Up and Running

JULY 11, 2012

My monthly column at Entrepreneur.com, Lean Startups Need Business Plans Too , came out yesterday: But here’s my beef in a nutshell: When Ries and Blank criticize the business plan, they are talking about a now-obsolete approach: the formal written business plan. You just use it.

Lean 91

Lean Business Plan Startup Agile 91

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. They measure their success on metrics that reflect success in execution, and they reward execution.

IRR 335

IRR Startup Business Model Agile 335

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2012

Pair Customer Development with Agile Development. Failure is an Integral Part of the Search for the Business Model. No Business Plan Survives First Contact with Customers. No Business Plan Survives First Contact with Customers. Startup Metrics are Different from Existing Companies.

Customer Development 328

Customer Development Developer Customer Cofounder 328

Up and Running

MARCH 14, 2017

In this article, I’ll give a quick overview of the best practices for validating your business idea in use today. Ideally, you will be able to use the results for your business plan and your pitch deck to convince investors and other business plan recipients that your idea is worthy of investment.

Business Plan 94

Business Plan PPC Lean Campaign 94

Steve Blank

JANUARY 25, 2010

A business model describes how your company creates, delivers and captures value. Or in English: A business model describes how your company makes money. (Or Or depending on your metrics for success, get users, grow traffic, etc.). How Does Customer Development, Agile Development and Lean Startups Fit?

Agile 335

Agile Startup Silicon Valley Business Model 335

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. The Wrong Metrics.

Silicon Valley 290

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 290

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2015

And worse, even if someone does manage to start something new, our management structure has so many financial, legal and HR hurdles that every initiative needs to match our existing business financial metrics, processes and procedures. More agile competitors are starting to eat into our business. What Drives Innovation?

Widget 120

Widget Lean Business Model Metrics 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 1, 2011

As customer and agile development reinvent the Startup, it’s time to ask why startup board governance has not kept up with the pace of innovation. Reinventing the board meeting may offer venture-backed startups a more efficient, productive way to direct and measure their search for a profitable business model. The Wrong Metrics.

Silicon Valley 258

Silicon Valley Business Model Venture Capital Balance Sheet 258

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 4, 2022

Kodak, for example, went from venerated, dominant business to almost nothing in just a few years because it refused to accept the revolution of digital photography. To take the best from both cultures and business plans and use those aspects to move into the future? But is there a way to integrate the two approaches?

Artificial Inteligence 175

Artificial Inteligence Agile Business Model Technology 175

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

This theory has become so influential that I have called it one of the three pillars of the lean startup - every bit as important as the changes in technology or the advent of agile development. Most likely, your business plan is loaded with opinions and guesses, sprinkled with a dash of vision and hope. Expo SF (May.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 12, 2010

For the many entrepreneurs that send me cold emails asking for me to review a business plan or answer a strategic dilemma: Im much more likely to answer if youve already tried getting an answer on the mailing list. Youll probably get a better result, anyway. Youll probably get a better result, anyway. Expo SF (May.

Lean 146

Lean San Francisco Wiki Startup 146

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

There are few courses which teach aspiring entrepreneurs the skills (business models, customer and agile development, design thinking, etc.) Many entrepreneurship courses focus on teaching students “how to write a business plan.” This class is not about how to write a business plan. to optimize this search.

Wiki 311

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 311

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 2, 2009

The core of the article is my first attempt to articulate the key metrics (in graph form) that I believe demonstrate customer value. My startup business (web development) is being shunned by virtually every other potential investor I approached thus far. They just havd faith in me. My 2008 revenues were over $100k on a 35k inventory.

San Francisco 60

San Francisco Tampa Continuous Deployment Lean 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

Certainly venture-backed startups don’t have this luxury – every business plan has a model in it. In a startup context, numbers like gross revenue are actually vanity metrics, not actionable metrics. If you haven't already, you should check out Discovery Driven Planning. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 26, 2017

In fact, keeping a perspective that is wide enough to take in various resources and strategies is key to remaining competitive and agile. When using data-driven market intelligence , make sure that you have a clear understanding of any metrics or terminology used in the data presentations. Clear, Concise Data.

Campaign 104

Campaign Developer Metadata Marketing 104

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

JUNE 23, 2015

Business planning is something Allyson notes has helped Maternova navigate the waters of being a startup, from raising capital to transitioning from an LLC to a C Corp with a 501 (c) 3 under its umbrella. ” She says that planning keeps them on track as goals get larger and their growth becomes more ambitious.

Cofounder 60

Cofounder Sweat Equity Social Media Business Model 60

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2010

Students formed 5-person teams, came up with a business idea then got out of the building to validate their business model. Our goal was not to teach the students to write a business plan nor were we trying to teach them how to give a pitch to VC’s. A Startup is a Search For A Business Model. Customer Discovery.

