Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

Posted on December 7, 2009 by steveblank In my 21 years of startups, I had my ideas “stolen” twice. I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. See part one for the first time it happened.

Silicon Valley 232

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 232

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

This post describes how following the traditional product development can lead to a “startup death spiral.&# In the next posts that follow, I’ll describe how this model’s failures led to the Customer Development Model – offering a new way to approach startup sales and marketing activities.

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 228

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

Chainalysis is the clear market leader in their vertical and sits at the nexus between crypto exchanges, financial institutions, regulatory bodies, and law enforcement agencies. While there’s been a number of highly publicized examples including their role in helping creditors of Mt.

Web 48

Web Silicon Valley Technical Review Artificial Inteligence 48

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

It’s that time of year, time to look back and reflect on the most significant storylines in the tech, startup, and VC world. And, with that warning, I offer to you, the big stories in the startup and investing ecosystem of 2018, written in ascending order of importance and magnitude…. 6/ Venture Capital In Expansion Phase.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web. I realized the Customer Development model needs to be clearer in what exactly a startup is supposed to do, regardless of the business model.

Customer Development 223

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 223

Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

Filed under: SuperMac | Tagged: Early Stage Startup , Steve Blank « There’s a Pattern Here SuperMac War Story 2: Facts Exist Outside the Building, Opinions Reside Within – So Get the Hell Outside the Building » Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice.

Silicon Valley 150

Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review RSS 150

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 7, 2013

It is a “talent first” company but one under-pinned with a serious multi-million dollar investment in technology that has helped fuel our growth and will continue to provide tools & support for our talent. The media world now has its own leader running the largest YouTube multi-channel network startup.

Video 320

Video Los Angeles Technical Cofounder CTO Hire 320

Austin Startup

MARCH 3, 2020

See the pitch at SXSW in the category of Enterprise & Smart Data Technology , 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm Saturday, March 14, before a live audience and a panel of expert judges. LexSet’s primary office is in the Brooklyn Navy Yard at the NewLab , an amazing startup ecosystem that provides lots of opportunities for pilots and collaborations.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Los Angeles Cofounder Silicon Valley 63

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Posted on June 11, 2009 by steveblank When my students ask me about whether they should be a founder or cofounder of a startup I ask them to take a walk around the block and ask themselves: Are you comfortable with: Chaos – startups are disorganized Uncertainty – startups never go per plan Are you: Resilient – at times you will fail – badly.

Cofounder 223

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 223

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development.

Customer Development 241

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 241

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2009

Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. luck… and as one of Steve Blank’s posts today mentioned, you can’t test hypotheses from within your building. To Order Outside of the U.S. Now In Print!

Customer Development 125

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 125

The Equity Kicker

MAY 9, 2016

The bit I liked the most described the role of Stanford in getting Silicon Valley going in the late 1950s. Inspire entrepreneurialism – highlight the positive effects of startups and make ‘founder’ a popular career choice. The UK government’s support has been important for our startup ecosystem.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Venture Capital eCommerce Startup 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

Two years out of the Air Force, serendipity (which would be my lifelong form of career planning) found me in Silicon Valley working for my first company: ESL. But part of his life that that doesn’t even merit a Wikipedia entry is that Bill Perry used Silicon Valley to help end the cold war.

Silicon Valley 176

Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 176

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

I had last been in Chapel Hill on a winter’s day in 1986, traveling with the VP of Sales of our new supercomputer startup, Ardent. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times Ardent would be my third technology company as a VP of Marketing (Convergent Technologies and MIPS Computers were the other two.)

North Carolina 126

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 126

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Posted on September 14, 2009 by steveblank Over the last 30 years Wall Street’s appetite for technology stocks have changed radically – swinging between unbridled enthusiasm to believing they’re all toxic. Each VC firm/partner has a different spin on what to weigh more.) 3) invest in and take equity stakes in exchange for capital.

Silicon Valley 223

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 223

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

It took me 8 startups and 21 years to get it right, (and one can argue success was due to the Internet bubble rather then any brilliance.) No internet, no blogs, no books on startups, no entrepreneurship departments in universities, etc. It took lots of trial and error, learning by experience and resilience through multiple failures.

Silicon Valley 185

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 185

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

Over time you start to figure out who you customers are and how to sell to them or how to get them to adopt your products if you’re a consumer-oriented startup. And I’ve also been convinced that it can be quite useful to have another startup company CEO on your board. As You Start to Mature. how & when to raise capital.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. Working for a startup is a unique experience and it’s not for everyone.

Early Stage 113

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 113

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 26, 2009

So no post today on entrepreneurship, Secret History of Silicon Valley, Customer Development, Lean Startups, etc. This post was mentioned on Twitter by Brendan McManus, [Startup Digest]. Startup Digest] said: Thanksgiving Day [link] [via @sgblank] [.] Just a reflection on my family and hopes for our children.

