Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 24, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, March 24, 2009 The metrics and levers of engagement, presentation on Engagement Loops for Facebook Developer Garage SF Ill be presenting a talk at the Facebook Developer Garage SF Wednesday evening. Unfortunately, its easy to lose track of positioning effects when optimizing for a single metric.

Metrics 88

Metrics San Francisco Lean Viral 88

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 8, 2008 What is customer development? Instead, we do everything possible to validate the founders belief. Most people cant sustain more than a few of these iterations, and the founders rarely get to be involved in the later tries. When we build products, we use a methodology.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 11, 2015

Anand Sanwal , co-founder and CEO of CB Insights ; and Chris Shipley , executive producer of MIT’s Solve initiative, joined me in the studio to discuss the day-to-day chaos of building a company. 1, 2008. … (and) the economy tanked right as soon as I started. or the key metrics in the credit card business. …

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Silicon Valley Cofounder Channel 120

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, November 13, 2008 Five Whys Taiichi Ohno was one of the inventors of the Toyota Production System. Hes a new employee, and he was not properly trained in TDD So far, this isnt much different from the kind of analysis any competent operations team would conduct for a site outage. Good stuff.

Software Review 167

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, September 30, 2008 What does a startup CTO actually do? When Ive asked mentors of mine who have worked in big companies about the role of the CTO, they usually talk about the importance of being the external face of the companys technology platform; an evangelist to developers, customers, and employees.

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read. I used to give copies of Four Steps out to my employees, in the hopes that it would instantly indoctrinate them into the methodology of Customer Development.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

kaChing launched a virtual portfolio management game on Facebook in January 2008 and a similar version shortly thereafter on kaChing.com. Andy Mathieson, a founder and managing member at Fairview Capital , was particularly supportive. Andy Mathieson, a founder and managing member at Fairview Capital , was particularly supportive.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment SEC 158

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 30, 2009

Insist on the incredibly high-IQ employees and hold them to incredibly high standards. It never generated positive returns for its investors, and most of its employees walked away dejected. This company had disciplined schedules, milestones, employee evaluations, and a culture of execution. Build a truly mainstream product.

San Francisco 150

San Francisco Lean Agile Continuous Deployment 150

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 29, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 29, 2008 The ABCDEFs of conducting a technical interview I am incredibly proud of the people I have hired over the course of my career. On the one hand, it gives you insight into what kind of employee the candidate might be. December 2, 2008 8:53 AM Lisa said. Fantastic post.

San Francisco 146

San Francisco Lean Agile Java 146

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 20, 2008 The engineering managers lament I was inspired to write The product managers lament while meeting with a startup struggling to figure out what had gone wrong with their product development process. October 20, 2008 9:34 PM Nivi said. October 20, 2008 10:36 PM Nathan said.

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 19, 2020

I've known Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community at Airbnb for a long time. He also has strongly held ideas about structuring a company to institutionalize these intentions to make sure the next leader, future employees, and the next board will be true to that philosophy. Principles can be abstract, though.

Management 122

Management Cofounder China IPO 122

Hearpreneur

JUNE 21, 2017

My Mama, the founder of Yuca’s Hut in Los Feliz, CA, didn’t allow a lack of college degrees or a business plan to deter her from launching her dream. Larry Page, Google co-founder.I It’s an important quote for employees and business owners to internalize, because a company is people working toward success.

Entrepreneur 53

Entrepreneur Africa Cofounder CTO Hire 53

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 9, 2020

I've known Brian Chesky, Co-Founder, CEO and Head of Community at Airbnb for a long time. He also has strongly held ideas about structuring a company to institutionalize these intentions to make sure the next leader, future employees, and the next board will be true to that philosophy. 6,000, 7,000 employees.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Hosting Cofounder Employee 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 3, 2009

The same has been true of an unfortunate number of startups, they manage to generate a lot of hype, raise a lot of money, and sometimes make some of their investors, employees, or founders rich. Ive been there: is it me or my cofounder thats crazy? Yet, I think this definition is too important to leave out.

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Cofounder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 28, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, October 28, 2008 A hierarchy of pitches Every company will need to pitch itself from time to time. We pitch to potential partners, vendors, publishers, conferences, employees, and even lawyers. October 31, 2008 8:10 AM entrepreneurialactivism.com said. is it a revolutionary and novel idea?

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 128

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 6, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 6, 2008 When NOT to listen to your users; when NOT to rely on split-tests There are three legs to the lean startup concept: agile product development , low-cost (fast to market) platforms , and rapid-iteration customer development. October 6, 2008 9:41 PM Eric said. Any thoughts?

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 128

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

In the case of C3, that was to run payroll for 87,000 employees, who were presumably receiving payroll before the project began. Thats why I prefer to think of them as two co-equals: the problem team and the solution team. But you dont generally have to ask "what problem are we trying to solve?" Thats pretty clear.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

It should be even more important to the founders themselves, because it demonstrates that their business hypothesis is grounded in reality. Every board meeting, the metrics of success change. These founders have not managed, to borrow a phrase from Steve Blank , to create a scalable and repeatable sales process.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 25, 2009

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Startup Lessons Learned - the Conference (April 23.