Intellectual Property 226

Intellectual Property Business Model Customer Development Distribution 226

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2008

Some combination of the dot-com crash and a just terrible business plan prevented us from having to take our scalability problems to the next level. Startup Visa update ► February (5) Kiwi lean startup + Australia next Why diversity matters (the meritocracy business) Beware of Vanity Metrics (for Harvard Business Rev.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Technology Continuous Deployment Lean 68

Steve Blank

JANUARY 10, 2011

They realized that conditions change so rapidly that the original business plan hypotheses becomes irrelevant. These investors taught me metrics appropriate for searching for a business model, how to work with the board when I didn’t make a milestone, and how we would figure out when it was time to change the strategy.

Forecast 264

Forecast Agile Revenue Founder 264

Hearpreneur

JUNE 21, 2017

My Mama, the founder of Yuca’s Hut in Los Feliz, CA, didn’t allow a lack of college degrees or a business plan to deter her from launching her dream. It helps me have the agility to make adjustments on the fly that benefit brands. This allows employees to make more effective and efficient business decisions.

Entrepreneur 51

Entrepreneur Africa Cofounder CTO Hire 51

ReadWriteStart

AUGUST 17, 2011

Know your business plan is wrong and keep tweaking it in real time. Don't be afraid to make your biz plan a living, breathing entity. If you have an online business, you need to be continually trying out new ideas and seeing how they fail and figure out what the next tweak will be.

Internet 142

Internet St. Louis New York City Entrepreneur 142

Steve Blank

AUGUST 18, 2010

It made more sense than our 60 page business plan predicated on a B-school class and a supernatural ability to predict the future. It’s the only reliable metric for success. Customer Development is like being Agile. Our vision was to radically change the gift card industry. Make Money or Take Money? Lessons Learned.

Customer Development 230

Customer Development Developer Customer California 230

Up and Running

JULY 28, 2015

We scrambled around thinking: ‘Okay, how do we set up a business? We’ve got to come up with a business plan.'” How does business planning factor into Divinity’s operations? Divinity has used LivePlan for three years, revising their business plan as they move forward with their enterprise.

New Zealand 60

New Zealand Harvest Agile Small Business 60

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

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 6, 2011

Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Metrics Private Equity 167

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 5, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, November 5, 2008 Getting educated about advertising, agencies, and media buyers I see lots of startups whose business plans revolve around selling high-value ad space to brand advertisers. You also need to know what each one cares about, which metrics they look at (or studiously ignore).

Advertising 60

Advertising San Francisco Media Continuous Deployment 60

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

It starts with “Plan-As-You-Go” instead of detailed, formal business plans. Lean Planning started with Tim Berry ‘s 2008 “ Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan ” which was a new way for entrepreneurs to think about planning. The business plan should no longer be just a single event.

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Up and Running

OCTOBER 1, 2014

Statdragon is a Saas platform that allows businesses to access and analyze metrics about their existing videos and optimize their video marketing strategy. If not, be agile enough to change direction and re-focus,” Nelson advises. Plan ahead. Their latest product, Statdragon, launched just last week.

Bootstrapping 107

Bootstrapping Cofounder Portland Burn Rate 107

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

Ali G meets with business leaders and investors on Wall Street to learn how to create a new company around a new product idea. After some general lessons, he then proposes his first product idea, complete with flip charts, business plan, and marketing plan. Expo SF (May. Conference streaming, sponsors, discounted tickets.

San Francisco 104

San Francisco DC Continuous Deployment Lean 104

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Product Development – Getting Funded as The Goal In a traditional product development model, entrepreneurs come up with an idea or concept, write a business plan and try to get funding to bring that idea to fruition. They will realize that you have built a startup that’s agile, resilient and customer-centric. Order Here.

Customer Development 262

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 262

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

It’s hard to imagine, but in the 20th century there were no startup blogs or books on startups to read, and business schools (the only places teaching entrepreneurship) believed the best thing they could teach startups was how to write a business plan. Today’s version is Tesla – now more valuable than Ford.).

Founder 245

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 245

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

Lean manufacturing , agile software development , and Theory of Constraints are all examples of this idea in action. No vanity metrics should be looked at. But when it comes to the specific of a product release, business plan, or marketing launch, all that matters is: do we have a strong hypothesis that will enable us to learn?

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Software Review 167

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 19, 2009

By testing each failed hypothesis leads to a new pivot, where we change just one element of the business plan (customer segment, feature set, positioning) – but don’t abandon everything we’ve learned. Being systematic about these hypotheses is what customer development is all about. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 137

San Francisco Product Lean Continuous Deployment 137

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Figuring this out takes time, and few entrepreneurs have the patience to wait it out, because the business plan does such a good job of explaining what customers are going to think. The problem is that customers dont read your business plan. Know what the success metrics are for the launch. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

The Next Web

AUGUST 26, 2012

The metrics that matter the most are returning customers (user retention), turnover per customer and viral growth (k-factor). Keep the team small, agile and up-to-date. For this reason you should find out as quickly as possible if the product is indeed offering real value to your customers by looking at real data.

Bankruptcy 121

Bankruptcy Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence 121

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 6, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 6, 2008 When NOT to listen to your users; when NOT to rely on split-tests There are three legs to the lean startup concept: agile product development , low-cost (fast to market) platforms , and rapid-iteration customer development. The most common need is becoming more customer-centric.

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 128