Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development. So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 238

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 238

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

Between January 2015 and January 2016, we grew our platform Slidebean from $1K to $20K in monthly recurring revenue. Getting the first tracks of revenue is one of the toughest processes of building a startup. 1x hacker in charge of product/development. 1x hipster working with both product and growth.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 9, 2020

Continually add new marketing and distribution partners. Resist the urge to delegate accounting decisions, under the assumption that incoming revenue takes the pressure off. Unfortunately, the challenges of scaling a business, and making it profitable, often last longer than the product development phase.

Social Media 329

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 329

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Just as Durant had multiple interests, Musk is not only Tesla’s CEO and Product Architect, overseeing all product development, engineering, and design.

Michigan 268

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 268

VC Cafe

JULY 15, 2021

According to Statista, revenue generated from apps (paid downloads and in-app advertising) will reach $935 billion by 2023, and that doesn’t doesn’t include the many trillions of dollars transacted via apps in the last decade alone (think Amazon, Uber, games, etc). Worldwide mobile app revenues in 2014 to 2023 (in billion U.S.

Mobile 190

Mobile Social Media Distribution PR 190

Up and Running

JUNE 14, 2017

Some believe in the all-in approach to product development: build an advanced app. Then, about two weeks before launch, I distributed a survey to those 256 partners. But when I ran the numbers, the revenue from just the first three months from the 150 who were interested in premium would cover the investment and more.

Technical Review 96

Technical Review Distribution Redemption Demand 96

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 7, 2019

They will initially generate crowdsourcing revenues by matchmaking science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) researchers with government, academia and industry employers who pay to access the scientists seeking employment. We will also seek first-mover STEM recruiting customers in order to generate revenues.

Intellectual Property 48

Intellectual Property Technical Review Malta Startup 48

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

On the other hand, if you arrive at a VC pitch without a comprehensive understanding of the industry you’re hoping to compete in, or without a clear path to profitability or a thoughtful product-development road map, you’ll likely leave empty-handed. You may be able to generate revenue, but VCs want exponential growth.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 118

Growthink Blog

SEPTEMBER 13, 2017

To illustrate, let’s investigate two typical company scenarios: Company Scenario #1: A company lacking great financial traction - slow revenue growth, little profit - but one that competes in an industry attractive to strategic and financial buyers. Many distribution, manufacturing, and service businesses fit this description.

Harvest 48

Harvest IP Software Review Forecast 48

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? All things being equal, of course, you’d rather have more revenue rather than less. And yet revenue alone is not a sufficient goal.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Transformify

MARCH 14, 2020

At the same time, the stock markets collapsed, and most businesses already report skyrocketing losses, unmet revenue targets and insufficient stock due to production slow down in China, India and the rest of the world. Work from home and remote work also significantly cut office costs.

Hiring 98

Hiring Bulgaria Italy Spain 98

ConversionXL

MAY 1, 2017

Reporting in the Harvard Business Review on a major study of growth stalls they conducted, Olson and his colleagues cite the case of the iconic brand Levi Strauss, which hit a historic high mark of sales in 1995, reaching revenue of $7 billion, but then, starting in 1996, saw a decline in sales so precipitous that by 2000, revenue was down to $4.6

Technical Review 127

Technical Review Algorithm Channel Analytics 127

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 26, 2022

You're likely going to be experiencing revenues in waves, owing to the pandemic booms and dips, and the varying regulations. Video marketing will also allow small businesses to distribute the same video content across many platforms, allowing them to serve a wide spectrum of clients at the same time. Photo Credit: Kevin Burke.

Software Review 120

Software Review Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur 120

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 24, 2017

We’re very new to the industry, and while we’re passionate about the product, there have been obstacles every step of the way – production, shipping, distribution, etc. But it’s rewarding to see our customers so excited about the product, and the huge growth in sales from last year has been encouraging.

Las Vegas 86

Las Vegas Entrepreneur Software Review Community 86

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

is an elegant way to model any service-oriented business: Acquisition Activation Retention Referral Revenue We used a very similar scheme at IMVU, although we werent lucky enough to have started with this framework, and so had to derive a lot of it ourselves via trial and error. The AARRR model (hence pirates, get it?)

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

This is going to be BIG.

AUGUST 22, 2012

In a way, you can think of BD as “sales when you don’t know what the product is yet.” It’s basically working with potential outside partners to reach your business goals--which could be revenue, distribution, financing, product development, awareness, etc.

PR 144

PR Technical Review Seed Stage Design 144

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

The application of agile development methodologies which dramatically reduce waste and unlock creativity in product development. See Customer Development Engineering for my first stab at articulating the theory involved) Ferocious customer-centric rapid iteration, as exemplified by the Customer Development process.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

One is explaining the world as it used to work: the importance of gatekeepers, the scarcity implied by limited distribution, and the resulting quality bar that the industry is so proud of. Mostly it is the time and expense required to create the means of distribution for that industry. It’s just taking some longer than others.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

Then they increased their revenue from $2M to $6M in six months. In this article, you’ll learn how to build a demand generation funnel that fuels the pipeline, shortens the sale cycle, and generates revenue. Your number one metric for any marketing initiative should be revenue. Like SEO, demand generation is a long game.

