Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Even adding money won’t do it – you need to create a committed and engaged team and partners for marketing and sales, as well as production and distribution. Choose a business model that will win in the market. Many startups I know fail by simply giving up too soon. Don’t be afraid to pivot as you learn from the market.

Technical Review 201

Technical Review Government Agile Differentiation 201

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 8, 2021

Every startup entrepreneur wants to see their company grow. But none of that can happen if you have an impediment to growth – an invisible (or perhaps visible) force keeping your startup from creating the momentum it needs to keep growing. . And more importantly, how can you avoid or overcome them? . Visibility . The Competitive Edge.

Startup 127

Startup Retention Acquisition Agile 127

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

In my 21 years as an entrepreneur, I would come up for air once a month to religiously read the Harvard Business Review. It was not only my secret weapon in thinking about new startup strategies, it also gave me a view of the management issues my customers were dealing with.

Technical Review 327

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 327

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

A startup is not just about the idea, it’s about testing and then implementing the idea. As the farm fields flew by on the interstate I listened as Dave described how he translated his vision into a series of hypotheses and mapped them onto a business model canvas. This startup was broken at multiple levels. The Problem.

Cofounder 336

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Coder 336

Steve Blank

MARCH 26, 2019

The class was unique in that it was 1) team-based, 2) experiential, 3) lean-driven (hypothesis testing/business model/customer development/agile engineering). When we started this class, the concept of Lean (business models, customer development, agile, pivots, mvp’s) was new to everyone.

Lean 248

Lean Business Model Balance Sheet Video 248

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

I am always surprised when critics complain that the Lean Startup’s Build, Measure, Learn approach is nothing more than “throwing incomplete products out of the building to see if they work.”. It’s time to update Build, Measure, Learn to what we now know is the best way to build Lean startups. Here’s how.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 25, 2010

Customer Development is a technique startups use to quickly iterate and test each part of their business model. How you execute Customer Development varies, depending on your type of business. In my book, “ The Four Steps to the Epiphany ” I use enterprise software as the business model example.

Customer Development 266

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 266

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2015

But for startups with limited resources and experience, I always recommend a soft launch or toe-in-the-water approach in a local market -- and scale up later. In fact, for startups, it usually makes sense to announce your solution on social media and blogs even before you have built the first one. Maximum agility for required pivots.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Startup Stealth Agile 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? Surprisingly if you’ve filled out the business model canvas you already know who you need. She started by sketching her business model canvas on a napkin, but somehow the conversation quickly shifted to what was really on her mind.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

Once upon a time every great organization was a scrappy startup willing to take risks – new ideas, new methods, new customers, targets, and mission. If they were a commercial company, they figured out product/market fit; or if a government organization, it focused on solution/mission fit. Process Versus Product.

Government 315

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 315

ReadWriteStart

JULY 3, 2019

Startups are starting to launch without a central headquarters, or any designated office building, in an attempt to create “fully remote” businesses. To conventional businesses, the notion seems absurd; they rely on in-house collaboration and the reputational allure of a headquarters. The Benefits of Fully Remote Businesses.

Startup 125

Startup Reputation United States Business Model 125

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

In my 21 years as an entrepreneur, I would come up for air once a month to religiously read the Harvard Business Review. It was not only my secret weapon in thinking about new startup strategies, it also gave me a view of the management issues my customers were dealing with.

Technical Review 219

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 219

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2014

Product/Market fit now has its own book. —— The Lean Startup process builds new ventures more efficiently. It has three parts: a business model canvas to frame hypotheses, customer development to get out of the building to test those hypotheses and agile engineering to build minimum viable products.

Business Model 335

Business Model Design Customer Development Lean 335

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

I’ve spent my life in innovation, eight startups in 21 years, and the last 15 years in academia teaching it. And to today, when its major product is simply innovation. We’re standing 15 air miles away from the epicenter of technology innovation. The home of some of the most valuable and fastest growing companies in the world.

Restful 222

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 222

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 24, 2010

Wave after wave of hardware, software, biotech and cleantech products have emerged from what has become “ground zero” of entrepreneurial and startup culture. While startups continued to innovate in each new wave of technology, the rate of innovation was constrained by limitations we only now can understand. Starting now.

Silicon Valley 335

Silicon Valley United States Venture Capital Software Review 335

ReadWriteStart

APRIL 8, 2023

In contrast, it left several e-trends: augmented reality, zero coding, the marketplace boom, and product subscriptions are just a few of them. With the help of voice assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, you can purchase the product just by saying it while running errands. We will deliver product x every three months with free shipping.”

eCommerce 185

eCommerce Technical Review Software Review Analytics 185

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

Over the last three years our Lean LaunchPad / NSF Innovation Corps classes have been teaching hundreds of entrepreneurial teams a year how to build their startups by getting out of the building and testing their hypotheses behind their business model. We thought this would be perfect for our product. Wireframes.

