ReadWriteStart

APRIL 8, 2023

Keeping up with trends is the reality show of the e-commerce world, which is constantly developing, gaining a significant market share, and driving online sales. According to the Adjust and Sensor Tower report, in 2021, m-commerce accumulated 54% of all e-commerce sales worldwide, whose market exceeds $3.5 Only in 2021, 72.9%

eCommerce 185

eCommerce Technical Review Software Review Analytics 185

Steve Blank

MAY 23, 2016

Established businesses execute business models while startups search for them. This unorthodox idea has become a movement …called The Lean Startup – and has led to entirely new ways to start companies, commercialize science, and think about innovation. Actually they’re entirely different. How did this happen?

Lean 223

Lean Technical Review Vietnam Engineer 223

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development. So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 16, 2012

Alexander Osterwalder and I spent last week in Salt Lake City, Utah as judges at the 2 nd Annual International Business Model Competition , hosted by Professor Nathan Furr , and his team at the BYU Center for Entrepreneurship. Large companies wrote business plans, so VC’s made startups write business plans.

Business Model 267

Business Model Customer Development Utah Business Plan 267

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2013

Last May, I shared the news that long-time Lean Startup advocates Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits were working on a new book called The Lean Entrepreneur featuring illustrations by FAKEGRIMLOCK. LitMotors approach to using Lean Startup to create a new vehicle category. That new book is about to hit bookstores everywhere.

Lean 167

Lean Entrepreneur Agile San Francisco 167

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2016

As we prepared for the new Hacking for Defense class at Stanford, we had to stop and ask ourselves: How do we use the Business Model Canvas if the primary goal is not to earn money, but to fulfill a mission? In other words, how can we adapt the Business Model Canvas when the metrics of success for an organization is not revenue?

Business Model 120

Business Model Revenue Channel Community 120

Up and Running

AUGUST 8, 2018

It only takes an hour each month, keeps the management team up to speed on everything that’s going on in the company, and helps us plan and manage in a lean and effective way. By reviewing major initiatives on a monthly basis, we can stay agile and make changes as needed. This meeting is our monthly plan review meeting.

Software Review 65

Software Review Business Plan Product Forecast 65

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

Consumer Internet investing seems to have split off from traditional Venture Capital, and is creating a new category of VC’s: Lean VC’s. I think you can blame Customer and Agile Development for a small part of it. The Rise of the “Lean VC’s” – Consumer Internet Gets Funded. Here’s why. Electron-based Venture Capital.

Lean 263

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 263

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

SuperMac sold our graphic boards for the Macintosh through multiple distribution channels: direct sales to major accounts, national chains, independent rep firms, etc. But the computer retail channel was a large part of our sales. Oh yes, and retail sales doubled with the new product packaging.

Sales 120

Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2012

One of the confusing things to entrepreneurs, investors and educators is the relationship between customer development and business model design and business planning and execution. When does a new venture focus on customer development and business models ? Here’s an attempt to put this all in context.

Search 324

Search Business Model Customer Development Agile 324

Steve Blank

MARCH 4, 2014

These groups are adapting or adopting the practices of startups and accelerators – disruption and innovation rather than direct competition, customer development versus more product features, agility and speed versus lowest cost. Every large company, whether it can articulate it or not, is executing a proven business model (s).

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

Business schools teach aspiring executives a variety of courses around the execution of known business models, (accounting, organizational behavior, managerial skills, marketing, operations, etc.). In contrast, startups search for a business model. (Or to optimize this search. to optimize this search.

Wiki 316

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 316

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2019

Lean LaunchPad class developed for Stanford. My contribution has been, “Why don’t we design classes more closely modeled to what innovators and entrepreneurs actually do.” Today the capstone class is most often experiential, team-based, hands on, focused around the search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

Incubator 332

Incubator Lean Programming Government 332

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

What matters is proving the viability of the company’s business model, what investors call “traction.&# Of course this is not at all true of many profitable small businesses, but they are not what I mean by startups.) For a startup, having great sales DNA is a wonderful asset. Go on an agile diet quickly.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Steve Blank

JANUARY 25, 2010

In this post we’re going to offer a new definition of why startups exist : a startup is an organization formed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. A Business Model. Ok, but what is a business model ? A business model describes how your company creates, delivers and captures value.

Agile 335

Agile Startup Silicon Valley Business Model 335

Steve Blank

JANUARY 6, 2014

This process forced companies to release and launch products by model years, and market new and “improved” versions. In the last few years Agile and “Continuous Deployment” has replaced Waterfall and transformed how companies big and small build products. skip this part of you’re conversant in Waterfall and Lean.).

Continuous Deployment 331

Continuous Deployment Customer Agile Cloud 331

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

I hope to show why lean and agile techniques actually reduce the negative impacts of technical debt and increase our ability to take advantage of its positive effects. Just as a business incurs some debt to take advantage of a market opportunity developers may incur technical debt to hit an important deadline.

Technical Review 168

Technical Review Software Review San Francisco Lean 168

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Twenty eight years ago I was the bright, young, eager product marketing manager called out to the field to support sales by explaining the technical details of Convergent Technologies products to potential customers. They looked at their watches, gave our sales guy a quizzical look and left.