Agile 60

Agile Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, December 7, 2008 The hackers lament One of the thrilling parts of working and writing in Silicon Valley is the incredible variety of people Ive had the chance to meet. December 8, 2008 7:40 PM Allen Rohner said. Ill be mindful of your advice. :-) Allen December 8, 2008 9:30 PM Amy said.

Software Review 94

Software Review Technical Review Part-Time VPE San Francisco 94

Cracking the Code

FEBRUARY 4, 2008

Monday, February 04, 2008. A few times per year, Bessemer organizes a CxO event for our portfolio companies and we decided to focus our first session of 2008 on Software-as-a-service (SaaS). What metrics should I be using to drive a saas business? The 10 laws of SaaS unveiled at Bessemer CEO Summit.

Software Review 48

Software Review South Korea IPO Portfolio 48

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

I believe this is one reason why the myth of the dictatorial startup founder has such enduring appeal. Its easier to believe in a glorious future when you have only zeroes, for everyone: founders, investors, and employees. No vanity metrics should be looked at. No vanity metrics should be looked at.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Software Review 167

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

The full formula works like this: runway = cash on hand / burn rate # iterations = runway / speed of each iteration Very few successful companies ended up in the same exact business that the founders thought theyd be in (see Founders at Work for dozens of examples). No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 117

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 12, 2010

Mo was graduated from Wharton, worked in investment banking, spent 6 years at IAC (including in an operational role for Connected Ventures which includes College Humor, Busted T’s and Vimeo) before joining Spark Capital in 2008. Company grew by more than “400% each year” for past few years [assume growth metric = revenues].

Venture Capital 217

Venture Capital Los Angeles Oakland Asia 217

Reid Hoffman

JUNE 8, 2021

While many travel industry leaders chose to “go dark,” as Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky put it , while they decided how to navigate next steps, Chesky took a different approach: He got candid. Today, we are thrilled to have Airbnb CEO and co-founder Brian Chesky with us. BC: Exactly, Reid.

Silicon Valley 69

Silicon Valley Hosting Rhode Island Design 69

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 17, 2009

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. The visionary’s lament The Superbowl ad test Lo, my 57692 subscribers, who are you? Startup Lessons Learned - the Conference (April 23.

Lean 76

Lean San Francisco Web Continuous Deployment 76

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, November 17, 2008 The four kinds of work, and how to get them done: part two In part one , I talked about four different kinds of work that every company has to do: innovation/R&D, strategy, growth, and maintenance/scalability. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

San Francisco 79

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 79

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 6, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, December 6, 2008 The four kinds of work, and how to get them done: part three Those startups that manage to build a product people want have to deal with the consequences of that success. Having early customers means balancing the needs of your existing customers with the desire to find new ones.

San Francisco 74

San Francisco SCRUM Lean Continuous Deployment 74

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 7, 2009

We eventually discovered (via five whys ) that we also had to get each new employee acculturated to a fearless way of thinking. Because this was such a big cultural change for most new employees, we didnt leave them to sink or swim on their own. Most importantly, we immediately thrust our new employees into a mindset of reduced fear.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Software Review Lean 131

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, September 10, 2008 A new version of the Joel Test (draft) (This article is a draft - your comments are especially welcome as I think through these issues. I would add, though, a further question: Do new employees write code on their first day? Please leave feedback!) Completely necessary.

Software Review 144

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 144

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

When we pivoted from fabulis to Fab, we pivoted towards building a business around the unique tastemaker talents of one of our founders, Bradford Shellhammer. Have amazing co-founders who are better at what they do than you could ever be. Founders need to personally own something big themselves. It’s that important.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2009

For example, I often cite a real example of a problem that has as its root cause a new employee who was not properly trained. I pick that example on purpose, for two reasons: 1) most of the companies I work with deal with this problem and yet 2) almost none of them have any kind of training program in place for new employees.

San Francisco 164

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Founders push for it. In some ways, founders are even worse. They spend so much of their time trying to convince everyone around them that their idea is great and the company is doing well: employees, investors, partners, friends, family, significant others - its a long list. Know what the success metrics are for the launch.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Duct Tape Marketing

DECEMBER 14, 2017

He is the founder and CEO of Stackify. I said in the intro and it’s funny how many founders of companies start companies because they can’t find something or they can’t get something solved, so they just solve it by creating a company. As a founder of a company, a CEO of a company. Go check it out.

Kansas City 38

Kansas City CTO Hire Las Vegas Software Developers 38

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Thats all helpful for recruiting, retaining, and ramping-up a new employee. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. You dont have to guess who their mentor will be.

Software Review 68

Software Review Software Hiring San Francisco 68

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

They had their own private forum, and a company founder (aka me) personally ran the group in its early days. Every two months, the company would have a big end-of-milestone meeting, with our Board of Directors, Business Advisory Board, and all employees present. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

Advisory Board 151

Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JUNE 6, 2011

Summarized here , their modern “rules of business&# include “Solo founders take 3.6x Supposing you’re a solo founder, after reading that quote above you can’t help but start in with the self-doubt. “Maybe I need to think about finding a co-founder. more money than those that don’t.&#.

Startup 234

Startup Cofounder Texas Austin 234