Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. Startups, are not about executing a plan where the product, customers, channel are known. – not just web-based startups.

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Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Steve Blank

APRIL 22, 2010

I was catching up over coffee and a muffin with a student I hadn’t seen for years who’s now CEO of his own struggling startup. The ability to deliver a persuasive elevator pitch and follow it up with a substantive presentation is the difference between a funded entrepreneur and those having coffee complaining that they’re out of cash.

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Elevator Pitch Architecture Matching Employee 251

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. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

But Cafepress’s most memorable moment was when the founders used a “Lessons Learned” VC pitch to raise their second round of funding and got an 8-digit term sheet that same afternoon. The presentation didn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development.

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Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 209