Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

Steve,&# he said, “you’re missing the most interesting part of vertical markets. Markets with Invention Risk are those where it’s questionable whether the technology can ever be made to work – but if it does customers will beat a path to the company’s door. are much more differentiating than technology.

Vertical 144

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 144

VC Cafe

JUNE 30, 2022

I covered various definitions previously on VC Cafe in “ A very short peek into the Metaverse “ The term metaverse doesn’t describe one specific technology, but rather the way we interact with technology. I love landscapes as they help organise the categories needed to define the vertical.

Cloud 200

Cloud Venture Capital Cofounder Non-Compete 200

VC Cafe

JANUARY 29, 2024

It’s easy to find bad news about venture capital these days. In other words, the venture capital bust has only just started. 2023 was a rough year for Venture Capital and for startups, and it might get even worse. Global venture funding fell 42% year over years to $248.8

Generative AI 171

Generative AI Global Venture Capital Valuation 171

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

Verticals Are Different I began to realize that entrepreneurs (and their professors) act like every vertical market and industry has the same set of rules. So the first heuristic is: do not assume the startup rules are the same for all vertical markets. Just for discussion, the markets I chose were: Web 2.0,

Vertical 149

Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 149

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

V: Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? VI: Revenue-based financing: The next step for private equity and early-stage investment. GCVF is pioneering the future of venture capital and high growth startups for all small communities.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

In the Early Days. When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. The functions of an early-stage board are pretty obvious and well understood: Providing introductions to customers, biz dev partners, recruits, the press, other investors, etc.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Twenty eight years ago I was the bright, young, eager product marketing manager called out to the field to support sales by explaining the technical details of Convergent Technologies products to potential customers. Convergent Technologies was one of those OEM suppliers. Their engineers hated us.

Technology 138

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 138

Austin Startup

JUNE 27, 2017

Austin-Based Venture Capital Firms There are a eleven venture capital firms based in Austin that are actively investing today, six of which are first funds. VC Firms Actively investing in Austin Companies Finally, there are a group of venture capital firms that are not based in Austin that are active investors here.

Venture Capital 54

Venture Capital Austin Texas Private Equity 54

Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

Now with a new infusion of $8 million dollars of venture capital, SuperMac had been resurrected from the dead and was attempting to restart. Yet two smart VC firms, Sigma and Matrix Partners, realized that somewhere in this mess there was value. Their guess was that they would find value in the high margin graphics business.

Silicon Valley 146

Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review RSS 146

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. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Knowing this venture firms have come up with a canonical checklist of what they would like to see.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) I see a lot of early-stage entrepreneurs waste too much time chasing money rather than figuring this out first.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Austin Startup

MARCH 7, 2018

Pierce Burnette knows the meaning of “humble beginnings” and has combined her intelligence quotient (IQ), emotional intelligence (EQ), entrepreneurial spirit, and technical knowledge to forge successful careers in engineering, information technology, and education. She is committed to improving representation in Austin’s technology landscape.

Technical Cofounder 48

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 48

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Yet for every founder there are 10-20 other employees who take the near-equivalent risks in joining an early-stage company. If you’re not a founder (by choice, timing or temperament,) you may be an early employee or a later stage startup employee. This means you still need to have a resilient personality, and be agile.

Cofounder 219

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 219

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Was this a lost decade for venture capital? Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. For context, seed-stage pre-money valuations are up 24% from H1 2020 to H1 2021. Early-stage valuations are up 70%, and late-stage valuations are up 103% (source Pitchbook ).

Valuation 319

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 319

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

I was consulting for the two venture capital firms who between them put $12 million into my last failed startup. (My Yet when I talked to my venture capital friends, they said, “Well, that’s just how startups work. My mother kept asking if they were going to make me pay the money back.

Silicon Valley 125

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 125

VC Cafe

JULY 7, 2023

To put things in context, global venture funding in Q2 2023 reached $65 billion, an 18% decline quarter over quarter, and a 49% drop compared to the second quarter of 2022, when startup investors spent $127 billion, according to Crunchbase. I tried to consolidate my thoughts as well as other perspectives from leading venture capital funds.

Generative AI 88

Generative AI ChatGPT Startup 88

David Teten

NOVEMBER 30, 2020

Many Israeli companies build technologies which could be very valuable to the broader Middle East region, particularly in water tech, agriculture technology, and cybersecurity. I also suggest look at the UAE-Israel Technology & Finance Community/Mailing List. I thought others might be interested in my list. Apply here.

UAE 60

UAE United Arab Emirates Technology 60

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Was this a lost decade for venture capital? Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. For context, seed-stage pre-money valuations are up 24% from H1 2020 to H1 2021. Early-stage valuations are up 70%, and late-stage valuations are up 103% (source Pitchbook ).

