Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

It has replaced how to write a business plan with hands-on Lean Startup methods. 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. That has changed in the last few years. Today the U.C. Seeing Is Believing.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

David Teten

DECEMBER 16, 2015

I review a lot of board decks with a beautifully hand-crafted page with metrics for the company. Good metrics are comparable across industries; comparative ; readily understandable; and help drive decisions. Comparative means that you can compare a metric across time periods, groups of users, or competitors. So how do you do it?

Metrics 60

Metrics Analytics Balance Sheet .Net 60

SVPG

OCTOBER 13, 2011

A while ago I posted an article on people that I think have something really valuable to say to product leaders. I also promised that I’d share a glossary to map the nomenclature and concepts he uses with the terminology I use in my writing and my work with product teams.

Lean 63

Lean Stealth Portfolio Engineer 63

SoCal CTO

MARCH 1, 2010

Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition | For Entrepreneurs , February 2, 2010 Looks at the critical equation around customer acquisition cost vs. customer lifetime value similar to what I discussed in Startup Metrics but in more depth. Great stuff. This post looks at the implementation details of HTML 5 video.

Acquisition 150

Acquisition Cofounder Technical Cofounder Cost 150

Occam's Razor

APRIL 8, 2013

To win in business you need to follow this process: Metrics > Hypothesis > Experiment > Act. We are far too enamored with data collection and reporting the standard metrics we love because others love them because someone else said they were nice so many years ago. This should not be news to you. Online, offline or nonline.

Metrics 156

Metrics Analytics Lean Churn Rate 156

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, July 30, 2009 Techstars brings The Lean Startup to Boulder Im very excited to announce a pair of events that will kick off a very busy fall speaking tour. The event will include a talk from Eric on The Lean Startup over dinner, followed by moderated table discussion and then final Q&A with Eric.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

What metrics do we use to see if we learned enough in Customer Discovery ? And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?” I gave my boilerplate answer, “I’m a product guy and I tend to invest and look at deals that have measurable revenue metrics. Don’t launch.

Customer Development 223

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 223

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021

We back very early stage companies and work alongside executive teams as their build their teams, launch their products, announce their companies and raise their first downstream capital rounds. The biggest change for us in early-stage investing is that we now need to commit earlier.

Pre-Money Valuation 471

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Venture Capital Early Stage 471

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, June 9, 2009 The Lean Startup Tokyo edition I had a blast speaking at Startonomics Tokyo , which was organized to foster ties between the startup cultures in Japan and Silicon Valley. benjaminjoffe : early adopters of buggy product are visionary customers, sometimes smarter than founders!

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Japan Continuous Deployment 60

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 8, 2009

A post by Fred Wilson pointed me to Dave McClure's Startup Metrics presentation. This is a great presentation and one that I'm going to point out to startup / early stage company CEOs. Define what you need from a metrics and reporting standpoint. You only build what you need to prove that model. Great stuff.

Metrics 225

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 225

The Next Web

DECEMBER 4, 2013

Along with building a product and a company, you need to build social momentum and buzz. Metrics on keywords, follower profiles and competitors all help define your target listener. As a startup, you’re working with limited resources and a lean business model. Product and culture . Startup Example: Zappos.

Social Media 158

Social Media Media Viral Startup 158

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 23, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. Analytics spark more questions and discussion than almost any other aspect of the Lean Startup method. Alistair and Ben, co-authors of the book Lean Analytics, will help you sort it out in our next webcast, Lean Analytics for Non-tech Companies.

Analytics 167

Analytics Lean Widget Metrics 167

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

The companies I spoke to all agreed that the community there was extremely supportive, especially in the critical ulta-early-stage. Then, create an encouraging environment for early-stage companies. Provide early seed capital, and be the ones to make those introductions. And do your customer development.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Continuous Deployment 113

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue? But all things are never equal.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Feld Thoughts

NOVEMBER 18, 2013

Following is his advice to early stage entrepreneurs for creating structure in their company. So, I’ll explain my reasoning through the story of ASC, a fictitious company that has a combination of characteristics I’ve seen across a number of early stage companies. It’s too early for that s**t.

Burn Rate 152

Burn Rate Equity Software Review Early Stage 152

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Another advantage of the early stages is that most dont have to juggle too many competing priorities. If you dont have customers, a product, investors, or a board of directors, you can pretty much stay focused on just one thing at a time. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 88

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 17, 2012

This post was co-written by Eric Ries and Sarah Milstein, co-hosts of The Lean Startup Conference. Ever since Eric announced Patrick and Brant's new book The Lean Entrepreneur (with illustrations by FAKEGRIMLOCK ), we've been excited to be part of the book launch. What aspect of Lean Startup methods most inspires you?

Lean 141

Lean Entrepreneur Early Stage Metrics 141

Mucker Lab

OCTOBER 12, 2016

Financially, they have to reserve capital to support large portfolio companies that account for big portions of the portfolio and thus make less early stage investment. As a result, when the public markets turn south in general or in a specific category , early stage entrepreneurs feel the impact almost immediately.

Harvest 60

Harvest Vertical IPO Early Stage 60

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2018

Today, I want to introduce a new approach to business planning: Lean Planning. Lean Planning replaces lengthy business plans with a 20-minute planning process that focuses on increasing your chances of success in business. Lean Planning is simpler and faster than writing a traditional business plan. Step 1: Create a Lean Plan.

