platform while you don’t have any money to spare is a puzzle that many companies are unable to figure out at all. Selling a product is a tough process, full of “no’s,” whether they come on the phone with a prospect or as a low conversion rate on your landing page. Lean marketing.

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Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

YoungUpstarts

MAY 28, 2013

Unfortunately, it is often the case that women have to work harder to prove themselves in business, but a thorough plan which outlines your business’s mission, highlights what sets it apart from existing companies and includes a detailed financial forecast will ensure people take you seriously and prove invaluable in obtaining investment.

Entrepreneur 191

Entrepreneur America Social Media Forecast 191

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 20, 2016

enabling you to expand on an already working business model), and if you’re in the extremely early stages of building your company, you still need to develop your product. Product development. When it comes to product development and marketing in the early stages of your tech startup, funding is optional.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Startup Forecast Channel 60

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

The Embrace infant warmer was developed - by getting out of the country -- and how Rob Emrich learned and scaled his non-profit, Road of Life. BetaBrand building apparel MVPs and testing them quickly with targeted customer communities. Social entrepreneurs take note!) The result: a new idea I called The Lean Startup. It's a big tent.

Lean 167

Lean Entrepreneur Agile San Francisco 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

No matter how low we make the revenue projections for this new product, it’s extremely unlikely that they are achievable. That’s because the model is based on assumptions about customers that are totally unproven. to acquire an early adopter, how much should it cost to acquire a mainstream customer? But $10.00?

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

Because five whys kept turning up a few key metrics that were hard to set static thresholds for, we even had a dynamic prediction algorithm that would make forecasts based on past data, and fire alerts if the metric ever went out of its normal bounds. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

Software Review 167

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 6, 2011

Most of our management tools, like planning and forecasting, require a long and stable operating history. Customer data is rarely used to make decisions. And because she works with outdated tools, much of her money - not mention the time of thousands of people that money hires - is being wasted.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Metrics Private Equity 167

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 30, 2008

Get 18 months or more of cash (runway) in the business against a conservative forecast. Over-communicate with employees, investors, customers. Theres no better way to learn what customers want (or hate!). The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Use Google Apps.

Lean 121

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 121

BeyondVC

JANUARY 2, 2006

All too often we are enamored with how cool or sexy a technology is, invest lots of dollars to create that killer product, and sometimes forget that it is all about the people. In terms of bonuses, I am not a huge fan of cash bonuses for companies losing money, especially in the early stages of development.

Management 60

Management Equity Forecast Salary 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

Instead, lets focus on building companies that matter , on creating real value for customers, and learning. Talking about trends is more about trying to forecast the future, like a guru, sometimes it works, sometimes not. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94