Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2018

But that’s the conclusion of a provocative research paper, Asymmetric Information and Entrepreneurship , that explains a new theory of why some people choose to be entrepreneurs. The authors’ conclusion — Entrepreneurs think they are better than their resumes show and realize they can make more money by going it alone.

Entrepreneur 336

Entrepreneur Business Model Capital Gains Aggregator 336

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 7, 2023

But entrepreneurs entering regulated markets need to understand how the game is played, how they can play it, what their VC’s should be doing to help them, and how to win. How do you get your early customers to advocate on your behalf? Most early stage startups don’t have the regulatory domain expertise in-house.

Washington 271

Washington Government Marketing Silicon Valley 271

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2019

Urgency and risk-taking in a startup are integral parts of the culture, felt by 100 percent of early-stage employees. In a startup cluster (Silicon Valley, Beijing, Tel Aviv) a failed entrepreneur is known as “experienced.” In a government agency, they’re likely known as being out of a job.

Government 308

Government Artificial Inteligence Silicon Valley North Korea 308

Steve Blank

JULY 9, 2015

It is in need of innovation on many fronts and is also trying to embrace the amazing amount of innovation happening with early-stage companies. In working with eight early-stage companies in the last two months I have consistently asked, “What do you want from us?” This often tries the patience of entrepreneurs.

Startup 120

Startup Early Stage Azure Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.” What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? How many are there? Is there a profitable business model? Can it scale?”

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 10, 2011

I presented to 1,000’s of entrepreneurs, talked to 17 startups, gave 12 lectures, had 9 interviews, chatted with 8 VC’s, sat on 4 panels, talked policy with 2 government ministers, 2 members of parliament, 1 head of a public pension fund and was in 1 TV-documentary. Thanks to Kristo Ovaska and team for the fabulous logistics!)

Finland 324

Finland Naming Russia Government 324

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Not understanding and agreeing what “Entrepreneur&# and “Startup” mean can sink an entire country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Who’s an entrepreneur? There are six distinct organizational paths for entrepreneurs: lifestyle business , small business, scalable startup, buyable startup, large company, and social entrepreneur.

Government 335

Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

Over my career as a serial entrepreneur I observed that since the late 1990s, no early-stage Silicon Valley investor had used business plans to screen investments. I realized this class was teaching students exactly what it felt like to be an entrepreneur! Even those who asked for them never read them. And there it was.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Other Roles in a Startup Generic advice given to entrepreneurs assumes that everyone is going to be the founder/co-founder. Yet for every founder there are 10-20 other employees who take the near-equivalent risks in joining an early-stage company. This is the minimum feature set for founders. But make sure it fits who you are.

Cofounder 219

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 219

Steve Blank

JANUARY 24, 2014

Part 1: Bend, Oregon Ecosystem and Entrepreneurs. Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds. Local entrepreneurs just made it up as they went. The most fertile source of entrepreneurs is the population of existing entrepreneurial companies. Local Early-Stage Risk Capital. Next, identify your goal.

Engineer 307

Engineer Silicon Valley Oregon San Francisco 307

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Therefore when money is hard to come by, entrepreneurs (and their investors) look for ways to reduce cash burn rate and increase the chance of finding product/market fit before waste you bunch of money. The Customer Development Venture Pitch At this point I often hear entrepreneurs say, “We don’t have the money to scale.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2009

The relevant part starts about 4:30 into the video (wait for it to download.) luck… and as one of Steve Blank’s posts today mentioned, you can’t test hypotheses from within your building. luck… and as one of Steve Blank’s posts today mentioned, you can’t test hypotheses from within your building.

Customer Development 124

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 124

Steve Blank

AUGUST 8, 2016

Values – who and what founders and customers hold dear – were the focus on today’s Entrepreneurs are Everywhere radio show. The program examines the DNA of entrepreneurs: what makes them tick, how they came up with their ideas; and explores the habits that make them successful, and the highs and lows that pushed them forward.

Cofounder 145

Cofounder New York City Entrepreneur New York 145

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2015

I spoke with Steve about innovation in the movie industry, and to Venk about his journey from bureaucrat in India to entrepreneur here in the U.S., and his work helping other Indian entrepreneurs through TiE, the Indus Entrepreneur network. Part 2, this post is my interview with Steve Weinstein and Venk Shukla.

Channel 120

Channel India Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

After I retired, I began teaching Customer Development , a theory of how to reduce early stage risk in entrepreneurial ventures. As a pun on my last company as an entrepreneur, E.piphany, I called the book The Four Steps to the Epiphany. Lies Entrepreneurs Tell Themselves……… 121.

Silicon Valley 202

Silicon Valley Customer Development IP Developer 202

Steve Blank

MARCH 1, 2016

What it was like to get out of the research lab to build a startup was the focus of interviews with two of the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern). I’ve made some mistakes that are inadvertent but that needed to be undone.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Michigan Detroit 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 8, 2016

Values – who and what founders and customers hold dear – were the focus on today’s Entrepreneurs are Everywhere radio show. The program examines the DNA of entrepreneurs: what makes them tick, how they came up with their ideas; and explores the habits that make them successful, and the highs and lows that pushed them forward.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder New York City Entrepreneur New York 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

Filed under: SuperMac | Tagged: Early Stage Startup , Steve Blank « There’s a Pattern Here SuperMac War Story 2: Facts Exist Outside the Building, Opinions Reside Within – So Get the Hell Outside the Building » Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply. Nothing I couldn’t fix. I took the job.

