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Customer Development in Japan: a History Lesson

Steve Blank

The Japanese edition of The Startup Owner’s Manual hit the bookstores in Japan this week. I asked Tsutsumi-san to write a guest post for my blog to describe his experience with Customer Development in Japan. But customers didn’t agree. ————-. The Crater in my rookie days.

Japan 292
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Why The Government is Isn’t a Bigger Version of a Startup

Steve Blank

Indeed, Silicon Valley was born as a center for weapon systems development and its software and silicon helped end the Cold War. Within a decade, the rise of venture capital in Silicon Valley enabled startups to find commercial customers rather than military ones.

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Why Acceptance of Failure is Critical to Startup Success

Both Sides of the Table

I have experienced many first-time entrepreneurs with too much hubris if fund-raising came easily and press was fawning and employees joined in droves and customer adoption has been rapid. Silicon Valley itself was built on the sciences with a foundation of trial-and-error and then improving the model and trying again.

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Applying Lean Startup Beyond Silicon Valley

Startup Lessons Learned

Entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley, including those working abroad, often have to retool Lean Startup methods to apply them in places with very different business cultures. Those conversations can often circle around the difficulties of entrepreneurship outside Silicon Valley. On September 24 in the U.S.

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China Startups – The Gold Rush and Fire Extinguishers (Part 5 of 5)

Steve Blank

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. But for the last decade “innovation” in Chinese software meant something different than it did in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley has great weather and lifestyle, and nobody wants to leave.

China 323
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Learn from People, Not Classes

Reid Hoffman

The leaders and disrupters we meet in Silicon Valley and around the world are distinguished by the speed at which they zip up the learning curve. At the time, PayPal was suffering seemingly endless delays in the launch of PayPal Japan. Each week its attorneys would find new regulatory issues that prolonged the process.

Japan 78
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China Startups – The Gold Rush and Fire Extinguishers (Part 5 of 5)

Steve Blank

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. But for the last decade “innovation” in Chinese software meant something different than it did in Silicon Valley. Silicon Valley has great weather and lifestyle, and nobody wants to leave.

China 215