Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. Over its lifetime a Lean Startup may spend less money than a traditional startup.

Lean 250

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 250

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 19, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, January 19, 2009 Lean hiring tips In preparing for the strategy series panel this week, I have been doing some thinking about costs. Fundamentally, lean startups do more with less, because they systematically find and eliminate waste that slows down value creation.

Lean 140

Lean Hiring San Francisco Continuous Deployment 140

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 16, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, December 16, 2009 What is Lean about the Lean Startup? The first step in a lean transformation is learning to tell the difference between value-added activities and waste. I was giving my first-ever webcast on the lean startup. Luckily, Ive had some excellent backup.

Lean 140

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Startup 140

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 8, 2008 The lean startup Ive been thinking for some time about a term that could encapsulate trends that are changing the startup landscape. After some trial and error, Ive settled on the Lean Startup. I like the term because of two connotations: Lean in the sense of low-burn.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

I was driving home from the BIO conference in San Diego last month and had lots of time for a phone call with Dave, an ex student and now a founder who wanted to update me on his Customer Discovery progress. Customer Discovery. He worked hard to deeply understand the customer problems of these two customer segments.

Cofounder 336

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Coder 336

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 29, 2013

This post was written by Sarah Milstein, co-host of The Lean Startup Conference. We’re looking for speakers for the 2013 Lean Startup Conference. If you’re a Lean Startup veteran, feel free to skim the beginning, as this is mostly stuff you already know. Last week, we announced that our short application form was live.

Lean 165

Lean Technical Review Startup Software Review 165

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) Where Are the Customers? Product Development Diagram 1.

Customer Development 241

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 241

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

Follow lean product development strategy (MVP strategy). Lean product development strategy or MVP (Minimum Viable Product) refers to creating a product with core features and offering it to a specific audience to get feedback. Don’t hire full time, outsource your project. If possible, hire a third-party tester.

Cost 158

Cost Developer Azure Cloud 158

The Next Web

NOVEMBER 17, 2013

In order to find out, I asked a panel of 12 successful founders from the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) the following question: What are the pros/cons of hiring an agency to do development work, vs. having all your technical talent in house? Hiring an agency is usually less expensive, and you can utilize them only when there’s a problem.

Hiring 145

Hiring Developer Startup LLC 145

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 25, 2017

Along the way, you’ll also deliver higher value, delight customers, and rapidly grow your business. For instance, if you made a bad investment, you can cut your losses and walk away; if you hired the wrong employee , you can let them go; or if you created a partnership in a business you’ve come to hate, you can sell out your share.

Lean 74

Lean Technical Review Sales Cycle Sales 74

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 12, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, January 12, 2010 Amazing lean startup resources A year ago, there was no lean startup movement. I continue to believe that the explosion of interest in the lean startup has very little to do with me. If you are attempting to apply lean startup ideas in your own business - you are not alone.

Lean 146

Lean San Francisco Wiki Startup 146

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 27, 2015

Be sure your new hires have entrepreneurial DNA. Identifying and hiring entrepreneurial candidates is one of the best things you can do for your bottom line, because these individuals will be self-reliant, engaged, empowered, and innovative problem solvers. They think of everyone as a customer for them, their service, or their product.

Hiring 100

Hiring Technical Review Lean New York 100

Up and Running

JULY 31, 2015

This week Peter and Jonathan talk to Tim Berry, founder of Palo Alto Software, about lean business planning, strategy, tactics, specifics (milestones), and the forecast. Listen to Episode 9: Show notes: What is Lean Planning? Lean Business Planning by Tim Berry – (31:21). What’s the lean mean? – (:25).

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Forecast Software Review 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 4, 2011

The Stanford Lean LaunchPad class was an experiment in a new model of teaching startup entrepreneurship. This week they were testing who the customer, user, payer for the product will be (and discovering if they have a multi-sided business model , one with both buyers and sellers.) The news from customers was not good.

Customer 236

Customer Business Model Nebraska Cloud 236

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Finally, I’ll write about how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Three to six months after first customer ship, if Sales starts missing its numbers, the board gets concerned.

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 228

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. Start your lean business plan today: Download our Free Lean Plan Template one-page-pitch-download.pdf. I’m going to start with what’s a lean business plan.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 19, 2011

He is very hands-on and helpful – especially for any company looking into customer acquisition. o Early on they hired 3 people from ACT software at once (more team hiring) on staff and supplement it with Agency (in LA worked with First Communications – good). To make PR big you need to find a way to “make news”.

Acquisition 304

Acquisition Warrant Customer Term Sheet 304

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

Aaron Dignan --who has described himself as "obsessed with organizational adaptivity" --is one of the speakers at this year’s Lean Startup Conference in Las Vegas , where he’ll be talking about How to Reinvent Your Organization. The growing consent is that profit is not the be all and end all, and a lot of that is coming from customers.

