VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 26, 2022

The past year was a wild ride for startups and founders, giving a whole new meaning to the ”rollercoaster” aspect of being an entrepreneur. A combination of competition for top talent and an effort to bring employees back to the office drove startups in Israel to throw extravagant parties and all-inclusive retreats abroad.

Founder 187

Founder Startup Valuation Pre-Money Valuation 187

YoungUpstarts

MAY 30, 2014

by Sam Bahreini, co-founder and COO of VoloForce. Improved customer satisfaction. Improved customer satisfaction often goes hand in hand with increased sales. When customers like your product, they tell their friends, and then their friends tell their friends. Increased sales. You get the idea.

Customer 231

Customer Development Team Review Cofounder Agile 231

ReadWriteStart

MAY 30, 2022

The Proud Owners of a Startup. Today, as the proud owner of a startup, you’re probably much better at managing your money. While investors can seem like a solution to countless problems you encounter as a founder, don’t be too hasty to start eating from their hands. We have all been there, done that. You might even ask for it.

Bootstrapping 147

Bootstrapping Startup Equity Silicon Valley 147

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 16, 2009 Combining agile development with customer development Today I read an excellent blog post that I just had to share. Jim Murphy is a long-time agile practitioner in startups. But startups sometimes have trouble applying agile successfully. Enter Jims post.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111

Steve Blank

APRIL 3, 2018

Others join startups to strike out on their own. But I remind them that customers don’t ask for your transcript. Most great technology startups – Oracle, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, Tesla – were built by a team led by an entrepreneur. Lessons Learned. Entrepreneurship is a calling, not a job.

Technical Review 335

Technical Review Entrepreneur Artificial Inteligence Cofounder 335

View from Seed

JUNE 13, 2016

According to David Cancel , CEO of Drift , the optimal number of members in a product team at a young startup is three. ” The point is to focus on the customer better. All of the products and services that we create are ultimately connected with the customer. First, be wary of waterfall and agile. Yes, really.).

Product 120

Product Customer Agile Cofounder 120

The Startup Magazine

APRIL 14, 2022

While certain aspects of setting up a startup can be exhilarating, especially in the early stages of the business, there are also plenty of bumps along the road, big and small. So, before you start your startup and invest your time and money in it, you have to ensure your startup does not fail. Image Source. Focus on marketing.

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Startup Early Stage Naming Public Relations 147

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2019

by Everett Harper, CEO and cofounder of Truss. It’s not uncommon for startups that are laser-focused on fundraising to deprioritize certain challenges. Startups tend to put a premium on being “agile,” but that doesn’t always work – and certainly won’t replace the effective collaboration a business needs to grow.

Technical Cofounder 113

Technical Cofounder Burn Rate Seed Stage Cofounder 113

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

My guests on Bay Area Ventures on Wharton Business Radio on Sirius XM Channel 111 were: Eric Ries , entrepreneur and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Lean Startup. Eric was the very first practitioner of my Customer Development methodology which became the core of the the Lean methodology. Origins of the Lean Startup.

Lean 120

Lean Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder Channel 120

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 6, 2013

Once again, along with my partners at 500 Startups, we are proud to present the most substantive track at SXSW: [link] There was a running joke last year that "the Lean Startup track was the only place at SXSW you couldn't get out of the building." Juan Diego Calle CEO Dharmesh Shah Co-founder & CTO Ross Snyder Sr.

Lean 165

Lean Cofounder Startup Software Engineering 165

SoCal CTO

APRIL 2, 2013

What's Going to Go Wrong A lot of founders don't really understand Lean Startup principles. Have you conducted Problem, Solution and Feature Interviews with customers? Do you have a Technical Advisors: Every Web/Mobile Startup Must Have One ? Don't be fooled by a Common Misunderstanding in Agile Software Development.

Technical Cofounder 219

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Developers Software Development 219

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 4, 2017

Idealistic founders believe they will break the mold when they scale, and not turn into a “typical big company.” Or it’s fatal because that was a co-founder. Marketing isn’t scheduling a launch and recruiting isn’t timing the start-dates of the next 50 hires in customer service and sales. Predictability.

Government 223

Government Startup Cofounder Technical Support 223

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. the wave of semiconductor startups in the 1960’s/70’s, the emergence of Venture Capital as a professional industry, the personal computer revolution in 1980’s, the rise of the Internet in the 1990’s and finally.

Restful 243

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 243

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 4, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, April 4, 2010 Kent Beck keynote, "To Agility, and Beyond" Kent Beck will give the opening keynote at the Startup Lessons Learned conference on April 23. His keynote will kick off the day as well as our module on the build phase of the fundamental feedback loop that powers all startups.

Agile 99

Agile Software Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 99

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 6, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, November 6, 2008 Steveys Blog Rants: Good Agile, Bad Agile I thought Id share an interesting post from someone with a decidedly anti-agile point of view. Steveys Blog Rants: Good Agile, Bad Agile : "Google is an exceptionally disciplined company, from a software-engineering perspective.

Agile 76

Agile San Francisco Software Review Continuous Deployment 76

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Posted on June 11, 2009 by steveblank When my students ask me about whether they should be a founder or cofounder of a startup I ask them to take a walk around the block and ask themselves: Are you comfortable with: Chaos – startups are disorganized Uncertainty – startups never go per plan Are you: Resilient – at times you will fail – badly.

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Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 229

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. — 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. .