Technology 143

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 143

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2015

More agile competitors are starting to eat into our business. I suggested the best place to start the conversation is with the 21 st century definition of a startup: A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. How can we restart our innovation culture?”.

Widget 120

Widget Lean Business Model Metrics 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 3, 2015

Hershey just bought Krave Jerky, a team in our 2011 Berkeley Lean LaunchPad class, for >$200 million. These new entrants disrupted their food categories by offering high quality proprietary recipes, outsourcing their manufacturing, and using their cash and resources on sales and marketing to build distribution and a differentiated brand.

North America 120

North America Lean Customer Development Distribution 120

SVPG

MARCH 10, 2016

For many years, as teams move to Agile methods (they usually start with Scrum), many companies decide to contract with or hire an Agile Coach. These people are there to help the broader team – especially engineers, QA, product managers and product designers – to learn the methods and mindset involved in moving to Agile.

Agile 60

Agile SCRUM Lean Engineer 60

Steve Blank

JULY 25, 2011

So the engineers taught themselves how to become marketers, sales people and CEO’s. Large companies execute known business models. In the real world a startup is about the search for a business model or more accurately, startups are a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and repeatable business model.

Engineer 311

Engineer Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital 311

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Today, I want to introduce you to a new concept for starting and growing successful companies: Lean Planning™. Before I dive too deeply into the Lean Planning methodology, it makes sense to talk about its history and where it comes from. It starts with “Plan-As-You-Go” instead of detailed, formal business plans.

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Steve Blank

MAY 10, 2010

The skills required when they were an 8-person startup trying to “search for the business model” wasn’t the same set of skills needed now that they were a 70-person company “executing the business model.” Agile Development? This Lean startup stuff? Who Are You? MBA or Engineering Management ?

Engineer 295

Engineer Business Model Programming Finance 295

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2009

Gathering real-world feedback from customers is a core concept of Customer Development as well as the Lean Startup. Web startups are at real disadvantage here as founders may confuse web metrics, A/B testing and on-line surveys as the entirety of first-hand knowledge – for most web business models they are not.

Metrics 242

Metrics Customer Customer Development Lean 242

Altgate

SEPTEMBER 16, 2010

But did you know that founder Markus Frind has just 3 employees for his $10MM+ revenue business? The servers are in the cloud, his advertising sales is with Google, etc. The reason is that putting a sales force in the field with limited inventory is very, very expensive. He basically outsources everything. So it can be done.

Software Review 65

Software Review Offshore Startup Boston 65

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development.

Customer Development 253

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 253

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 16, 2010

First, SlideShare is a fantastic product (that I use on a regular basis) and an impressive company example of Lean Startup practices in action. Second, their story illustrates a key Lean Startup idea: proving the business in micro-scale. That is the essence of proving the business in micro-scale. How are we doing?

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Analytics Continuous Deployment 167

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2013

It’s been fun watching a 20th Century entrepreneur learn new tricks as he builds his next startup, FindTheBest using Lean Methodology. Lean Start-up Connection: Business Model Canvas. By leaning on our technology, we knew we could build cheaply, we just didn’t know how cheaply. An Untested Hypothesis.

Lean 299

Lean Agile Customer Development SEO 299

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 26, 2012

IPOs by year, 1980-2011, with pre-IPO last 12-month sales less than (small firms) or greater than (large firms) $50 million (2009 purchasing power). Once you put a lot of money in, you're no longer lean and flexible and kinkin' and jivin' and trying to figure it out," he says. Everything's better with the lean model.

IPO 115

IPO Stock San Francisco Lean 115

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

Execution by Vertical Market As the class progressed, students asked how the activities/functions of a startup; (Sales, Marketing, Business Development, Product Development, etc.) For example, How does sales differ from one market to another? Is marketing different if you’re in the cleantech business versus medical devices?

Vertical 125

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 125

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Instead of sitting down to write a 40-page business plan, start with a one-page pitch. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

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 267

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 267

Steve Blank

JUNE 22, 2009

Things Change In 1956 Hewlett Packard (HP) was a 17-year old company with $20 million in test equipment sales with 900 employees. The original Hewlett Packard which made test and measurement products was spun-out and renamed Agilent. Agilent is a $5.8 For the first 25 years HP’s business model was static.

Silicon Valley 186

Silicon Valley RSS California Agile 186

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 4, 2021

Modern entrepreneurship began at the turn of the 21 st century with the observation that startups aren’t smaller versions of large companies – large companies at their core execute known business models, while startups search for scalable business models. Problem – Lean Doesn’t Have a Market Definition Step.

Customer 424

Customer Marketing Lean Vertical 424

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

In particular, a marketing launch can help you do three things (courtesy, as is most of my marketing advice, of The Four Steps to the Epiphany ): Drive customers into your sales pipeline. You have to know your business model. Most startups launch before theyve figured out what business theyre in. Gattiker said.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Managing your cash position when forecasted sales aren’t being achieved is tough, and if you are spending more than you are generating and cash piles are dwindling, now is the time to address your financial position. One of the great benefits of a startup is their ability to be agile and adapt quickly to a changing environment.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Architecture Revenue Channel 157