Silicon Valley 140

Silicon Valley Turkey United States RSS 140

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Durant took his money from his carriage company and bought a struggling automobile startup called Buick. And a founder of Neuralink a brain-computer interface startup.

Michigan 275

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 275

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Scalable startups are on a trajectory for a billion dollar market cap. But if you want to build a scalable startup you need to be asking how you can you get enough customers/users/payers to build a business that can grow revenues past several $100M/year. startups ignore the rest of the world until they scale in their own country.

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

I was between my 7th and 8th and final startup; licking my wounds from Rocket Science, the company I had cratered as my first and last attempt as a startup CEO. I was consulting for the two venture capital firms who between them put $12 million into my last failed startup. (My It was a long way from Ellis Island.)

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 126

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

This tendency is a two edged sword: by iterating strategy a startup can dramatically improve the size and trajectory of the company, but at times this process can be the bane of venture investors (and why they have prematurely grey hair.)

Customer 201

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 201

Steve Blank

JULY 9, 2009

In previous companies I could talk about technology details and how the product features could solve a customers problem. There couldn’t have been a worse choice for CEO in Silicon Valley. But people didn’t buy video games on features and they weren’t looking to solve a problem.

Silicon Valley 142

Silicon Valley RSS California Video 142

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2009

Reducing Risk – Simulation versus Customer Development If you remember the first part of this discussion, startups face two types of risk; invention risk and/or customer/market risk. In either type of startup you want to put in place processes in place to reduce risk.

Vertical 130

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing RSS 130

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

That is until I saw that in startup after startup customers come from places you don’t plan on. He’s Only in Field Service When I was at Zilog, the Z8000 peripheral chips included the new “ Serial Communications Controller &# ( SCC ).

Silicon Valley 133

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 133

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

Many VCs focus on specific verticals, usually based on the sector in which a VC initially made her reputation. That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. – Technology stack. This model certainly makes sense.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

Many VCs focus on specific verticals, usually based on the sector in which a VC initially made her reputation. That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. – Technology stack. This model certainly makes sense.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

Steve Blank

AUGUST 3, 2009

These posts cover two distinct periods – the first, the rise of “ Microwave Valley ” chronicles the decade of 1946-1956 as Stanford University became the hub of military/industry contracting in the Bay Area. . ————– These posts will make a lot more sense if you look at the earlier Secret History posts.

Silicon Valley 157

Silicon Valley RSS Europe Germany 157

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

If these sound like reasonable answers to you, and you are in a startup/small company, update your resume. Most startups put together a corporate mission statement because the CEO remembered seeing one at their last job, or the investors said they needed one. What I was actually hearing was a failure of management.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 263

Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

We had thought really hard about “ market type ” and decided to reposition the company from a technology provider to a solutions provider. Well yes, I understand that, but this is a startup, what else do you want to do? “I Now we needed to put the tactical programs in place to make this repositioning strategy happen.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 124

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

I didn’t recognize the behavior at the time, but anyone who loves technology and gadgets has at one time or another has bought a technology toy – USB memory sticks, iPod Shuffles, umbrellas with LED lights, alarm clocks that talked, Flip Video Cameras, etc. We accidently had a product with the Novelty Effect.

Video 168

Video Silicon Valley RSS California 168

Steve Blank

MARCH 25, 2009

We had been attempting to compete by their rules with the same types of technology messages. Up until now all the graphics board companies supplied “technology”, and it was up to the customers to figure out which of these arcane specs was best for their business.

Silicon Valley 144

Silicon Valley Marketing RSS California 144

Steve Blank

MARCH 20, 2009

Facts are the rock on which you build your strategy and tactics In a startup second-hand facts are almost as useless as opinions. It reminded me of “earlier days&# , when I was just starting out in running business operations for startups. Now what was the strategy? What did I learn so far?

Silicon Valley 136

Silicon Valley Customer RSS Philippines 136

The Next Web

JANUARY 23, 2014

Marketing is often treated as a bad word in Silicon Valley. For example, the first app we launched at my startup, Khush, was LaDiDa. have focused relentlessly on being the best-in-class in their specific vertical. This post originally appeared on the Clarity.fm Our downloads started ramping up.

Product 147

Product Elevator Pitch Silicon Valley Vertical 147

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

In the last three posts, we drew the relationship of market risk and invention risk with vertical markets and pointed out verticals where customer development would be useful. would look in each of the verticals. For example, How does sales differ from one market to another?

Vertical 123

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 123

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

Perhaps if you have a union job based on seniority, but not in any startup I’ve ever seen. And the odds in your favor are even higher, as most of your peers wouldn’t even get into the game due to some unspoken belief that in a meritocracy, good things will come to those who wait. What’s Marketing?

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120