Steve Blank

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Sloan put in place GM’s management accounting system (borrowed from DuPont) that for the first time allowed the company to: 1) produce an annual operating forecast that compared each division’s forecast (revenue, costs, capital requirements and return on investment) with the company’s financial goals.

Silicon Valley 156

Silicon Valley United States RSS Customer Development 156

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2010

But nine months after the first call was made in 1998, Iridium was in Chapter 11 bankruptcy. When it was spun out as a a separate company, Iridium’s 1990 business plan had assumptions about potential customers, their problems and the product needed to solve that problem. No Business Plan survives first contact with a customer.

Business Plan 335

Business Plan Customer Business Model Customer Development 335

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2009

We did that when we surveyed our customers. And in this very unique case, we figured out how to maximize revenue and profit by branding and product line extensions. The results spoke for themselves: Not one black-market board ever appeared, and the press was satisfied with our “customer value and product family” explanation.

Silicon Valley 134

Silicon Valley Product RSS Engineer 134

grasshopperherder.com

SEPTEMBER 24, 2011

I think it’s difficult, if not impossible, to value a pre-revenue company with any reasonable accuracy. The company did have some revenue and paying users, but not enough to make any judgement on the company’s future prospects. The company with all the revenue is Company C. Top 3 Ways to Fail at Customer Development.

Sweat Equity 41

Sweat Equity Equity Cofounder Non-Compete 41