Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

the wave of semiconductor startups in the 1960’s/70’s, the emergence of Venture Capital as a professional industry, the personal computer revolution in 1980’s, the rise of the Internet in the 1990’s and finally. Venture Capital used to be a tight club clustered around formal firms located in Silicon Valley, Boston, and New York.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

As much as I loved the magazine, there was little in it for startups (or new divisions in established companies) searching for a business model. ” It defined a startup as a “temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.” Today, we’ve come full circle as Lean goes mainstream.

Technical Review 219

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 219

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Every potential early-stage Venture Capitalist should take a year and do it before he or she makes partner. Venture capital as a profession is less than half a century old. Early-stage Venture Capital firms grow their partnerships in different ways, some hire: partners from other firms. Here’s why. ——-.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 332

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

Just before the holidays I had coffee with Anne, an ex MBA student running a fairly large product group at a search engine company, now out trying to raise money for her own startup. One can make the case that New York venture capital industry is rooted in the 21 st century not the 20 th. What role does venture capital play?

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

In response, venture capital firms like Sequoia and Andreessen/Horowitz are hiring new partners just to work with their portfolio companies and match them to corporations. Is the Potential Acquisition Searching or Executing? Not all new ventures are at the same stage of maturity.

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 11, 2023

The most important of the crypto techniques were based upon either locating repeated patterns, tallying massive numbers of letter patterns, and recognizing plain text, or performing some form of “exhaustive searching.” At the time, no programming languages existed.

Minnesota 281

Minnesota Engineer Minneapolis Silicon Valley 281

Steve Blank

JANUARY 27, 2011

We’ve been teaching that the difference between a startup and an existing company is that existing companies execute business models, while startups search for a business model. (Or Or more accurately, startups are a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and repeatable business model.)

Business Model 275

Business Model Utah Intellectual Property Agile 275

Steve Blank

MARCH 16, 2016

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.). At its core Venture Capital is nothing more than a small portion of the Private Equity financial asset class.

Liquidity Event 120

Liquidity Event Founder Liquidation Preference Venture Capital 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2021

In sharp contrast, start-ups operate in “search/ explore ” mode, seeking a repeatable and profitable business model. The search for a business model requires dramatically different rules, roadmaps, skill sets, tools, and culture in order to minimize risk and optimize chances for success.

Incubator 402

Incubator Lean Agile Business Model 402

Steve Blank

MAY 17, 2010

The plan describes the execution strategy for addressing these “knowns.&# In the early days of venture capital, investors and entrepreneurs were familiar with the format of business plans from large company and adopted it for startups. Business plans are the wrong tool to search for a startup business model.

Business Plan 312

Business Plan Business Model Customer Development Deal Flow 312

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) Marketing demand creation programs (Search Engine Marketing, Public Relations, Advertising, Lead Generation, Trade Shows, etc.)

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

For the last 10 years China essentially closed its search, media and social network software market to foreign companies with the result that Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Dropbox, and 30,000 other websites were not accessible from China. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital.

China 323

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 323

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

Sigh… What I should have been hearing is the search for the business model, specifically the progress on product/market fit, but I hear the fund raising story first at least 90% of the time. Just as a reminder, a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Venture Capital'

Venture Capital 333

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 333

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

The book has been shepherded and edited by a great Japanese VC at Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance Venture Capital, Takashi Tsutsumi, with help from Masato Iino. This was exactly what I was searching for. They pivoted the product by implementing Google like wide-open search windows requested time and again in customer interviews.

Japan 292

Japan Customer Development Developer Customer 292

Steve Blank

MAY 30, 2016

Understanding the left-side of the mission model canvas ( activities, resources , partners , and costs) forces all teams to ask, “Are we building a product for a DOD/IC customer only or do we have a “dual-use” product that could be sold commercially and get funded by venture capital?”. This post is a continuation of the series.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley San Diego Technical Review Incubator 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

For the last 10 years China essentially closed its search, media and social network software market to foreign companies with the result that Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Dropbox, and 30,000 other websites were not accessible from China. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital.

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

The previous post described the evolution of the Chinese Venture Capital system. China Venture Capital. If it’s driven by profit then the ecosystem needs both entrepreneurs as well as Venture Finance. China has the biggest Venture Capital industry outside the U.S. Entrepreneurship in Beijing.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 267

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

Customer Development/Lean Startups In hindsight startups and the venture capital community left out the most important first step any startup ought to be doing – hypothesis testing in front of customers- from day one. I have an idea for how to connect user social web conversations to 2-way search and contextual advertising.

Silicon Valley 179

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 179

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2013

Sigh… What I should have been hearing is the search for the business model, specifically the progress on product/market fit, but I hear the fund raising story first at least 90% of the time. Just as a reminder, a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Venture Capital'

Venture Capital 225

Venture Capital IRR Liquidity Event Business Model 225

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

While this signaled that investments in technology companies could be very lucrative, both Shockley and Fairchild could only be funded through corporate partners – there was no venture capital industry. government backed venture firms and limited partnerships. A wave of innovation was about to meet a pile of risk capital.