Lean 315

Lean Customer Development Sales Cycle Business Model 315

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2014

We’re changing the order in which we teach the business model canvas and customer development to better-fit therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. The Lean LaunchPad class uses the three “ Lean Startup ” principles: Alexander Osterwalders “ business model canvas ” to frame hypotheses.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Lean IP Open Source 281

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 13, 2024

Startups in the cybersecurity sector are facing a daunting market environment , contending with decreased valuations and increasing pressure to sell while competing for vital funding and collaborations.

Down Round 154

Down Round Marketing Artificial Inteligence Startup 154

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

And he recognized it was making his startup feel and act like a big ponderous company. Most decisions in a startup must be made in the face of uncertainty. An example of a reversible decision could be adding a product feature, a new algorithm in the code, targeting a specific set of customers, etc.

Silicon Valley 300

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 300

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2021

By the end of the 20th century entrepreneurship education fell into two categories: 1) starting small businesses and 2) starting high-growth, high-risk scalable startups. But both types of entrepreneurship courses were taught using case studies and taught students how to write and execute a business plan.

Lean 433

Lean Agile Business Model Business Plan 433

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. Do they have better sales, marketing, or product development groups? The short answer is no.

Incubator 402

Incubator Lean Agile Business Model 402

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

63 scientists and engineers in 21 teams made 2,000 customer calls in 8 weeks , turning laboratory ideas into formidable startups. The Innovation Corps Startup Team. We taught them the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. This week we saw the results. Your Country Needs You.

Incubator 301

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 301

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. The startup process has become demystified – information is everywhere. People had to actually pay you for your product.

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. – not just web-based startups.

Lean 298

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 298

Up and Running

AUGUST 8, 2018

This article, which originally appeared on our LivePlan Blog , is part of our “Business Planning Guide” —a curated list of our articles that will help you with the planning process! Too many meetings are run poorly, have no real objective, and waste employees’ time—which kills productivity. Did all product lines perform well?

Software Review 65

Software Review Business Plan Product Forecast 65

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2023

Enjoy the personal learning and growth of new business models, more efficient processes, and existing customers who remain loyal due to your initiatives. Amazon and Jeff Bezos credit much of their growth and success to incenting innovative business “experiments.”

Metrics 279

Metrics Startup Agile Salary 279

Steve Blank

MAY 17, 2010

I suggested that they first might want to read my post on why business plans are a poor planning and execution tool for startups. At best I think business plan competitions are a waste of time. Business Plan Versus Business Models. Where did the idea that startups write business plans come from?

Business Plan 312

Business Plan Business Model Customer Development Deal Flow 312

Steve Blank

JANUARY 30, 2013

Entrenched Innovation Model Issues : Qualcomm’s existing innovation model – wireless products were created in the R&D lab and then handed over to existing business units for commercialization – was wildly successful in the existing wireless and mobile space. Part 1 outlining the program is here. Read it first.

Programming 265

Programming Technical Review Incubator Intellectual Property 265

Steve Blank

MARCH 2, 2011

The Energy Storage division is acting like a startup, and Prescott Logan its General Manager, has lived up to the charter. He’s as good as any startup CEO in Silicon Valley. They’ve gained as good of an insight into customer needs and product feature set than any startup I’ve seen. Corporate elephants can dance.

Silicon Valley 222

Silicon Valley Agile Customer Development Early Stage 222

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2016

Services (Cloud, ads, music) have a very different business model. They are hard to do in a company that excels at products. Microsoft executed its 20 th -century business model extremely well, but it missed the new and more important ones. What’s Missing? They remain entrepreneurs.

Azure 120

Azure Business Model Cloud Artificial Inteligence 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2016

Services (Cloud, ads, music) have a very different business model. They are hard to do in a company that excels at products. Microsoft executed its 20 th -century business model extremely well, but it missed the new and more important ones. What’s Missing? They remain entrepreneurs. .

Azure 120

Azure Business Model Cloud Artificial Inteligence 120

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 13, 2010

Next semester on the Department of Computer Science of the Catholic University of Chile professor Rosa Alarcón ( @ruyalarcon ) and I ( @felixcl ) will be teaching a course based on the Customer Development Model developed by Steve Blank. The syllabus for the Stanford course can be seen here. We look forward to your comments and suggestions!

Chile 235

Chile Silicon Valley Lean Agile 235

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

Starting in the 1950’s, Stanford’s engineering department became “outward facing” and developed a culture of spinouts and active faculty support and participation in the first wave of Silicon Valley startups. Berkeley Haas Business School is a leader in entrepreneurship education. That has changed in the last few years. Today the U.C.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. Perhaps that’s because where established companies might see risks or threats, startups see opportunity. Innovation.

Private Equity 325

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 325

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 8, 2008 The lean startup Ive been thinking for some time about a term that could encapsulate trends that are changing the startup landscape. After some trial and error, Ive settled on the Lean Startup. Of course, many startups are capital efficient and generally frugal.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2010

They start with an innovation, search for a repeatable business model, build the infrastructure for a company, then grow by efficiently executing the model. outpace an existing company’s business model. You want to start executing the business model. Just like a startup. Creative Destruction.

Search 242

Search Agile Customer Development Technical Review 242