Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

Its easy to take Silicon Valley for granted. Ive written a little bit about the origins of Silicon Valley because I think its important for us to understand how we got here in order to make sure we preserve what is best about our community. You can learn more about that by reading The engineering managers lament.)

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YoungUpstarts

MAY 5, 2017

The company’s ascension, chronicled in “ Becoming Facebook “ , is a business adventure of unprecedented growth, game-changing acquisitions, recovery from a chaotic IPO and a continuing defense against foes large and small. Decide On, and Obsess About, Your North Star Metric. Above all, that climb was no accident.

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Silicon Valley IPO Metrics Global 150

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 4, 2021

It was one of the year's most successful IPOs so far, and has been heralded as a "landmark moment" for cryptocurrency's entrance into mainstream investing. Just before the IPO, I had a far-reaching conversation with co-founder and CEO Brian Armstrong as he approached this major milestone for the company he co-founded back in 2012.

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IPO Cofounder Technical Review Government 113

abovethecrowd.com

APRIL 20, 2016

The pressures of lofty paper valuations, massive burn rates (and the subsequent need for more cash), and unprecedented low levels of IPOs and M&A, have created a complex and unique circumstance which many Unicorn CEOs and investors are ill-prepared to navigate. In Q1 of 2016 there were zero VC-backed technology IPOs.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

This was supposed to be Airbnb's biggest year by many measures, including its IPO, which was one of the most anticipated since the 2008 financial crisis. 5:01) Brian's thoughts on the human dimension to his approach and how that sets him apart in Silicon Valley. (6:06) People, not just metrics. Broadly shared prosperity.

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Agile VC

JUNE 5, 2011

So Groupon obviously filed their S-1 the other day to formally being the IPO process. It also puts another chink in the armor of the meme that monster internet companies can only be built in Silicon Valley (LivingSocial, Kayak, Gilt Groupe, CSN Stores, et al doing damage here too). AGILEVC My idle thoughts on tech startups.

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North America Chicago Boston Silicon Valley 100

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, September 11, 2009 The cardinal sin of community management Once you have a product launched, you will the face the joys – and the despair – of a community that grows up around it. Nothing worked, until we finally had one of our community managers start talking to real customers on the phone.

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Community Management Lean Software Review 158

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 2, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, August 2, 2008 Paul Graham on fundraising I have found no better primer on the current realities of starting a new technology company in a startup hub like Silicon Valley than Paul Grahams essays. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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San Francisco Software Review Technical Review Continuous Deployment 125

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 10, 2020

With Airbnb’s IPO, I thought the time was right to take a look back at the past decade (Greylock led Airbnb’s Series A in November 2010) and reflect on what I learned from the journey. it took years for Airbnb’s metrics to really start accelerating. This essay is based on a Greymatter podcast episode, which you can listen to here.

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Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 11, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, November 11, 2008 Where did Silicon Valley come from? I think the absolute best reading on this subject is a book called Regional Advantage: Culture and Competition in Silicon Valley and Route 128 by AnnaLee Saxenian. And what were they doing beforehand?

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Silicon Valley San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 68

500hats.com

AUGUST 2, 2012

While a flood of new VCs came into existence during the late 90’s internet boom, many had difficulty raising new funds after the crashes of 2000-2001 and 2008 , and as a result significantly fewer fund managers exist now compared to a decade ago. note: apologies in advance for the west coast bias; i’m in silicon valley).

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Silicon Valley Early Stage Venture Capital Valuation 74

Sophia Perl of Wisdom

JULY 18, 2011

I liked hearing the who’s who of Silicon Valley in his stories, but more importantly he had really good take aways. Eventbrite is very well known in the Silicon Valley and continues to grow. Tip: Netflix is extremely well run company, very quantitative using metrics, disciplined in how much they spend.

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Cofounder Technical Cofounder Silicon Valley San Francisco 49

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

Airbnb was preparing for an IPO right when the pandemic hit, and everything changed in a matter of days. I came to Silicon Valley when I was 25, turning 26. And I think one of the things that we’ve learned is, when I came to Silicon Valley in 2007, we were starting Airbnb in 2008, it was a marketplace.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 30, 2009

As with many Silicon Valley failures, a flawless PR launch turned into a flawed customer acquisition strategy. Departments were built and were even metrics-driven. But there was no feedback loop to help the company find the right metrics to focus on. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

San Francisco 150

San Francisco Lean Agile Continuous Deployment 150

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 6, 2008

This eliminates the need for a bunch of standard project management ideas and methods: all the ones concerned with dealing with slackers, calling bluffs on estimates, forcing people to come to consensus on shared design issues, and so on. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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Agile San Francisco Software Review Continuous Deployment 76

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2010

Id like to call special attention to Kurt Carr s perspective (lets hope he finishes his five-part series): Now that I’m back in Ohio (I was one of the token foreigners in a room full of Silicon Valley residents), I have found myself reliving and rethinking much of what I saw there.

