Steve Blank

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How To Find the Right Co-Founders?

Steve Blank

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? “After reading your post on Why Founders Should Know How to Code it looks like web/mobile startups have it easy. Trying to figure out what the right set of co-founders isn’t so clear. Are We Missing A Founder?

Cofounder 335
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Ardent War Story 5: The Best Marketers Are Engineers

Steve Blank

Building an Advisory Board In my travels outside the building I kept my eyes out for articulate and visionary scientists and engineers who had expertise we lacked, and were willing to help in an advisory capacity. I chose to hire engineers from within each of our target markets and set up “Steve’s one month MBA course for engineers.”

Engineer 198
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Leadership is More Than a Memo

Steve Blank

With the reckless and naïve abandon of founders who had no clue what they were about to tackle, we had just started Ardent , a supercomputer company. Ben Wegbreit, the VP of Engineering (one of my mentors and then co-founder of Epiphany), broke his foot skiing just as the company started. Here was the day I got that lesson.

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Why good people leave large tech companies

Steve Blank

The CFO asked me to stay as one of the engineering directors came in for a meeting. The director had complained to his boss, the VP of Engineering, who admitted his hands were tied, as this was a “facilities matter,” and the VP of facilities reported to the CFO. The founders. Founders are comfortable in the chaos and disorder.

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The Secret History of Minnesota Part 1: Engineering Research Associates

Steve Blank

The story starts with a company you probably never heard of – Engineering Research Associates. While it seemed like a good idea and had the Navy’s backing, the founders got turned down for funding by companies, investment bankers and everyone, until they talked to John Parker. Why Minneapolis/St. Parker agreed to invest.

Minnesota 281
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Time For Founders School

Steve Blank

Kauffman just launched Founders School - a new education series to help entrepreneurs develop their businesses during the startup stage by highlighting how startups are different from big companies. After weeks honing the script and days of filming, I’m honored to present the “ Startups ” section of Founders School.

Founder 327
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Why the Future of Tesla May Depend on Knowing What Happened to Billy Durant

Steve Blank

If you’re following Tesla, you might be interested to know that Sloan wasn’t the founder of GM. Where are the charitable foundations, business schools, and hospitals named after the founder of GM? The founder of what became General Motors was William (Billy) Durant. And a founder of Neuralink a brain-computer interface startup.

Michigan 268