Expert insights. Personalized for you.
For 25 years as the sole Superpower, the U.S. neglected strategic threats from China and a rearmed Russia. MORE
The pandemic has upended the business models of most startups and existing companies. As the economy reopens companies are finding that customers may have disappeared or that their spending behavior has changed. Suppliers are going out of business or requiring cash-up-front terms. MORE
A week ago I got invited to an “innovation hero” award ceremony at a government agency. I don’t know how many of these I’ve been to in the last couple years, but this one just made my head explode. MORE
We just finished our 6th annual Hacking for Defense class at Stanford. What a year. With the pandemic winding down it finally feels like the beginning of the end. This was my sixth time teaching a virtual class during the lockdown – and for our students likely their 15th or more. MORE
“Winter is coming.”. This is the one blog post that I hope I’m completely wrong about. With the Covid-19 virus a worldwide pandemic, if you’re leading any startup or small business, you have to be asking yourself, “What’s Plan B? And what’s in my lifeboat?”. MORE
If you’re a busy startup founder, you’re likely delegating the task of scheduling key meetings about things you want/need to your admin. This is a mistake. That’s because the dialog you have in setting up the meeting is actually the first part of your meeting, not some clerical task. MORE
Our recent national security class at Stanford, Technology, Innovation, and Modern War was designed to give students insights on how the onslaught of new technologies like AI, machine learning, autonomy, cyber, access to space, biotech, hypersonics, and others have the potential to radically change how countries fight and deter threats. MORE
We just had our first week of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
We just held our eighth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
We just held our fifth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
With the theme “Build Back Better” Jerry Engel , Pete Newell , Steve Weinstein and I co-hosted nearly 500 Lean Educators from 63 countries and 235 universities online for a three-hour session to share what we’ve learned about educators on how we can help our communities rebound, adjust, and recover. MORE
This article previously appeared in the Harvard Business Review. It’s been updated with new information about the U.S. Paycheck Protection program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. What cashflow-negative companies must do to survive. We’re in uncharted territory with the Covid-19 pandemic. But it’s increasingly looking grim. MORE
I’m teaching my first non-lean start up class in a decade at Stanford next week; Technology, Innovation and Modern War : Keeping America’s Edge in an Era of Great Power Competition. MORE
I first met Shawn Carolan and his wife Jennifer at the turn of the century at 11,000 feet. I was hiking with my kids between the Yosemite High Sierra camps. Having just retired from a career as an entrepreneur I had started thinking about why startups were different from large companies. MORE
Sheltering in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, my coffees with current and ex-students (entrepreneurs, as well as employees early in their careers) have gone virtual. Pre-pandemic these coffees were usually about what startup to join or how to find product/market fit. MORE
We just held our sixth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
I was pleasantly surprised to hear from Suresh, an ex-student I’ve known for a long time. A U.S. citizen he was now the head of sales and marketing for a company in London selling medical devices to hospitals in the UK National Health Service. His boss had identified the U.S. MORE
The Covid-19 virus is not politically correct. It discriminates against the old and the unhealthy. The biggest risk factor in dying from the virus is age. If you’re 60 to 70 years old, you’re 30 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than if you’re under 40. MORE
Over the weekend I got asked the best way to teach students the principles of Lean via Zoom. One of the key lessons from our Educators Conference is that when teaching online complex information needs to be delivered to students in small, easily processed parts. MORE
SAVE THE DATE for the 3rd edition of Lean Innovation Educators Summit. December 16th, 10 – 1pm PST, 1 – 4pm EST , 6 – 9pm UTC. In July 2020, 400+ educators gathered online to discuss and share best practices for Lean education in the virtual environment. We learned a ton. MORE
As Director of the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping Force Pete Newell delivered innovation at speed and scale in the Department of Defense. Pete is now CEO of BMNT, a company that delivers innovation solutions and processes for governments. MORE
The U.S. Department of Defense is coming to grips with the idea that the technologies it needs to keep the country safe and secure are no longer exclusively owned by the military or its prime contractors. MORE
What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche. The world is a different place than it was 90 days ago. Countries traded saving lives by shutting down most of their economy. Tens of millions who had jobs are now unemployed worrying about their future. MORE
This class, Technology, Innovation, and Modern War was designed to give our students insights on how the onslaught of new technologies like AI, machine learning, autonomy, cyber, access to space, biotech, hypersonics, and others has the potential to radically change how countries fight and deter threats. MORE
A version of this article – co-authored with Raj Shah and Joe Felter – previously appeared in War On The Rocks. MORE
We just held our ninth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
You think startups are hard? Try innovating inside a large company where 99% of the company is executing the current business model, while you’re trying to figure out and build what comes next. MORE
This post previously appeared in Real Clear Defense. The Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One – is our de facto national motto. It was a rallying cry of our founders as they built a single unified nation from a collection of states. MORE