Silicon Valley 146

Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review RSS 146

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 30, 2015

That was the message from the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on Sirius XM Channel 111. David Lerner is an entrepreneur, angel investor and director of entrepreneurship at Columbia University. Entrepreneurs are Everywhere airs Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern on Sirius XM Channel 111.

Artificial Inteligence 120

Artificial Inteligence Entrepreneur Silicon Valley New York 120

Steve Blank

JANUARY 20, 2014

Part 1: Bend, Oregon Ecosystem and Entrepreneurs. Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds. So what types of entrepreneurs and startups exist in Bend? There are retired Fortune 500 CEOs, senior execs from Valley startups and public companies as well as successful entrepreneurs who exited their companies.

Silicon Valley 312

Silicon Valley Oregon Lean Venture Capital 312

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

In the last five years “ Lean Startup ” methodologies have enabled entrepreneurs to efficiently build a startup by searching for product/market fit rather than blindly trying to execute. Horizon 3 is where companies put their crazy entrepreneurs. I’ve been working with large companies and the U.S. A 50x speedup kind of fast.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Steve Blank

JANUARY 29, 2016

These topics were the focus of interviews with the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern). I held onto that (maxim) from an early stage, and it worked well for me. If you can’t hear the clip, click here.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Monaco San Francisco Cofounder 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

Filed under: Customer Development , Technology | Tagged: Customer Development , Early Stage Startup , Entrepreneurs , Startups , Steve Blank « SuperMac War Story 6: Building The Killer Team – Mission, Intent and Values Story Behind “The Secret History” Part IV: Library Hours at an Undisclosed Location » 17 Responses Michael F.

Silicon Valley 300

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 300

Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

The implications for entrepreneurs is that each of these (market risk versus invention risk,) require radically different financing models, a different type of venture investor, different timing for hiring sales and marketing, etc. are much softer and much, much harder to measure (or believe) in a very early stage startup.

Vertical 144

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 144

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

I am a young entrepreneur here, absolutely dying to hear the talk. Reply Dan Hodgins , on November 13, 2009 at 1:12 am Said: Hi Steve, Just listened to your “Retooling Early Stage Development&# for about the 10th time tonight as I was cleaning my room. This is my new favorite post on your blog.

Venture Capital 209

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 209

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 30, 2014

The class provides Life Science/Health Care entrepreneurs with real world, hands-on learning on how to rapidly : define clinical utility before spending millions of dollars. And probably the most important will be the Lean LaunchPad @ Life Science Angels class for early stage life science companies.

San Diego 261

San Diego North Carolina Chicago Lean 261

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

However, as hard as I emphasize this point to aspiring entrepreneurs every year I usually get a call or email from a past student asking me to introduce them to my favorite VC’s. Interestingly this response almost always comes from first time entrepreneurs. I’m going to go do that Customer Development stuff after we raise money.”

Silicon Valley 179

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 179

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 17, 2016

How this research is transferred outside the university, and why this “tech transfer” process is important was the focus of an interview with two of the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern).

Government 120

Government Entrepreneur Intellectual Property Silicon Valley 120

Steve Blank

JULY 2, 2009

Entrepreneur-in-Residence After SuperMac I had been approached by one of our venture investors to be an entrepreneur in residence (EIR), a Silicon Valley phrase which says one thing but means another. I offered to introduce him to the firm whose Entrepreneur-in-Residence offer I had just accepted.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

The same issues arose time and again: big company management styles versus entrepreneurs wanting to shoot from the hip, founders versus professional managers, engineering versus marketing, marketing versus sales, missed schedule issues, sales missing the plan, running out of money, raising new money.

Silicon Valley 125

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 125

Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

His point was that it was in the VC’s interest in having entrepreneurs swing for the fences. However the VC’s are managing a portfolio while you, the entrepreneur are managing one company – yours. The entrepreneur might be very happy with a modest outcome where the VC is more incented to swing for the fences or fail.

Silicon Valley 207

Silicon Valley RSS Video San Diego 207

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2021

Having just retired from a career as an entrepreneur I had started thinking about why startups were different from large companies. Paradoxically, resource limitations are the secret to success; they teach lessons that experienced entrepreneurs have harnessed. I was hiking with my kids between the Yosemite High Sierra camps.

Product 436

Product Viral Channel San Francisco 436

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

For many entrepreneurs “raising money” has replaced “building a sustainable business” as their goal. Entrepreneurs need to think about 1) when to raise money, 2) why to raise money and 3) who to take money from, 4) the consequences of raising money. Not all that glitters is gold. William Shakespeare. That’s a big mistake.

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

A few weeks before the Stanford class began, the teaching team went through their Rolodexes and invited entrepreneurs and VCs to volunteer as coaches/mentors for the class’s teams. It will be an improvement over mammography by detecting abnormal cells in an early stage, is radiation-free, and is 2-5 times less expensive than mammographs.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 21, 2018

Anything about the Lean LaunchPad class or just being an entrepreneur in general prepare you for pitching on Shark Tank? Also, as an entrepreneur, you have to fight every single day. W hat were the biggest learnings in your first 3, 6, 12, 24 months as an entrepreneur ? SHARK TANK – Coverage.

Lean 175

Lean Early Stage Customer Distribution 175

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

In exchange, these VCs/companies get early looks at new deal flow and offer aspiring entrepreneurs feedback and advice on their business plan. These competitions started in the early 1980 ‘s at the University of Texas and have sprouted like mushrooms in the last 10 years.

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

Yet even with all these tools, early stage startups still need to physically meet with advisors and investors. We propose that early stage startups communicate in a way that didn’t exist in the 20 th century – online – collaboratively through blogs. That’s great if you can get it.

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281