Valuation 295

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 295

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2009

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

JULY 2, 2009

To an entrepreneur, being asked to join a venture firm with an Entrepreneur-in-Residence title means you have been tapped on the shoulder by the VC gods. As Peter began to speak extemporaneously our mouths slowly fell open as he described the video game market, its size, its demographics, the state of the technology, and the state of games.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 120

VC Cafe

JUNE 19, 2020

This is a good time as ever to examine whether financial focus is now shifting towards Impact as an opportunity for companies, and how technologies that intentionally tackle social and environmental issues are becoming business models with strong returns. Tech best sub sectors include cloud computing, machine learning/A.I. and big data.

Venture Capital 174

Venture Capital Global South Africa 174

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

JUNE 3, 2009

Simulation to Reduce Invention Risk If you’re in a vertical where “invention risk” is dominant, then you want to do everything you can to manage and reduce those risks. When I wrote the Four Steps to the Epiphany , the Customer Development text, I hadn’t yet thought about what vertical markets it might be appropriate for.)

Vertical 128

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing RSS 128

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

Customer Development/Lean Startups In hindsight startups and the venture capital community left out the most important first step any startup ought to be doing – hypothesis testing in front of customers- from day one. Since I wasn’t an engineer, my contribution was around the team-building and fund raising. I was an idiot.

Silicon Valley 179

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 179

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

I finally understood how valuable these contests can be for students in cities or countries without a venture capital or entrepreneurial infrastructure. MootCorp in particular has an impressive track record of putting early stage tech companies on the right path towards funding. to compete. You’ll learn a lot.

Business Plan 140

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 140

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 17, 2018

We invest in the early stages of company creation , leading or participating in pre-seed and seed-rounds with cheque sizes between $500K and $750K. And we also look at companies that are creating the best product for a specific vertical – including bio/healthcare and other emerging tech. About Fund III.

Silicon Valley 127

Silicon Valley North America San Francisco LP 127

VC Cafe

DECEMBER 1, 2022

Like any new and emerging technology, the Metaverse has faced its share of challenges and criticisms. Layoffs, technology difficulties and expensive hardware didn’t massively help build a positive story. Like any new and emerging technology, the Metaverse has faced its share of challenges and criticisms.

Generative AI 88

Generative AI Vertical Early Stage PR 88

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 14, 2021

Was this a lost decade for venture capital? Both early- and late-stage startup valuations are currently elevated. For context, seed-stage pre-money valuations are up 24% from H1 2020 to H1 2021. Early-stage valuations are up 70%, and late-stage valuations are up 103% (source Pitchbook ).

Valuation 156

Valuation Pre-Money Valuation Distribution Early Stage 156

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times Ardent would be my third technology company as a VP of Marketing (Convergent Technologies and MIPS Computers were the other two.) It was my ex boss from Convergent Technologies, “Steve we’ve all just resigned from Convergent and we’re starting a new company.

North Carolina 125

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 125

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

I think Customer Development (iterative model) helps by putting a strong thought in the mind (at a very early stage) that you could be wrong unless the customer agrees; this helps the mind to be more receptive.

Customer Development 224

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 224

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 6, 2011

This curriculum is based on the various questions entrepreneurs have asked me over these 64 sessions, spanning financing, positioning, customer acquisition, marketing, sales, channel, and various other early stage, startup-related issues. As usual, then, I worked with three entrepreneurs working on specific businesses. Mava Consulting.

Vertical 115

Vertical Web San Francisco Entrepreneur 115

Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

Meanwhile our company was pouring an enormous amount of dollars into building tools and video compression technology, while also hiring a lot of high-priced Hollywood talent like art directors, and script and story editors. My “Epiphany” came at some early meeting and was shown Flying Aces? Make sure they are. Universally hated.

Silicon Valley 207

Silicon Valley RSS Video San Diego 207

abovethecrowd.com

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

Opportunity for Technology to Add Value. In many marketplaces, the technology offering greatly enhances the user experience. They have overlaid this data with maps and search technology that provide remarkable richness to the home buyer. This gives you a huge head start when it comes to tipping the marketplace.

Aggregator 101

Aggregator Marketing Software Review North America 101

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 23, 2011

He was introduced through mutual friends to Highland Capital. At the time consumer internet venture capital was still suffering from the collapse of the Tech Bubble. But it was an attractive time to enter because the successful internet companies were scaling and in need of capital. Tell us more about MetaCafe? (37:00-40:30).

Vertical 265

Vertical Curation Boston Burn Rate 265

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Filed under: Customer Development , Customer Development Manifesto , Market Types « “Lessons Learned” – A New Type of Venture Capital Pitch Closure » 21 Responses Tweets that mention Times Square Strategy Session – Web Startups and Customer Development « Steve Blank -- Topsy.com , on November 16, 2009 at 7:20 am Said: [.]

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 219

Haystack

JULY 8, 2018

After reflecting on it for a day, I began to understand why — even though this topic has been written about many times, “technology” as a sector and industry now has gone from vertical to horizontal, entirely pervasive across industries, across sectors, across geographies and cultures. All of this activity is at-will.

Early Stage 95

Early Stage Dilution Private Equity Common Stock 95