This article first appeared in Poets and Quants. Revolutions start by overturning the status quo. By the end of the 20th century, case studies and business plans had reached an evolutionary dead-end for entrepreneurs. Here’s why and what we did about it. MORE
We just held our seventeenth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
Customer Development Manifesto MORE
There are no facts inside your building, so get the heck outside. I just had a call with Lorenz, a former business school student who started a job at a biotech startup making bacteria to take CO2 out of the air. His job was to find new commercial markets for this bacteria at scale. MORE
Over the last month billions of people have been unwilling participants in the largest unintentional social experiment ever run – testing how video conferencing replaced face-to-face communication. MORE
This article first appeared in West Point’s Modern War Institute. . We just had our third week of our new national security class at Stanford – Technology, Innovation and Great Power Competition. MORE
A version of this article – co-authored with Raj Shah and Joe Felter – previously appeared in The National Interest. MORE
We just held our third session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
We just held our tenth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
We just held our second session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
We just held our sixteenth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War. MORE
Say not in grief he is no more – but live in thankfulness that he was. If you’re reading my blog, odds are you know who Clayton Christensen was. He passed away this week and it was a loss to us all. Everyone who writes about innovation stood on his shoulders. MORE
We’re holding a series of 5-day online classes at Stanford where teams will learn how to develop new business models for an economy that’s getting back to work and on the road to recovery. Sign up at [link]. The post-pandemic world will be a very different place. MORE
With in-person classes canceled, we’re about to start our online versions of Hacking for Defense and Hacking for Oceans (and here ). The classes are built on the Lean Startup methodology: Customer Discovery, Agile Engineering and the Business/Mission Model Canvas. MORE
In July 2020, 400+ educators gathered online to discuss and share best practices for Lean education in the virtual environment. We learned a ton. And we’re going to do it again. MORE
Steve Blank
AUGUST 25, 2021
A week ago I got invited to an “innovation hero” award ceremony at a government agency. I don’t know how many of these I’ve been to in the last couple years, but this one just made my head explode.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 26, 2021
This article first appeared in West Point’s Modern War Institute. . We just had our third week of our new national security class at Stanford – Technology, Innovation and Great Power Competition.
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Steve Blank
JULY 13, 2021
This article first appeared in Poets and Quants. Revolutions start by overturning the status quo. By the end of the 20th century, case studies and business plans had reached an evolutionary dead-end for entrepreneurs. Here’s why and what we did about it.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
For 25 years as the sole Superpower, the U.S. neglected strategic threats from China and a rearmed Russia.
Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic
In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in their own ecosystem. He'll also go over metrics we can use to measure the health of our ecosystems as we build more resources for innovators.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 1, 2021
You think startups are hard? Try innovating inside a large company where 99% of the company is executing the current business model, while you’re trying to figure out and build what comes next.
Steve Blank
JUNE 4, 2021
I was pleasantly surprised to hear from Suresh, an ex-student I’ve known for a long time. A U.S. citizen he was now the head of sales and marketing for a company in London selling medical devices to hospitals in the UK National Health Service. His boss had identified the U.S.
Steve Blank
JUNE 1, 2021
There are no facts inside your building, so get the heck outside. I just had a call with Lorenz, a former business school student who started a job at a biotech startup making bacteria to take CO2 out of the air. His job was to find new commercial markets for this bacteria at scale.
Steve Blank
MAY 19, 2021
As Director of the U.S. Army’s Rapid Equipping Force Pete Newell delivered innovation at speed and scale in the Department of Defense. Pete is now CEO of BMNT, a company that delivers innovation solutions and processes for governments.
Steve Blank
JUNE 8, 2021
We just finished our 6th annual Hacking for Defense class at Stanford. What a year. With the pandemic winding down it finally feels like the beginning of the end. This was my sixth time teaching a virtual class during the lockdown – and for our students likely their 15th or more.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 24, 2020
We just had our first week of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
FEBRUARY 16, 2021
A version of this article – co-authored with Raj Shah and Joe Felter – previously appeared in War On The Rocks.
Steve Blank
JUNE 23, 2020
The pandemic has upended the business models of most startups and existing companies. As the economy reopens companies are finding that customers may have disappeared or that their spending behavior has changed. Suppliers are going out of business or requiring cash-up-front terms.
Steve Blank
MAY 18, 2020
We’re holding a series of 5-day online classes at Stanford where teams will learn how to develop new business models for an economy that’s getting back to work and on the road to recovery. Sign up at [link]. The post-pandemic world will be a very different place.
Steve Blank
APRIL 27, 2020
Over the last month billions of people have been unwilling participants in the largest unintentional social experiment ever run – testing how video conferencing replaced face-to-face communication.
