Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

Startups are in fact only temporary organizations, organized to search –not execute–for a scalable and repeatable business model. – not just web-based startups. We tried to weed out those that were unsure why they were there as well as those trying to build yet another fad of the week web site.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2011

Today, you can start a web/mobile/cloud startup for $500,000 and have money left over. For venture firms who want to groom/grow associates or operating execs into partners (rather than hiring proven partners), here’s my suggestion: Have them start as an analyst (search for deal flow and people, due diligence). Here’s why.

Venture Capital 332

Venture Capital Early Stage Technical Review Startup 332

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

The result: great success of my third startup, a load balancing technology for web servers back in the late 1990’s. 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. Finding a repeatable process for startups.

Japan 292

Japan Customer Development Developer Customer 292

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. web site, they create another 100,000 VPN users. 70% of Chinese Internet users are under 30.

China 215

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 215

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2015

Startups focus on speed since they are burning cash every day as they search for product/market fit. They had reinvented a traditional print media category onto web and mobile devices for a new generation of users who were no longer buying magazines but reading online. These shortcuts add up and become what is called technical debt.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Salary Early Stage Software Review 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 2, 2011

Working with him, I’ve been impressed to watch his small team embrace Customer Development (and Business Model Generation ) and search the world for the right product/market fit. GE’s performance in implementing Customer Development gives lie to the tale that only web startups can be agile. Corporate elephants can dance.

Silicon Valley 222

Silicon Valley Agile Customer Development Early Stage 222

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 11, 2021

You can go online and with a simple search find others who have had the same issues you’re wrestling with and read how they solved them. Use the web to find generic advice. When I was an entrepreneur a face-to-face meeting or a phone call was the only way to get advice. That was a barrier to many. Don’t spend a lot of time obsessing.

Customer 395

Customer Lean Entrepreneur Internet 395

Steve Blank

APRIL 4, 2011

cold calls, in-person interviews, and a web survey. (We Startups were actually happy with Amazon Web Services. The web-based teams needed to have their site up and running and be driving demand to the site with real Search Engine Optimization and Marketing tests. talk to more customers? outside of Stanford.

Customer 234

Customer Business Model Nebraska Cloud 234

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Ask Sony about Samsung, ask any retailer about Amazon, any car company about Tesla, and any newspaper company about the web. Apple with the iPod, iPhone and iPad; Amazon with Amazon Web Services and Kindle; Toyota with the Prius… these companies are extraordinary because, …like startups, they create entirely new products and services.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

I have an idea for how to connect user social web conversations to 2-way search and contextual advertising. The google adsense search button gives a feel for the direction of relevant advertising. The google adsense search button gives a feel for the direction of relevant advertising.

Silicon Valley 179

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 179

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. They set up and keep the class web site updated. And if it’s a web-based product, they’ll have to build it.). I wonder if we can fill the class.

Business Model 226

Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 226

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 9, 2012

Provides separate paths and advice for web/mobile products versus physical products. Offers a ton of detail and great tips on how to get, keep, and grow customers, recognizing that this happens very differently between web and physical channels. Startups search for business models, exisitng companies execute them.

Entrepreneur 289

Entrepreneur Lean Business Model Customer Development 289

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Startups that are searching for a business model need to keep score differently than large companies that are executing a known business model. A startup is a search for a repeatable and scalable business model. For web startups, this is when the cost of customer acquisition is less than the lifetime value of that customer.

Balance Sheet 298

Balance Sheet Startup Burn Rate Metrics 298

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

In contrast, 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.) to optimize this search. and if a web-based product, a minimum feature set,) all delivered in 10 weeks. What resonates with customers?

Wiki 311

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 311

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

It surely lifted my spirits once again in my quest to seek funding from venture capitalists and to keep silencing my critics and proving them that i can achieve my milestones and goals in my very ambitious web application. BTW, I personally would _never_ “find&# a founder over the web. Thanks Steve!

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120

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. Angel investments in mobile and web apps today are approaching the “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” strategy. The Wrong Discussion s.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

APRIL 15, 2011

This week they were testing one of the most confusing sections of a company’s business model – Customer Relationships - the activities used to “Get, Keep and Grow” customers in a physical or virtual (web or mobile) channel. If their team was a web or mobile app they actually had to buy Google or Facebook ads and create demand.).

Customer 247

Customer Cloud EC2 Channel 247

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2010

They used Customer and Agile development to search for a scalable and repeatable business model to become a large company. A “ scalable startup” takes an innovative idea and searches for a scalable and repeatable business model that will turn it into a high growth, profitable company. The Web and Startups. Take No Prisoners.

Hockey Stick 276

Hockey Stick Venture Capital Startup Cofounder 276

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

China has essentially closed its internal search, media and social network software market to foreign companies who wouldn’t play with the government rules on the Great Firewall. Chinese Internet companies live in a large closed, self-contained ecosystem with 564 million web users with 420 million having mobile web access.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 267

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. Angel investments in mobile and web apps today are approaching the “throw it against the wall and see if it sticks” strategy. The Wrong Discussion s.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 18, 2010

The web site and/or product presentation slides start changing and Marketing and Sales try different customers, different channels, new pricing, etc. It assumes the purpose of a startup is the search for a business model (not execution.) Business Model Design and Customer Development Stack. Pivots Versus Crises. No one gets fired.

