Steve Blank
JANUARY 28, 2020
I remember the first time I read the Innovator’s Dilemma in 1997. Christensen, writing for a corporate audience, explained that there were two classes of products – sustaining and disruptive. His message was that existing companies are great at sustaining technologies and products but were ignoring the threat of disruption.
K9 Ventures
AUGUST 13, 2010
SneakerLabs’ first product was a Java-based chat server and client. Since I had good connections with the University, we got a lot of feedback on how the product could be improved to meet their needs. We listened to their feedback and started adding features to the product accordingly. The product worked. Not so fast.
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Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 8, 2010
Describing your product as “new and “never been done before” instead of “we’re just like those others guys, but better” could cost your company billions. Soon, RIM was focusing on making products for people on the move, using wireless communication and digital data. In 1997, RIM introduced the first packet-switched messaging device.
Steve Blank
JUNE 15, 2009
As an early employee I worked all hours of the day, never hesitated to jump on a “ red-eye ” plane to see a customer at the drop of a hat, and did what was necessary to make the company a winner. The other thing it helps clarify is that even at work, it’s the relationships that matter most (collegues, customers, partners, etc).
Feld Thoughts
DECEMBER 4, 2012
By 1997, when I started investing as a venture capital investor, I was no longer reading business plans. Rather than write long exhaustive documents, entrepreneurs can rapidly prototype their product and get immediate user and market feedback. In the 1990s, business plan competitions were all the rage. Related articles.
Steve Blank
JANUARY 21, 2013
Jim has founded six companies, including Preview Travel, one of the first online travel agencies, which went public in 1997 and subsequently merged to create Travelocity.com as an independent company. Align and train mentors to embrace customer development. Today he is the co-founder and Chairman of Triporati, LaunchPad Central.
A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks
OCTOBER 23, 2012
Freeloader — On $3m invested, sold for $38m in 1996 — shut down in 1997. Like GroupOn, with a product that everyone agreed was brilliant, spawning 1,000 copy-cats. GroupOn’s engine that turned capital into revenue growth was a form of force-feeding rather than building a product). Support.com — On 2.5m
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