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Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 274

mashable.com

JUNE 11, 2013

16 Common Mistakes Young Startups Make. Are you working on a startup? In fact, recent research shows that 75% of startups fail (based on a study of 2,000 startups that received VC funding from 2004 to 2010). Some startups are destined for failure. Check out the tips below from founders, CEOs and investors alike.

Cofounder 111

Cofounder Technical Review Startup Software Review 111

www.women2.org

MARCH 8, 2012

female founders. founder friday. Lessons learned from female founders and women entrepreneurs. Startup Quote: Wendy Tan White on Building a Successful Startup » FounderDating: How I Found My Co-Founder. Tweet By Elizabeth Knopf (Co-Founder & CEO, Sorced). Conference 2012.

Cofounder 47

Cofounder Technical Review San Francisco Founder 47

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 8, 2008 What is customer development? But too often when its time to think about customers, marketing, positioning, or PR, we delegate it to "marketroids" or "suits." Many of us are not accustomed to thinking about markets or customers in a disciplined way. Heres the catch.

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 25, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, March 25, 2009 The Lean Startup at Agile Vancouver April 21st A surprising number of respondents in the latest Lessons Learned survey hail from one of the flourishing startup hubs in Canada. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

Agile 60

Agile Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 4, 2016

Most startups’ founding mythologies are full of the same phrases : “hard work,” “agile strategy,” “smart scaling.” The challenge, however, is that there will be people—VCs, potential customers, and employees—who don’t understand the concept, or don’t see the value of your product.

Startup 120

Startup Cofounder Software Review Sales Cycle 120

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, September 7, 2008 Customer Development Engineering Yesterday, I had the opportunity to guest lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at the Berkeley-Columbia executive MBA program. Can this methodology be used for startups that are not exclusively about software? Talk about waste.

Customer Development 131

Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer 131

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 11, 2015

A startup is not a part-time activity. Trying to do a startup while keeping your day job may doom you to failure. So will failing to understand your customers. Joining me in the Stanford University studio were: Reetu Gupta , co-founder and CEO of CirkledIn , an online platform that compiles students’ school life achievements.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder India Entrepreneur Maryland 120

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

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

There are very few people in Silicon Valley who have such a precise grasp on what defines success of early-stage startup companies than Eric Ries. Importantly we also discussed: should startups raise small amounts of money or large? how should you organize teams in a startup? 01:17 Background, before the Lean Startup.

Silicon Valley 301

Silicon Valley Lean Social Media PR 301

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2018

If you’re an early employee at a startup, one day you will wake up to find that what you worked on 24/7 for the last year is no longer the most important thing – you’re no longer the most important employee, and process, meetings, paperwork and managers and bosses have shown up. I know a change is going to come. That doesn’t scale.”

Part-Time VPE 334

Part-Time VPE Employee Cofounder Hiring 334

The Next Web

OCTOBER 18, 2013

Anthony Bosschem is the founder and head of Darwin Analytics. Before our company even had a product, we acquired our first customers just by selling our ideas alone. If we can confirm their belief, we can also expand our customer base. Search for your non-technical cofounder. Customers are awesome.

Technical Cofounder 130

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Agile Design 130

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Don’t startups exist for the same reason?

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I believe it is the best introduction to Customer Development you can buy. As all of you know, Steve Blank is the progenitor of Customer Development and author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany. I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read.

Customer Development 166

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 166

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 30, 2010

Rob Walling generously allowed me to reprint this excerpt from his new book, "Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup" available in paperback and Kindle from Amazon and in PDF and ePub from StartupBook.net. Why Should My Startup Use a Virtual Assistant? It's a mix of shock and excitement. So we tossed it.

Software Review 284

Software Review Startup Technical Review Hosting 284

Hearpreneur

MAY 18, 2022

My co-founder and I started our labor-only moving company as the first movers ourselves. In 2010, I co-founded Community Tax LLC, a tax company dedicated to helping customers nationwide with tax preparation, bookkeeping, and accounting services. Thanks to Lucy Bedewi, Veronica V Sopher ! #4- 4- To leave an impact.

Entrepreneur 139

Entrepreneur Technical Review Software Review Jordan 139

The Next Web

MARCH 6, 2014

Here’s a problem I bet every non-technical founder has experienced: the communication gap between what the biz dev team wants and what the tech team thinks they want, and vice versa. It’s disruptive, and for founders, very frustrating to watch. Practice Agile Development. Kelsey Meyer , Influence & Co. Build Trust.

Technical Review 129

Technical Review Development Team Review Developer Agile 129

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 16, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, December 16, 2009 What is Lean about the Lean Startup? That foundational idea, so clearly articulated in books like Lean Thinking, is what originally led me to start using the term lean startup. The following is a guest post for Startup Lessons Learned by the legendary Kent Beck.

Lean 140

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Startup 140

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 2, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, June 2, 2010 The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business Review) I continue my series for Harvard Business Review with the Lean Startup technique called Five Whys. As start-ups scale, this agility will be lost unless the founders maintain a consistent investment in that discipline.

Technical Review 132

Technical Review San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 132

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2012

When Bob Dorf and I wrote the Startup Owners Manual we listed a series of Customer Development principles. I thought they might be worth enumerating here: A Startup Is a Temporary Organization Designed to Search. Pair Customer Development with Agile Development. Not All Startups Are Alike.

Customer Development 330

Customer Development Developer Customer Cofounder 330

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 26, 2009 A real Customer Advisory Board A reader recently asked on a previous post about the technique of having customers periodically produce a “state of the company&# progress report. Many companies seek to involve customers directly in the creation of their products.

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Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151