A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 4, 2016

Your job is to figure out what’s most important right now , what’s on fire, what’s most important for getting the company to its next milestone, lean into what’s working well, and then simplify and clarify the few goals and metrics that your entire company should align on.

Metrics 270

Metrics Retention Revenue Equity 270

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 1, 2011

Ballad of The Lean Startup. If you liked that, you'll probably like these too: Episode 2: Smart Bear Live! Special Edition: Smart Bear Live! Vetting a startup (or two): The systematic birth of @WPEngine. Startup Weekend pep talk: It ain’t the code.

Startup 206

Startup Lean Hosting Web 206

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 15, 2012

But even so, it could be a report that’s vanity and you know that, but you’re not going to train them on lean start up, are you? Jason: Right, so what do they think is valuable, whether they’re right or not, and the more right they are, oh boy, because now we’re all on board.

Naming 199

Naming Advertising Audio Software Developers 199

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 5, 2013

Modern PM tools are too simplistic because they follow the 37signals and Lean Startup mantra of building the simplest possible thing. My PM tool is best for people who have been thrust into a PM position but need help on nomenclature, process, best practices, and how to get the most from their tool and their team.

Distribution 267

Distribution Differentiation Lean Restful 267

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 12, 2012

” Food on the Table — a now-famous lean juggernaut in Austin run by IMVU alum Manuel Rosso — talked to 120. I talked to 30 people before I realized that a certain idea of mine was a crappy idea, and about 40 people before starting WP Engine. Here are the details of both of those customer development experiences.

Customer 252

Customer Customer Development Dilution Engineer 252

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 25, 2017

You can instead proceed in a different manner, where the goal is to unveil the truth through experimentation, lean methodologies, and other processes that cope well with uncertainty. If so, it’s better to acknowledge that, rather than to press forward with a theory that sounds good but is likely false.

Flash 298

Flash Africa Hiring Advertising 298

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

DECEMBER 5, 2011

The Lean Startup movement also values learning and experience over “being right,” specifically casting this concept as “running experiments.”

Lean 281

Lean Analytics Metrics Engineer 281

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 4, 2013

I love the Lean Startup movement because it demands introspection and honors data. Is your startup an expression of your own identity and vehicle by which you are master of your destiny, or are you randomly iterating into a different identity, some other destiny? Are you an inventor, or an explorer in a world you didn’t ask for?

Marketing 259

Marketing Early Stage Lean Metrics 259

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

Roulette is a random process; startups are determined by human beings and systematic processes like Lean and AdWords. But if you’re chasing the 40x exit — if it’s go big or go home — you’ll probably go home. Of course startups are not analogous to roulette, are they?

Startup 254

Startup Algorithm Cofounder Lean 254

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 8, 2010

The simple fact is that other people usually don't place as high a priority on these things as you do, and you have to lean on them to get things done. It's not about leaning hard or being an asshole. Over time, permission follow-up will produce results and you will get more comfortable with it.

Harvest 227

Harvest Email Lean Customer 227

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 21, 2011

Since everyone and their dog is now an expert in Lean Startup, you need to demonstrate , not regurgitate platitudes. .&# &# I listen to my customers.&# &# I’m a big fan of Eric Ries.&#. Yeah, you and 60,000 other people. I’m supposed to be impressed?

Startup 283

Startup Social Media Salary Lean 283

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 1, 2012

Lean Startup tells us that the speed at which theories can be tested is directly proportional to learning; the company who can do that faster and more accurately has a significant advantage. They probably have a correspondingly large amount of website traffic to mine.

Customer 320

Customer Revenue Acquisition Cofounder 320

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

APRIL 9, 2013

Guest post by Ben Yoskovitz, the co-author of Lean Analytics , a new book on how to use analytics successfully in your business. Unfortunately, due in part to the popularity of Lean Startup and the concepts it promotes, the pivot has been bastardized to the point where it doesn’t mean much to people anymore. Was it a lazy pivot?

Lean 284

Lean Analytics Metrics Viral 284

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 4, 2017

“The future is inherently unpredictable,” insists the small company, spurred on by Lean and Agile mindsets. Of course, the latter is a better failure mode than the former, but both are sub-optimal, and the solution is predictability. Indeed, blue-sky invention and execution are hard to predict.

Government 223

Government Startup Cofounder Technical Support 223

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 17, 2017

Usually, your first reaction is correct; you have a certain world-view, and since many world-views are valid, you should select things which allow you to lean into the one that gives you energy and is consistent with the rest of your activities. Most of all, pay attention to advice when you have an immediate aversion.

Social Media 219

Social Media Media Lean Design 219

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

You don't have an "edge" just because you're passionate, hard-working, or "lean.". To summarize: Anything that can be copied will be copied, including features, marketing copy, and pricing. Anything you read on popular blogs is also read by everyone else. The only real competitive advantage is that which cannot be copied and cannot be bought.

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 24, 2012

Dan: Jason, we’re certainly leaning more towards what you said. You’ve bootstrapped a company, so you can see all those things, and you’re skeptical of the VC side. I think that’s healthy, and you don’t have to choose right now, if you don’t want to.

Silicon Valley 204

Silicon Valley Software Review Internet Technical Review 204

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 7, 2016

You might already know about “Five Whys” from Lean Startup, a method for determining root causes of problems and generating ideas for incremental improvement. Maybe the company mission, because doing something genuinely important in the world that makes you feel good about yourself and your work, even when the work is difficult.

San Francisco 170

San Francisco Startup Framework Azure 170

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 8, 2012

Jared: I guess I’m leaning towards A. So that you do achieve that when you finally release [inaudible 1:17:40]. Does that make sense? I think both of those are very rational and very good ideas. And only you can decide, of course, what you want to do. I really appreciate your time. It’s given me a lot to think about.

API 220

API Software Review Hosting Technical Review 220

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

I think I might be able to speed things up, especially now that everybody always talks about the book The Lean Startup. The only reason why I bring this up is that gee, I really think that I’m onto something. I really like the book Nail It then Scale It. Why not get a partner? Jason: You’re not ready to scale yet.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 6, 2011

Once we had those, we leaned back, looked at them from afar and tried to ask ourselves “do these results make sense.&#. The fact that statistically-insignificant results were not published is as problematic as not investigating startup failures — it removes half the story, half the perspective.

Startup 234

Startup Cofounder Texas Austin 234

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

These are generally bigger, more dysfunctional companies with 25-page Master Service Agreements and complex, ever-changing requirements (though no acceptance of “agile&# or “lean&# ).

America 330

America Employee Hiring HTML 330