Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

Entrepreneurs are fearless, persistent and uninhibited about asking – whether it’s asking to assemble a team, get financing, sell customers, etc. Martin , on July 27, 2009 at 9:45 am Said: Asking is also the quickest way to get direct negative feedback — sometimes even more valuable than a yes.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120

Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

Customer/Market Risk Versus Invention Risk One day I was having lunch with a VC sharing what I learned from my students. What is your perspective on ‘sustainable technical differentiation’ for customer/market risk companies? We’ll talk about how to reduce risk in each type of market in the next post.

Vertical 144

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 144

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? For more on how this plays into the process of scaling up, see the Customer Creation stage of the customer development model.) Great post! Great post!

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

By 1991, 70% of the Torch funded startups were getting bank financing for expansion and later stages of the new ventures, with local governments acting as guarantors. At the same time neither banks nor local governments had the cash to finance startups on the scale the country needed. Like the U.S. It went bankrupt in 1997.).

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 271

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 23, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, December 23, 2009 Why vanity metrics are dangerous In a previous post, I defined two kinds of metrics: vanity metrics and actionable metrics. If you never have, you can create your own using Google Finance. If you never have, you can create your own using Google Finance.

Metrics 167

Metrics San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

Steve Blank

APRIL 12, 2013

By 1991, 70% of the Torch funded startups were getting bank financing for expansion and later stages of the new ventures, with local governments acting as guarantors. At the same time neither banks nor local governments had the cash to finance startups on the scale the country needed. Like the U.S. It went bankrupt in 1997.).

Venture Capital 163

Venture Capital China Offshore SBIR 163

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. In contrast to simply executing your business plan, the Customer Development process is built on low-cost and continuous learning and iterating.

Vertical 122

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 122

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

Crosby made this argument in his book "Quality Is Free: The Art of Making Quality Certain" (Mentor, 1980) April 2, 2009 6:24 AM The Caretaker said. krasicki April 3, 2009 7:19 AM control valves said. May 28, 2009 8:54 PM Anonymoussaid. June 15, 2009 8:40 PM Anonymoussaid. June 15, 2009 8:43 PM jackcrews said.

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, April 26, 2009 Product development leverage Leverage has once again become a dirty word in the world of finance, and rightly so. But I want to talk about a different kind of leverage, the kind that you can get in product development. April 27, 2009 10:54 AM DSarathy said.

Product Development 88

Product Development Developer San Francisco Product 88

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Sloan kept the corporate staff small and focused on policymaking, corporate finance and planning. How Fake Luxury Conquered The World: [link] Reply Twitter Trackbacks for Durant Versus Sloan – Part 1 « Steve Blank [steveblank.com] on Topsy.com , on October 1, 2009 at 3:33 pm Said: [.]

Silicon Valley 156

Silicon Valley United States RSS Customer Development 156

conversionxl.com

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

It’s Not a Conversion Problem, It’s a Customer Development Problem. I feel like “conversion rate optimization” is in 2013 what “social media marketing” was in 2009. This is a customer development problem. So What is Customer Development? Website Analysis.

Customer Development 60

Customer Development Conversion Developer Customer 60

Steve Blank

MARCH 22, 2009

And you’d like me to do my talk on Customer Development and startups?” “No, we’re the other CIA.” Martin , on March 23, 2009 at 5:10 pm Said: A beautiful example of consilience. Reply Christine , on July 23, 2009 at 11:51 am Said: and how, Mr. Martin. Patrick , on March 23, 2009 at 5:19 pm Said: Great story.

Silicon Valley 247

Silicon Valley Thailand RSS Venture Capital 247

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

If it’s driven by profit then the ecosystem needs both entrepreneurs as well as Venture Finance. The table below from web2asia.com shows the number of users of online social networks as of 2009. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. innovation in the U.S. China now has plenty of both.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 267

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

Founding a company is a sheer act of will and tenacity in the face of immense skepticism from everyone – investors, customers, friends, etc. You literally have to take your vision of the opportunity and against all rational odds assemble financing, and a team to help you execute. And that’s just to get started. or perhaps, discontent.

Founder 297

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 297

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

We’ll build the class around the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. Instead you will be getting your hands dirty talking to customers, partners, competitors, as you encounter the chaos and uncertainty of how a startup actually works. Lifetime value calculation for customers.

Wiki 311

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 311

Steve Blank

APRIL 13, 2013

If it’s driven by profit then the ecosystem needs both entrepreneurs as well as Venture Finance. The table below from web2asia.com shows the number of users of online social networks as of 2009. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. innovation in the U.S. China now has plenty of both.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley China Venture Capital Merger 159

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 23, 2012

After I sold Smart Bear, that division has increased revenue and profit every year, for five years, even through the 2008/2009 economic disaster. It’s not about the financing path, it’s about what you’ve decided to build. But really, are all those acquirers so stupid? Surely not.

IPO 240

IPO Flash Bootstrapping Private Equity 240

Steve Blank

APRIL 28, 2016

So my first job out of business school I wanted to learn finance and I went to Merrill Lynch in investment banking. Filed under: Customer Development , SiriusXM Radio Show. .” I think I was hesitant because of the experience my father had where he tried a bunch of businesses that were unsuccessful.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Cofounder Seed Capital Texas 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 28, 2016

So my first job out of business school I wanted to learn finance and I went to Merrill Lynch in investment banking. Filed under: Customer Development , SiriusXM Radio Show. .” I think I was hesitant because of the experience my father had where he tried a bunch of businesses that were unsuccessful.