Lean 134

Lean Forecast Software Review Business Plan 134

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

One of the topics that raised heated debate was whether I had conflated technical design with product design , because I made the admittedly counter-intuitive claim that sometimes good technical design actually leads to increased technical debt. The argument itself got me thinking a lot about design and its role in building products.

Software Review 87

Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

In the very early days, the trick is to find anyone at all who can understand you when you are talking about your product. In our first year at IMVU, we thought we were building a 3D avatar chat product. As product people, we thought of competition in terms of features. But the early customers all compared it to MySpace.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment 131

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

Sometimes an early negative result from an experiment is a harbinger of doom for that product, and means it should be abandoned. She has a separate team, with its own culture and office, and a mandate straight from top management to innovate without regard to the company’s historic products, channels, or supply chain.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Up and Running

JULY 14, 2015

An early stage startup will want to access funds to help further validate its business proposition. Any investor will put their valuation on your business based on a number of factors, including looking at important metrics for your business, patents, or assets. Operating lean should be the mantra of all businesses.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Valuation Due Diligence Finder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

For the rest of us, there is an alternative: to create credibility by building a lean startup. At IMVU, we were terrified by how early we shipped (and charged for) our first product. The core of the article is my first attempt to articulate the key metrics (in graph form) that I believe demonstrate customer value.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Tampa Continuous Deployment Lean 60

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

Investors sitting through Incubator or Accelerator demo days have three metrics to judge fledgling startups – 1) great looking product demos, 2) compelling PowerPoint slides, and 3) a world-class team. Other than “I’ll know it when I see it”, there’s no formal way for an investor to assess project maturity or quantify risks.

Sacramento 308

Sacramento Framework Customer Development Lean 308

Up and Running

FEBRUARY 10, 2021

Investors, particularly those investing in early-stage startups, want to understand your vision. Product/market fit and traction. If you have “traction” in the form of early sales and customers, that’s even better. Executive summary and/or Lean Plan. A vision for the future. Investors want more than just an idea.

Business Plan 138

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Exit Strategy 138

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Every product ultimately is satisfying a need in the customers who buy it or use it. Products that dont solve satisfy any need for any customers tend to die out quickly. The more painful curse for startups is the product that satisfies a need or solves a problem - but that problem is not very important. Thats an early adopter.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

Certain VC’s like the new class of Super-Angels and small VC funds specialize in the early stage of a startup where you are searching for a business model. And some larger funds that specialize in later stage deals may have a partner or two who likes to invest at this stage. Lean Startups ?

Founder 231

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 231

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Each team of three to five students is being asked not only to become an expert on these complex topics in 10 short weeks, but also to learn and apply Lean LaunchPad methodology to put forth a solution. Some teams have produced surprising and delightful minimum viable products (MVPs) — one is a simple T-shirt, another is an app.

Eritrea 255

Eritrea Lean Libya Silicon Valley 255

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 7, 2016

Each team of three to five students is being asked not only to become an expert on these complex topics in 10 short weeks, but also to learn and apply Lean LaunchPad methodology to put forth a solution. Some teams have produced surprising and delightful minimum viable products (MVPs) — one is a simple T-shirt, another is an app.

Eritrea 255

Eritrea Lean Libya Silicon Valley 255

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

If you’re building a startup, you’re likely to be in one of these two situations: Launching and selling a new product that nobody’s ever heard about, and probably don’t even know they need, or… Improving an existing product or service, which means that you’re going head on against someone with more traction, people, and money than you.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 4, 2013

Isn’t the fun of a company to build a product you know the world needs, even if (especially if!) That’s the culmination of everyone else’s product ideas, a design-by-committee which we all know typically leads to s**t. I love the Lean Startup movement because it demands introspection and honors data.

Marketing 259

Marketing Early Stage Lean Metrics 259

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 20, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, August 20, 2009 The Promise of the Lean Startup Im honored to have a guest post on GigaOm to introduce the concept of the lean startup to their audience. The ultimate goal of a lean startup is to identify where its vision intersects with what reality can accommodate.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 68

Ben's Blog

MAY 15, 2020

In normal times, every company operates against some hypothetical growth model—a data-driven framework that describes how your product grows and how you acquire new users. In normal times, every company operates against some hypothetical growth model—a data-driven framework that describes how your product grows and how you acquire new users.

Founder 36

Founder Conversion Technical Review Cash Position 36

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 12, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, June 12, 2009 Lean Startup Workshop scholarship program I havent had much time to write lately, and so havent been able to share much about the Lean Startup Workshop series I have been producing with OReilly in their Master Class division. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

Lean 60

Lean Programming San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 24, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, February 24, 2009 The lean startup at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Image by Jessica_Mah via Flickr Last week I had the opportunity to lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at Haas, which is always a great learning experience - for me at least! Eric takes a different approach.

Lean 74

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 74

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 29, 2013

Guest post by Lisa Regan, writer for The Lean Startup Conference. Last week, we hosted a webcast conversation, Lean Startup for Growing Companies , with Eric Ries, Wyatt Jenkins of Shutterstock, and Ari Gesher of Palantir. Wyatt and Ari will both be speaking at The Lean Startup Conference in December.

Lean 167

Lean Hiring Metrics Conversion 167