Burn Rate 247

Burn Rate Management Business Model Customer Development 247

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

China has essentially closed its internal search, media and social network software market to foreign companies who wouldn’t play with the government rules on the Great Firewall. Chinese Internet companies live in a large closed, self-contained ecosystem with 564 million web users with 420 million having mobile web access.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 159

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 21, 2012

And I emphasize the value of a founding team with complementary skills sets – i.e. the hacker/hustler/designer cofounder archetype for web/mobile apps. And it clicked in my head – one of the key things to pay attention to in a search for a cofounder is how you fight. Taking Time.

Cofounder 329

Cofounder IPO Early Stage Green 329

Steve Blank

APRIL 29, 2010

Customer Development was a process to quickly search for a profitable business model when customer needs (features, pricing, channel, etc.) So I read through the HBS web site and picked 10 cases that were such egregious failures they unintentionally illustrated why a lack of Customer Discovery or Validation could sink a company.

Customer Development 219

Customer Development Lean Developer Customer 219

Steve Blank

JULY 15, 2010

New, agile and adroit venture firms with new business models have emerged to deal with the reality that 1) web 2.0 But not all industries are as capital efficient as the Web or Information Technology. Non-software companies need to be thinking much deeper and further than ever before about search, build, grow funding strategies.

Venture Capital 297

Venture Capital IPO Liquidity Event Entrepreneur 297

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

However, you will be dealing with almost daily change, (new customer feedback/insights from a Customer Development process and technical roadblocks ,) as the company searches for a repeatable and scalable business model. link] a few seconds ago from web [.] This means you still need to have a resilient personality, and be agile.

Cofounder 219

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 219

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 3, 2016

Ajeet Singh , co-founder of ThoughtSpot , provider of search-driven analytics. At Aster Data Systems, Ajeet and his team ran into challenges trying to transition their product to mainstream customers: We had a lot of success working with large web companies. Ajeet Singh. And download any of the past shows here.).

Cofounder 274

Cofounder Silicon Valley Entrepreneur EC2 274

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 3, 2016

Ajeet Singh , co-founder of ThoughtSpot , provider of search-driven analytics. At Aster Data Systems, Ajeet and his team ran into challenges trying to transition their product to mainstream customers: We had a lot of success working with large web companies. Ajeet Singh. And download any of the past shows here.).

Cofounder 274

Cofounder Silicon Valley Entrepreneur EC2 274

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

Over time, open source software the rise of the next wave of web startups and the embrace of Agile Engineering meant that startups no longer needed millions of dollars to buy specialized computers and license expensive software – they could start a company on their credit cards.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

And back then the radical notion was that you could view this information anytime and anywhere through this new technology called a web browser. You’re An Idiot.

San Francisco 228

San Francisco Database Advisory Board Silicon Valley 228

Steve Blank

JANUARY 26, 2016

They are experts in leveraging Web 2.0 Today, many in the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community are searching for a magic technology bullet – the next Offset Strategy – convinced that if they could only get close to Silicon Valley, they will find the right technology advantage.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley North Korea Agile Lean 120

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2019

Today the capstone class is most often experiential, team-based, hands on, focused around the search for a repeatable and scalable business model. Today, companies face five challenges they never had to deal with: Challenge one – As companies are discovering every day, the web has changed everything.

Incubator 331

Incubator Lean Programming Government 331

Steve Blank

MAY 10, 2010

Last week I was having coffee with an ex engineering student of mine now on his second startup (and for a change it wasn’t a Web 2.0 The skills required when they were an 8-person startup trying to “search for the business model” wasn’t the same set of skills needed now that they were a 70-person company “executing the business model.”

Engineer 289

Engineer Business Model Programming Finance 289

Steve Blank

APRIL 5, 2010

By getting out of the building on a team project, the class helped students viscerally understand that a startup is a search for a profitable business model. The Fundamentals of Technology Entrepreneurship course at Stanford taught undergraduates how to take a technical idea and turn it into a profitable and scalable company. Guest Speakers.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley Business Model Customer Development Engineer 126

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2016

Hillary has been working to make government more accessible and available online for nearly two decades, starting as a web designer for Arkansas.gov in 1997. Then we went to work on building a search website for the FEC, completely redoing their interface to the data (so people can actually search) from FEC.gov.

Small Business Administration 120

Small Business Administration SBIR United States Entrepreneur 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 20, 2022

When I asked what they already knew about it, they tossed me a tall stack of industry and stock analyst reports, company names, web sites, blogs. He quickly realized that he could keep adding information to the columns in the third mapping pass as he read through the reports and web sites. Key Conferences, blogs, web sites, etc.

Forecast 376

Forecast China Demand Web 376

Steve Blank

MARCH 25, 2011

Most companies were buying Amazon Web Services and were looking for value-added services that simplified their cloud activities. The feedback from the teaching team was a reminder that at times you may have a product in search of a solution. If you can’t see the slides above, click here. Veritas D.C.

Cloud 228

Cloud Intellectual Property Lean Customer Development 228