Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup.

Silicon Valley 260

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 260

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2011

million and you’re an early stage business this is probably a fair deal. When competitors raise money and you don’t the following happens (assuming all else equal on product development, which I know is not always the case): they have a PR advantage both in terms of perceived momentum and also money to spend on it.

Pre-Money Valuation 303

Pre-Money Valuation Dilution Valuation PR 303

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

This is true for early stage funding as well as venture capital funding. Furthermore, when faced with adversity only great teams can respond to competitors, markets, funding environments, staff departures, PR disasters and the like. Early Stage. Hire based on functionality and avoid having too many C’s.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? Announce a new product, start its PR campaign, and engage in buzz marketing activities. Do some Customer Development instead. Help you raise money.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco Lean PR Early Stage 168

ConversionXL

JUNE 25, 2021

Your brand (and product) should be easily recognizable no matter the channel you’re promoting it on. Done right, your PR campaign should incentivize media outlets to pick it up. It’s common for new products or early-stage startups to lack sufficient quantitative data to see meaningful themes or patterns.

Product 96

Product Social Media Audience Software Review 96

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 17, 2010

Three premier early-stage venture investors have joined forces to sponsor the event: Baseline , Floodgate , and First Round Capital. Three premier early-stage venture investors have joined forces to sponsor the event: Baseline , Floodgate , and First Round Capital.

San Francisco 107

San Francisco South Africa Cleveland Romania 107

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

He should then bootstrap his product development by using the consulting fees. I asked her not to spray and pray, and focus on her core, differentiated products - stretch mark and c-section mark removal creams for new mothers. Through SEO and mommy blog PR, Lee can tap into this market. This is her core market.

Bootstrapping 114

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley 114

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

In a startup, these channels of communication are critical to understand for advertising, launch and PR purposes. If they are willing to pay big bucks, for example, to attend a conference on a certain topic, that bodes well for your ability to sell them a product related to that topic. It also gives you insight into their language.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 24, 2009

I liked the flattering Venture Hacks commentary so much Ill just quote it: Many founders believe that early stage startups are endeavors of execution. The customer is known, the product is known, and all we have to do is act. He believes that many early stage startups are labors of learning.

Lean 74

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 74

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Another great way to test your idea is to create a minimum viable product, or MVP. This is the simplest version of your product minus the frills and frosting. It’s a particularly popular strategy in the world of product development and is used to quickly and quantitatively test a product or a product feature.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

He should then bootstrap his product development by using the consulting fees. I asked her not to spray and pray, and focus on her core, differentiated products - stretch mark and c-section mark removal creams for new mothers. Through SEO and mommy blog PR, Lee can tap into this market. This is her core market.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

He should then bootstrap his product development by using the consulting fees. I asked her not to spray and pray, and focus on her core, differentiated products - stretch mark and c-section mark removal creams for new mothers. Through SEO and mommy blog PR, Lee can tap into this market. This is her core market.

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

And no matter what the latest trends indicate, you will eventually have to spend money on PR and marketing. No doubt early-stage companies can be started on a shoestring by low-paid entrepreneurs, but when financing a scalable, sustainable product, a free application server won’t make much of a difference.

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

We were focused on revenue, but we didnt understand that revenue is not important for its own sake in an early stage company. We go to mixers, buy fancy offices, focus on PR, and try to one-up each other. (You can even see the humiliating evidence of my smug incompetence in this absurd article from 1999.) I think its wasteful.

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94

Steve Blank

MAY 4, 2009

Every marketing communication hire couldn’t wait to produce the next great ad or PR program. Every product marketer thought they should help define the product feature set, etc. In an early stage startup, instead of sales being up front, the point departments are likely to be product development and customer development.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley RSS Non-Compete California 126

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

So for this first post, here’s the best advice I can give you: join an awesome founding team and get your product out the door ASAP. One of the things I do as a founder of a later stage startup is to meet with early stage entrepreneurs to help them get their companies going. Love the guest post TechCrunch!

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Hearpreneur

JULY 10, 2017

Prior to starting Ozmo both Ming and I worked in a design house creating new and better products. Throughout my five years of experience in product development, I realized that most of product launch failure could have been avoided by getting the product right earlier on, or understanding the limit of the maker.

Entrepreneur 100

Entrepreneur Hungary Software Review Cofounder 100