Entrepreneur 120

Entrepreneur Cofounder Seed Capital Texas 120

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Which at this stage of the company was marketing and financing. Not being able to hear negative customer input is an extremely bad idea. Out of the Ashes A few of the key tenets of Customer Development , came from the ashes. So while the words may have passed through my ears I couldn’t “hear&# it.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 21, 2010

This is why so many small businesses can be financed with simple bank loans; the level of risk and uncertainty is well enough understood that a reasonably intelligent loan officer can assess its prospects. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ▼ June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 168

San Francisco Startup Lean Continuous Deployment 168

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The more that those first employees feel like founders in terms of their ownership, emotional attachment, responsibility and overall understanding of the startup process (including financing , running day-to-day activities, etc.) the better the startup will be. I do believe that early employees should trade salary for equity.

Equity 41

Equity Employee Startup Vesting 41

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 7, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, May 7, 2009 Fear is the mind-killer Fear is an emotion that slows teams down. link] May 11, 2009 9:04 PM Ian Wilson said. Would this advice translate equally to businesses where the potential number of customers is small (BtoB rather than BtoC)? May 11, 2009 9:42 PM Artem said.

Continuous Deployment 131

Continuous Deployment San Francisco Software Review Lean 131

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 11, 2008

Among those: plentiful financing and nerds , a culture that celebrates both failure and success, and an ethos of openness and sharing. Hewlett and David Packard, who in 1938 began developing their first product, an audio oscillator, in this garage. What is customer development?

Silicon Valley 68

Silicon Valley San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 68

www.startuplessonslearned.com

MAY 4, 2012

When the remaining cofounders were about to close their first round of financing, their potential funder, Mayfield, was not willing to close until Kaleil and Tom bought Chieh out and reclaimed his equity. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development. ► 2009. (88). ► June. (3). What is a startup?

Equity 72

Equity Founder Technical Cofounder Cofounder 72

SoCal CTO

SEPTEMBER 8, 2010

Dec 26, 2009). Video From Business Of Software 2009: Building Great Software Businesses - OnStartups , August 23, 2010 Of the several conferences I attend or speak each at each year, my favorite is the Business of Software conference organized be Neil Davidson (of Red Gate ) and Joel Spolsky (of Fog Creek ). Why do startups?

Startup 191

Startup CTO Hire Cofounder Venture Capital 191

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

The Ultimate Combination of Startup Business Development Methods - ArcticStartup , November 16, 2010 I've been a huge fan of Steven Blank's Customer Development methodology for a long time. Finance, IT, Legal). 17, 2009 and before Jan. Your First Iteration of an Idea Will Be Wrong. What went wrong? So what gives?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Steve Blank

MAY 4, 2009

In an early stage startup, instead of sales being up front, the point departments are likely to be product development and customer development. Later on in this same company’s life, sales will become the pointy end and product development moves to a supporting role. It varies by company and changes over time.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley RSS Non-Compete California 126

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Corporate Finance One of the ironies in Silicon Valley is that the two companies which gave birth to its entire semiconductor industry weren’t funded by venture capital. Reply Allen Smith , on October 26, 2009 at 12:29 pm Said: The first VC were indeed from the Boston area but they predated Doriot by more than 100 years.

Silicon Valley 159

Silicon Valley Securities and Exchange Commission Venture Capital RSS 159

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 29, 2009

The venture firm was funded by Laurance Rockefeller and Lazard Freres, but after some dispute lost to the sands of time, Rockefeller pulled his financing, and the firm was dissolved after the first fund. Reply reader , on October 30, 2009 at 7:00 am Said: Thanks for this great series.

Silicon Valley 125

Silicon Valley SBIC San Francisco RSS 125

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

500 Hats , January 10, 2010 Developing new startup ideas - Chris Dixon , March 14, 2010 Batch Processing Millions and Millions of Images - Code as Craft , July 9, 2010 jQuery Plugin: Give Your Characters a NobleCount - The Product Guy , March 23, 2010 How do the sample Series Seed financing documents differ from typical Series A financing documents?

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 19, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 19, 2009 Myth: Entrepreneurship Will Make You Rich I have a new guest post on GigaOm today, called Myth: Entrepreneurship Will Make You Rich. But lots of lawyers and finance kids in New York thought they had stable jobs that would make them rich.

San Francisco 111

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 111

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 28, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, January 28, 2009 Refactoring yourself out of business Let me start out by saying I am a big fan of refactoring , the ongoing process of changing code so that it performs the same behaviors but has more elegant structure. Its an essential discipline of good software development, especially in startups.

San Francisco 79

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 79

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Managewith.us - Collaborative Task Manager Mavenlink - manage project communications, documents, schedules, budgets, payments Industrial Logic – Agile eLearning Misc Office Help Google Apps – cloud mail server, calendar, docs, etc.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

A 20 th century VC was likely to have an MBA or finance background. The watershed moment was in 2009 when the co-founder of Netscape, Marc Andreessen, formed a venture firm and started to invest in founders with the goal to teach them how to be CEOs for the long term. We now have specific management tools to grow startups.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222