Steve Blank

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Why Uber is The Revenge of the Founders

Steve Blank

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board. A pre-IPO board usually had two founders, two VCs and one “independent” member. Technology Cycles Measured in Years.

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Why Founders Should Know How to Code

Steve Blank

I was driving home from the BIO conference in San Diego last month and had lots of time for a phone call with Dave, an ex student and now a founder who wanted to update me on his Customer Discovery progress. His inability to attract a co-founder who could code was a troubling sign. A Startup is Not Just About a Good Idea.

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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?

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Cram Down – A Test of Character for VCs and Founders

Steve Blank

They offered desperate founders more cash but insisted on new terms, rewriting all the old stock agreements that previous investors and employees had. W hy would any founder agree to this? No founder is prepared to watch their company crumble beneath them. VCs will stop playing this game when founders stop negotiating.

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Founders and dysfunctional families « Steve Blank

Steve Blank

What makes an individual a great startup founder (versus an employee) has been something I had been thinking about since I retired. A Day in the Life of A Founder For those of you who’ve never started a company, let me assure you that it never happens like the pleasant articles you read in business magazines or in case studies.

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Is a Venture Studio Right for You?

Steve Blank

But these look for founders who have a technical or business model insight and a team. Accelerators provide these teams with technical and business expertise and connect them to a network of other founders and advisors. Firms asking for greater than 60% are actually hiring an employee rather than a founder.

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What Founders Need to Know: You Were Funded for a Liquidity Event – Start Looking

Steve Blank

To most founders a startup is not a job, but a calling. Founders can now access the largest pool of risk capital that ever existed –in the form of Private Equity (Angel Investors, family offices , Venture Capitalists (VC’s) and Hedge Funds.). (BTW, What does this mean for startup founders? Here’s the thing most founders miss.