Engineer 305

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 305

Steve Blank

MAY 17, 2022

Fusing and making sense of sensor data (detecting threats in optical /SAR imagery, classifying aircraft based on radar returns, searching for anomalies in radio frequency signatures, etc.) Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) – Good for algorithms; compression, video encoding, cryptocurrency, genomics, search.

Artificial Inteligence 417

Artificial Inteligence Software Review Algorithm Technical Review 417

Steve Blank

JUNE 2, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may allow venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. Startups now understand what they should be doing in their early formative days is search for a business model. It’s time for a change. Silicon Valley, New York).

Silicon Valley 281

Silicon Valley Business Model Early Stage Venture Capital 281

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Silicon Valley, New York). Here’s how. The Wrong Discussion s.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

MARCH 22, 2022

In 2021 venture capital funds invested over $2 billion in 90+ Quantum technology companies. Currently this is a nascent commercial technology in search of a future viable market. For example, Grover’s algorithm solves the problem for the unstructured search of data. Noisy Intermediate-Scale Quantum (NISQ) computers.

Technology 436

Technology Algorithm Stealth Distribution 436

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

The previous post described the evolution of the Chinese Venture Capital system. China Venture Capital. If it’s driven by profit then the ecosystem needs both entrepreneurs as well as Venture Finance. China has the biggest Venture Capital industry outside the U.S. Entrepreneurship in Beijing.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 159

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. The combination of Venture Capital and technology startups is only about 50 years old. Silicon Valley, New York). Here’s how. The Wrong Discussion s.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

If you take funding from a venture capital firm or angel investor and want to build a large, enduring company (rather than sell it to the highest bidder), this isn’t the decade to do it. The collapse of the IPO market and dysfunctional math in the venture capital community has stacked the odds against you. Here’s why.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

In this first step, the goal of a startup is to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. You’ll realize you’re ready to exit the Search step when you have customer validation: You’ve found a sales channel that matches how the customer wants to buy and the costs of using that channel are understood. Most startups die here.

Startup 120

Startup Lean Venture Capital Advisory Board 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 20, 2013

Venture Capital Issues. Early stage Venture Capital for medical device startups has dried up. The amount of capital being invested in new device companies is at an 11 year low. Venture Capital. Because device IPOs are rare, and M&A is much tougher, liquidity for investors is hard to find.

Startup 294

Startup Venture Capital Lean IPO 294

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

Lets take venture capital and grow this thing into a real business.”. They used Customer and Agile development to search for a scalable and repeatable business model to become a large company. Typically the size of their opportunity and company doesn’t lend itself to attracting venture capital. Take No Prisoners.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 8, 2011

As they can’t provide the scale to attract venture capital, they fund their businesses via friends/family or small business loans. Unlike small businesses, scalable startups are what Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and their venture investors do. They attract investment from equally crazy financial investors – venture capitalists.

America 318

America Silicon Valley Washington Venture Capital 318

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

As the venture capital business has come roaring back in the last 5 years, startups are awash in available capital. So how does a company act like a startup in search of new business models while still continuing to successfully execute? Act Like a Startup.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2010

The role of a founding CEO in a startup searching for a business model is radically different than a CEO building and growing a company. Certain VC’s like the new class of Super-Angels and small VC funds specialize in the early stage of a startup where you are searching for a business model. Some VC’s get it, others may not.

Founder 231

Founder Vesting Later Stage Early Stage 231

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

The search for a profitable and scalable business model might require a startup [.] The search for a profitable and scalable business model might require a startup [.] Reply Why Startups are Agile and Opportunistic -- Pivoting the Business Model , on April 14, 2010 at 6:32 am Said: [.] Order Here. To Order Outside of the U.S.

Silicon Valley 300

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 300

Steve Blank

JUNE 10, 2010

Once they found a profitable business model they realized that scale required external venture capital to fuel rapid expansion. With venture capital came accountability to board members, forecasts, and other people’s agendas. All searching for a sustainable business model. More on this later. Lessons Learned.

Silicon Valley 328

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur United States New York City 328

Steve Blank

MARCH 26, 2014

However, I will then argue that while these methods are necessary to managing new ventures inside a company, they are insufficient. A startup is a temporary organization in search of a repeatable, scalable business model. One memorable example of this was Xerox’s internal venture capital fund, Xerox Technology Ventures (XTV).

Startup 327

Startup Business Model Lean Russia 327

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2010

The key things I want students to take from the class are: Understand that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a profitable business model. After Stanford, Ann joined Mike Maples’ Venture Capital firm Floodgate as a partner. Learn how to put together a business model , not a business plan.

Business Model 226

Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 226