Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Is there a profitable business model? The Traditional VC Pitch Entrepreneurs who pursue the traditional product development model don’t have customer data to answer these questions. Can it scale?”

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

Verticals Are Different I began to realize that entrepreneurs (and their professors) act like every vertical market and industry has the same set of rules. So the first heuristic is: do not assume the startup rules are the same for all vertical markets. Just for discussion, the markets I chose were: Web 2.0,

Vertical 149

Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 149

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Getting Out of the Building Wasn’t Entertainment – Discovery and Validation Now that I was the master of the “facts” about customer needs in these specialized vertical markets , and with my team of vertical marketers , I thought I had achieved absolution and redemption. But there was one fatal flaw.

Silicon Valley 172

Silicon Valley RSS Vertical California 172

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 11, 2011

On the topic of business models, Spencer proposed building traffic and then selling the company, which I pushed back on. We spent considerable time exploring ways to verticalize the app and creating an ad-supported business model instead, which would also broaden his exit options considerably.

Silicon Valley 105

Silicon Valley Columbus Ohio Incubator 105

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 27, 2020

I played competitive poker for many years, and even had a sponsor for the 2010 World Series of Poker, so I’ve developed a good sense of how to read people. We bootstrapped this venture, so while there aren’t many perks, being able to go from a white board to a green golf course in 10 minutes is a bonus. What’s your actual super power?

Houston 63

Houston Phoenix Cofounder San Francisco 63

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Tweet View Comments Sarah Lacy Feb 19, 2010 Pepperdine has a new study out that attempts to shed some light on the clubby, shadowy world of private finance. Researchers polled experts in lending, mezzanine capital, private equity, venture capital and private businesses themselves. Think Again. dasein Yeah, I agree.

Venture Capital 62

Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62