Demand 124

Demand B2B Distribution Channel 124

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 260

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 260

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 12, 2010

That’s because a company’s value is a composite of all of the quantitative and qualitative factors that comprise a company: revenues, expenses, risks, growth prospects, quality of the management team, competitive advantages, strength of the intellectual property, and so forth. In business, one important measure is the value of the company.

Intellectual Property 223

Intellectual Property .Net Valuation Distribution 223

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 29, 2016

Continually add new marketing and distribution partners. Resist the urge to delegate accounting decisions, under the assumption that incoming revenue takes the pressure off. Unfortunately, the challenges of scaling a business, and making it profitable, often last longer than the product development phase.

Social Media 120

Social Media Metrics Viral Channel 120

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 24, 2014

Just get it done” is fine when entrepreneurs are starting out, but not when the work is distributed to a bigger team. To help build new product development and venture teams, my colleague Rob Goldberg, of Stages of Innovation , created an assessment tool called Talent for Growth.

Startup 240

Startup Angel Investor Early Stage LLC 240

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 28, 2018

by Steve Owens, Founder and CTO of Finish Line Product Development Services. Rule #2: Revenue is your first priority. Rule #2: Revenue is your first priority. In this context, revenue can be an investment as well as sales. The technology you choose for your product will change your Go To Market strategy.

Startup 114

Startup Revenue Product Development Distribution 114

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2015

They’ve found product/market fit (what products customers want to buy). They’ve learned the best distribution channel to get the product from their company to the customer. They’ve figured out the revenue model (subscription, license, direct sale, etc.) and how to price the product.

Widget 120

Widget Lean Business Model Metrics 120

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 27, 2019

Because where is a large proportion of the revenue of coffee producers — say Starbucks, and also Red Bull — coming from? In most cases, I would venture to assert that very few boards, management groups, product development teams and analytics units in most established organizations have those discussions.

Silicon Valley 104

Silicon Valley United States Boston Cofounder 104

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 10, 2018

For manufacturers, this means having the capability to establish fully connected and digitized supply chains where product development, marketing, production, and distribution are all fully connected, thus increasing efficiency and output.

Agile 100

Agile Analytics Cloud Bankruptcy 100

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

In the Udemy course, Alistair and Ben expand these basics into a description of how to create empathy, stickiness, virality, revenue, and scale. Stickiness, Ben and Alistair say, is where people move on too quickly--they don’t make sure they really have a product that has the right features and functionality to meet their customers’ needs.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

People had a terrible experience using their product. After turning their attention toward feedback and testing, letting the voice of their customers fuel their content strategy and product development, they took off. The introductory stage is rarely profitable because of high distribution and promotion expenses but low sales.

Product 102

Product Marketing Social Media Channel 102

Growthink Blog

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Especially for technology and consumer product companies, the long pathway of research, product development, and establishing distribution mean that often years can go by in the dreaded “pre-revenue” stage. Sell Services.

SEC 78

SEC Equity Finance Product Development 78

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 14, 2015

Technologists forget that investors are buying a chunk of the business, not the product. Every solution needs a business team first who knows how to market, distribute and support the product. Investors want proof of a business model and real customer revenue, as well as a product. Do both in parallel to be timely.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Startup Angel Investor Social Media 120

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

It means relying on your own savings and revenue to operate and expand.”. Eric Ries, the founder of theleanstartup.com , states that the lean startup philosophy“provides a scientific approach to creating and managing startups and get the desired product to customers’ hands faster.”. Attract customers through content marketing.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 3, 2012

Incorporated in 1998 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, the company’s network of over 100,000 globally distributed servers provides an infrastructure layer that accelerates the distribution and delivery of content, media and applications. billion in revenue, over $1 billion in gross profit and $500 million in EBITDA. Founding Akamai.

Distribution 49

Distribution Lean Massachusetts Cofounder 49

K9 Ventures

APRIL 28, 2010

The fund focuses on investing in companies that meet the following necessary but not sufficient criteria: Technical Founders : The founding team needs to be capable of building its own product and have the technical chops to make it happen. Technical Product : The product must have some technical depth.

Seed Stage 61

Seed Stage San Francisco IP Portfolio 61

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

These are areas that may be gaps in the portfolio of large companies, and are perfect for M&A deals in three to five years after building enough validation and $10-$20 million in revenue. Raymond has built a nice business through efficient distribution deals and will do about $250,000 in revenue this year.

Bootstrapping 114

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley 114

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 1, 2017

We’re going to distribute that on a platform and we’re going to build an audience in some way and we’re going to sell our product or service, which by the way is fine. That’s great. We create four, five. It can be all of those things, right?

Cost 38

Cost Marketing Audience Media 38

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

Execution by Vertical Market As the class progressed, students asked how the activities/functions of a startup; (Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Product Development, etc.) How does product development differ in communications hardware versus enterprise software, etc. would look in each of the verticals.

Vertical 122

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 122