Lean 83

Lean Founder Las Vegas Startup 83

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 8, 2008 What is customer development? But too often when its time to think about customers, marketing, positioning, or PR, we delegate it to "marketroids" or "suits." Many of us are not accustomed to thinking about markets or customers in a disciplined way.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2021

When we graduate, we don’t really know what a “good customer” is. For Alex at Origin , a scheduling and booking platform for outdoor guiding companies, he soon realized that for the company to grow exponentially, they’d need thousands of customers because of how fragmented the market is. Go lean with your planning.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Lean Colorado Engineer 132

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I believe it is the best introduction to Customer Development you can buy. As all of you know, Steve Blank is the progenitor of Customer Development and author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany. I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, September 7, 2008 Customer Development Engineering Yesterday, I had the opportunity to guest lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at the Berkeley-Columbia executive MBA program. Ive attempted to embed the relevant slides below. But I am confident that many of these ideas still apply.

Customer Development 131

Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 26, 2018

In our experience, structured customer development work is right up there amongst the most valuable things a founder can do in the early days of their startup. Once you have an idea that feels strong, it’s imperative to speak with customers about it. But good customer development is tough to do.

Customer 75

Customer Framework Differentiation Customer Development 75

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, November 4, 2008 Principles of Lean Startups, presentation for Maples Investments Image via Wikipedia Steve Blank and I had the opportunity to create a presentation about lean startups for Maples Investments. Customer development. you get the idea. you get the idea.

Lean 102

Lean San Francisco Agile Continuous Deployment 102

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2019

Hiring the wrong member of staff can lead to disappointed customers, a smaller profit margin and a lack of efficiency. It is, however, imperative to hire a candidate who possesses the right skills and attitude to ensure your company’s longevity. Recruitment Issues. Technology Advancement. Technology is changing rapidly.

Reputation 127

Reputation Technical Review Global Leadership 127

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

Once upon a time every great organization was a scrappy startup willing to take risks – new ideas, new methods, new customers, targets, and mission. This typically plays out in three ways: Often the first plan from leadership for innovation is hiring management consultants who bring out their 20th-century playbook.

Government 317

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 317

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

— I just watched a very smart company try to manage innovation by hiring a global consulting firm to offload engineering from “distractions.” So, in response the company had hired a global consulting firm to help solve the problem. Who are the customers? A shorter version of this post first appeared on the HBR blog.

Incubator 313

Incubator Curation Engineer Government 313

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 26, 2009 A real Customer Advisory Board A reader recently asked on a previous post about the technique of having customers periodically produce a “state of the company&# progress report. Many companies seek to involve customers directly in the creation of their products.

Advisory Board 151

Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

I was having breakfast with Radhika, an ex-grad student of mine who wanted to share her Customer Discovery progress for her consumer hardware startup. Who can I hire later? Activities define the unique expertise your company needs to deliver the value proposition, customers, channels, customer relationships and/or revenue. (If

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

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. I reminded her that all the Lean tools she learned in class–Customer Discovery, business model and value proposition canvases– contained her answer. Painful and invaluable” was her reply.

Marketing 312

Marketing Audience Technical Review PR 312

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. This approach gives you an edge in hiring. Instead, engage with the project.

Software Review 68

Software Review Software Hiring San Francisco 68

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

The final proof of a compelling technical vision is that customers were interested—the phone was always ringing. Pragmatic and Lean. They had to re-evaluate their view on their database offering—and they eventually became a huge customer. Hired the Smartest People. Hire the smartest people. What a gift!

Technical Review 334

Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review Database 334

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 6, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, July 6, 2009 Lean Startup fbFund slides and video As a follow-up to my previous post on my talk for fbFund at Facebook , there was enough interest in watching video of the talk that I have finally uploaded it using Apples MobileMe. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Expo SF (May. .

Lean 115

Lean Video San Francisco Continuous Deployment 115

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. They are gaining valuable customer data.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 6, 2013

The most common mistake startups make is assuming they can operate the same way big companies do, and expect success with little to no feedback from potential customers. A corporation like Starbucks could pick locations by throwing a dart at a map and know they’ll at least break even with a new location and mediocre customer service.

Customer Development 126

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 126

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2013

It’s been fun watching a 20th Century entrepreneur learn new tricks as he builds his next startup, FindTheBest using Lean Methodology. Lean Start-up Connection: Business Model Canvas. We assumed our customers would be any smart Internet users looking to make a decision—granted, an extremely broad customer segment.

Lean 295

Lean Agile Customer Development SEO 295

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 16, 2009 Combining agile development with customer development Today I read an excellent blog post that I just had to share. The breakthrough idea of agile is that software should be built iteratively, with the pieces that customers value most created first. Enter Jims post.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111