Steve Blank
MAY 21, 2020
The Covid-19 virus is not politically correct. It discriminates against the old and the unhealthy. The biggest risk factor in dying from the virus is age. If you’re 60 to 70 years old, you’re 30 times more likely to die from Covid-19 than if you’re under 40.
Steve Blank
MARCH 17, 2020
“Winter is coming.”. This is the one blog post that I hope I’m completely wrong about. With the Covid-19 virus a worldwide pandemic, if you’re leading any startup or small business, you have to be asking yourself, “What’s Plan B? And what’s in my lifeboat?”.
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 28, 2020
With the theme “Build Back Better” Jerry Engel , Pete Newell , Steve Weinstein and I co-hosted nearly 500 Lean Educators from 63 countries and 235 universities online for a three-hour session to share what we’ve learned about educators on how we can help our communities rebound, adjust, and recover.
Steve Blank
MAY 20, 2020
What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche. The world is a different place than it was 90 days ago. Countries traded saving lives by shutting down most of their economy. Tens of millions who had jobs are now unemployed worrying about their future.
Steve Blank
JANUARY 6, 2021
Over the weekend I got asked the best way to teach students the principles of Lean via Zoom. One of the key lessons from our Educators Conference is that when teaching online complex information needs to be delivered to students in small, easily processed parts.
Steve Blank
JANUARY 8, 2021
This class, Technology, Innovation, and Modern War was designed to give our students insights on how the onslaught of new technologies like AI, machine learning, autonomy, cyber, access to space, biotech, hypersonics, and others has the potential to radically change how countries fight and deter threats.
Steve Blank
APRIL 16, 2020
Sheltering in place during the Covid-19 pandemic, my coffees with current and ex-students (entrepreneurs, as well as employees early in their careers) have gone virtual. Pre-pandemic these coffees were usually about what startup to join or how to find product/market fit.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 6, 2020
We just held our third session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
JANUARY 14, 2021
Our recent national security class at Stanford, Technology, Innovation, and Modern War was designed to give students insights on how the onslaught of new technologies like AI, machine learning, autonomy, cyber, access to space, biotech, hypersonics, and others have the potential to radically change how countries fight and deter threats.
Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 17, 2020
In July 2020, 400+ educators gathered online to discuss and share best practices for Lean education in the virtual environment. We learned a ton. And we’re going to do it again.
Steve Blank
MAY 11, 2021
The U.S. Department of Defense is coming to grips with the idea that the technologies it needs to keep the country safe and secure are no longer exclusively owned by the military or its prime contractors.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 26, 2020
We just held our eighth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
APRIL 13, 2021
This post previously appeared in Real Clear Defense. The Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum – Out of Many, One – is our de facto national motto. It was a rallying cry of our founders as they built a single unified nation from a collection of states.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 19, 2020
We just held our sixth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 10, 2020
I’m teaching my first non-lean start up class in a decade at Stanford next week; Technology, Innovation and Modern War : Keeping America’s Edge in an Era of Great Power Competition.
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 15, 2020
We just held our fifth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
JANUARY 28, 2020
Say not in grief he is no more – but live in thankfulness that he was. If you’re reading my blog, odds are you know who Clayton Christensen was. He passed away this week and it was a loss to us all. Everyone who writes about innovation stood on his shoulders.
Steve Blank
APRIL 7, 2020
With in-person classes canceled, we’re about to start our online versions of Hacking for Defense and Hacking for Oceans (and here ). The classes are built on the Lean Startup methodology: Customer Discovery, Agile Engineering and the Business/Mission Model Canvas.
Steve Blank
MARCH 4, 2020
If you’re a busy startup founder, you’re likely delegating the task of scheduling key meetings about things you want/need to your admin. This is a mistake. That’s because the dialog you have in setting up the meeting is actually the first part of your meeting, not some clerical task.
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 14, 2020
SAVE THE DATE for the 3rd edition of Lean Innovation Educators Summit. December 16th, 10 – 1pm PST, 1 – 4pm EST , 6 – 9pm UTC. In July 2020, 400+ educators gathered online to discuss and share best practices for Lean education in the virtual environment. We learned a ton.
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 11, 2020
We just held our seventeenth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 29, 2020
We just held our second session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
FEBRUARY 9, 2021
A version of this article – co-authored with Raj Shah and Joe Felter – previously appeared in The National Interest.
Steve Blank
APRIL 1, 2020
This article previously appeared in the Harvard Business Review. It’s been updated with new information about the U.S. Paycheck Protection program and the Economic Injury Disaster Loan program. What cashflow-negative companies must do to survive. We’re in uncharted territory with the Covid-19 pandemic. But it’s increasingly looking grim.
Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 5, 2020
We just held our tenth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 2, 2020
We just held our ninth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 9, 2020
We just held our sixteenth session of our new national security class Technology, Innovation and Modern War.
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