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Clayton Christensen

Steve Blank

I remember the first time I read the Innovator’s Dilemma in 1997. He explained that companies have a penchant for continually improving sustaining products by adding more features to solve existing customer problems, and while this maximized profit, it was a trap. Building better startups. I never got to say thank you.

Lean 428
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Why “The Culture of Failure” is Imperative to Startup Communities

Both Sides of the Table

I recently wrote about the 12 tips to building successful startup communities. I lived in London from 1997-2005 and for 6 of those years ran my startup based out of London. Everything I learned about startups I learned by making mistakes at my first one. 4:30 How did you come up with the idea of customer development?

Community 350
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The Rise of Chinese Venture Capital – (Part 3 of 5)

Steve Blank

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. It went bankrupt in 1997.).

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Revenue Development

K9 Ventures

In fact, at the time (1996-1997) we offered both a downloadable product, that our customers could install on their own servers, and a “hosted-offering”, which came to be known as “On-Demand”, then the “ASP” (Application Service Provider) model, and today we call it “SaaS” (Software as a Service).

Revenue 72
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The Rise of Chinese Venture Capital – (Part 3 of 5)

Steve Blank

I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. The first wave of startups began when R&D centers and universities began to provide the technology and seed capital for new startups that were spin-outs or spin-offs. It went bankrupt in 1997.).

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Business Plans Are An Historical Artifact

Feld Thoughts

By 1997, when I started investing as a venture capital investor, I was no longer reading business plans. Today, it’s clear to me that business plans for startup companies are a historical artifact that represented the best approach at the time to define a business for potential investors. Attend a Startup Weekend.

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Don’t Underestimate the Undergraduates

Steve Blank

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.

Lean 282