Remove Audio Remove Cofounder Remove Hockey Stick Remove Product Development
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Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable (for Harvard Business.

Startup Lessons Learned

For a little while, the team can resort to the last defense of entrepreneurs in trouble: the promised hockey-stick. One thing that is often overlooked about the hockey-stick growth shape: its most distinctive characteristic is the long, flat part. Usually, they are delivering only a fraction of the revenue they promised.

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Lessons Learned: Validated learning about customers

Startup Lessons Learned

It should be even more important to the founders themselves, because it demonstrates that their business hypothesis is grounded in reality. Their product definition fluctuates wildly – one month, it’s a dessert topping, the next it’s a floor wax. In fact, this company hasn’t shipped any new products in months.

Customer 167
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Lessons Learned: A hierarchy of pitches

Startup Lessons Learned

Most important slide: hockey stick Micro-scale results Key questions: who is the customer, and how do you know? Most important slide: lessons learned Working product Key questions: what does the product do? can the team bring the product to market? or drive traffic to that profitable destination?)