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San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 133

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Id like to talk about a technique Ive used to help manage this growth without slowing down. Managers in this area have to take a portfolio approach, promoting ideas that work and might make good candidates for further investment. Growth - when you have existing customers, the pressure is on to grow your key metrics day-in day-out.

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

The Equity Kicker

OCTOBER 8, 2012

If you can only manage 1%, it’s a sign you haven’t yet figured out what you’re doing. A company making $1000 a month (a typical number early in YC) and growing at 1% a week will 4 years later be making $7900 a month, which is less than a good programmer makes in salary in Silicon Valley. Sometimes not.

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

In the old days, the brand manager of a consumer packaged goods product had to spend energy inferring the effectiveness of their television ads through a combination of trailing indicators (like market share) or time-consuming market research. My blog has over 14000 subscribers, for example. Is that a lot?

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 17, 2009

The problem is that the most authentic innovators and entrepreneurs are in the Valley. I want more than anything to come to Silicon Valley after I graduate and join the vibrant ecosystem. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n.

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Lean San Francisco Web Continuous Deployment 76

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

Because five whys kept turning up a few key metrics that were hard to set static thresholds for, we even had a dynamic prediction algorithm that would make forecasts based on past data, and fire alerts if the metric ever went out of its normal bounds. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

Software Review 167

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 167

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

Airbnb was preparing for an IPO right when the pandemic hit, and everything changed in a matter of days. I came to Silicon Valley when I was 25, turning 26. And I think one of the things that we’ve learned is, when I came to Silicon Valley in 2007, we were starting Airbnb in 2008, it was a marketplace.

Silicon Valley 36

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 36

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, December 7, 2008 The hackers lament One of the thrilling parts of working and writing in Silicon Valley is the incredible variety of people Ive had the chance to meet. The last thing you need is a manager telling you how to do your job. A poorly performing CEO wont fire themselves.

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Software Review Technical Review Part-Time VPE San Francisco 94

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

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Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

But they are often counter-productive when placed in a management role for other kinds of work. This can lead to a lot of needless politics and needless suffering if it is not proactively managed. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? People get trapped doing the wrong kind of work.

San Francisco 79

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 79

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

When creating a new market, expect to spend as long as two years before you manage to get traction with early customers, but enjoy the utter lack of competition. Tom Peters called the Management By Walking Around - MBWA. Otherwise it is just Management By Wandering Aimlessly. What kind of market are you in?

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Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2009

Im not offering extensive studies or research to support this conclusion; the evidence from my peers right here in the innovation capital of America, Silicon Valley, is absolutely overwhelming. Asked to help, I am confident that Silicon Valley and every other innovation center will step up. They are nerds.

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Programming San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 143

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, June 9, 2009 The Lean Startup Tokyo edition I had a blast speaking at Startonomics Tokyo , which was organized to foster ties between the startup cultures in Japan and Silicon Valley. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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Lean San Francisco Japan Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 18, 2008

Its even more critical in lean startups when they need to manage growth. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC 60

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

This is especially true in Silicon Valley. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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Software Review Software Hiring San Francisco 68

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 20, 2010

Heres an excerpt: Philosophy Helps Start-Ups Move Faster - WSJ.com Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists often churn out how-to business books and fancy themselves as management gurus, but few see their methodologies adopted. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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Lean San Francisco Arlington Continuous Deployment 153

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 29, 2008

Balancing competing objectives is a recurring theme on this blog - its the central challenge of all management decisions. The best candidates have managed to teach me something about a topic I thought I already knew a lot about. This responsibility falls squarely to the hiring manager. Communication. Nice post, well explained.

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San Francisco Lean Agile Java 146

David Teten

MARCH 2, 2013

See the Techcrunch posts by my Partner John Frankel and Professor Robert Wiltbank , my recent post on the quality of angel returns data , as well as reports from the Silicon Valley Bank and Kauffman Foundation. Counting IPOs gets us only a short distance to an Answer. This is a difficult question to study.”.

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LP Securities and Exchange Commission Silicon Valley Venture Capital 114

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

Much of what makes the USA, and Silicon Valley in particular, such a great place to start a company is the result of good government policy. Policy makers need to know: regulations designed to manage big-companies actually protect those companies by stifling innovation (and competition) from startups.

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Reid Hoffman

JANUARY 13, 2021

Entrepreneurs such as Figma CEO Dylan Field, fellow investors including Moxxie Ventures founder and general partner Katie Stanton, and Coatue Management partner Jamie McGurk pitched questions to the duo. There wasn’t like an IPO – this amazing IPO that just happened. You can listen to the podcast here. FULL TRANSCRIPT.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 14, 2009

Using examples drawn from his own experiences in the startup hub of Silicon Valley, Eric Ries unravels the myths and misconceptions that guide most startups, and paints a picture of a new way forward for the industry. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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