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Leadership is More Than a Memo

Steve Blank

I just read Brotopia: Breaking Up the Boys’ Club of Silicon Valley. The book explores the role of gender in the tech industry – at startups and venture capital firms – and the interaction between men and women in the two. Yes, in the dim past of Silicon Valley the execs really wore suits.).

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Why The Government is Isn’t a Bigger Version of a Startup

Steve Blank

Indeed, Silicon Valley was born as a center for weapon systems development and its software and silicon helped end the Cold War. As there was no venture capital, these early startups were funded by early sales to weapon systems prime contractors and subcontractors.

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Early-stage Regional Venture Funds–part 2 of 3 of Bigger in Bend

Steve Blank

Dino Vendetti a VC at Bay Partners, moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. Part 2: Early-stage Regional Venture Funds. Part 3: Engineering a Regional Tech Cluster. These four developments, while important to Silicon Valley, are vital to developing regional tech clusters.

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Is Going for Rapid Growth Always Good? Aren’t Startups So Much More?

Both Sides of the Table

He also nails the reason why venture capital is still necessary to grow large businesses quickly in a world where the costs of running startups have fallen dramatically. And the wrong message is frankly strewn all over Silicon Valley. After all, growth equals high valuations and loads of venture capital!

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A Venture Capital History Perspective From Jack Tankersley

Feld Thoughts

In January, Jerry Neumann wrote a long and detailed analysis of his view of the VC industry in the 1980’s titled Heat Death: Venture Capital in the 1980’s. For example, my firm at the time, Continental Illinois Venture Corporation, the wholly owned SBIC of Chicago’s Continental Bank, had many successful investments.

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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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The Secret History of Silicon Valley Part VI: Every World War II.

Steve Blank

—————- The next piece of the Secret History of Silicon Valley puzzle came together when Tom Byers , Tina Selig and Mark Leslie invited me to teach entrepreneurship in the Stanford Technology Ventures Program ( STVP ) in Stanford’s School of Engineering. .