Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

Most large companies manage three types of innovation: process innovation (making existing products incrementally better), continuous innovation (building on the strength of the company’s current business model but creating new elements) and disruptive innovation (creating products or services that did not exist before.).

Acquisition 332

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 22, 2021

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Customer support is more than handling exceptions.

Business Model 414

Business Model Angel Investor Bootstrapping Revenue 414

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 9, 2017

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key partners.

Business Model 143

Business Model Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor 143

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Dino Vendetti a VC at Bay Partners, moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. Today with every city, state and country trying to build out a technology cluster, following Dino’s progress can provide others with a roadmap of what’s worked and what has not.

Early Stage 287

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 287

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2012

There are no “overrides” – for example, businesses don’t thrive just because they offer the latest technology, or because everyone wants to be “green, or because their goal is to reduce world hunger. Distribution. How do you distribute your product or service? Revenue model. Marty Zwilling.

Business Model 242

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 242

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 20, 2023

Quantify the results, and avoid any fuzzy words, such as better usability, advanced technology, or more productivity. Before you spend big money on inventory and scale over a wide area, make sure you have finalized your marketing, manufacturing, and distribution resources. Use test marketing to identify changes before scale-up.

Marketing 290

Marketing Leadership Differentiation Equity 290

View from Seed

SEPTEMBER 12, 2017

The old brands and distribution channels are dead or dying. But while that particular model has seen success, it certainly won’t be the only way that companies will be able to create greater personalization and serendipitous discovery for their customers. Most apparel purchases are now in some way influenced by the internet.

Internet 209

Internet eCommerce Bankruptcy Technical Review 209

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 29, 2011

There are no “overrides” – for example, businesses don’t thrive just because they offer the latest technology, or because everyone wants to be “green, or because their goal is to reduce world hunger. Distribution. How do you distribute your product or service? Revenue model. Marty Zwilling.

Business Model 246

Business Model Distribution Viral Green 246

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2023

How did the video game business evolve from its packaged goods roots in the early '90s to the complex, multi-platform, online business of today? What events sparked the major revolutions in business models and distribution? /1

Generative AI 104

Generative AI San Francisco Technical Review Europe 104

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

by Jack Narcotta, Devices Analyst at Technology Business Research. The software generated by thousands of developers, both at Mojang and independent developers aligned with Mojang, will be supported by Microsoft’s ample resources and global distribution network. Microsoft’s $2.5

Acquisition 157

Acquisition Azure Merger Sweden 157

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2015

How do you convince investors that your business model will really work, before you have a revenue stream that exceeds your expenses? Even if you are bootstrapping your business, and you are the only investor, you should be asking yourself the same question. Customer support is more than handling exceptions.

Business Model 120

Business Model Angel Investor Startup Bootstrapping 120

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. My partners will tell you that I am an incredibly impatient person. You want someone who will challenge you and be an intellectual sparring partner.

IRR 205

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 205

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

Companies pursuing innovation can Buy, Build, Partner or use Open Innovation. The first, the notion of the “ ambidextrous organization ” from O’Reilly and Tushman , posits that companies that want to do continuous innovation need to execute their core business model while innovating in parallel. Fast forward to today.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Lightspeed Venture Partners

FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Almost a year ago, my partner Barry Eggers and I met with Craig Elliott and Scott Hankins to talk about their vision for a new company, Pertino. From a business model perspective, the Pertino team observed how the shift to the cloud was enabling an entirely new class of IT services that could empower the little guy.

Networking 153

Networking Technical Review Cloud Software Review 153

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 13, 2019

An effective tool I see used more and more, as a prelude to a more detailed business plan, is the Business Model Canvas , first introduced by Alexander Osterwalder back in 2008. In my experience as a new business advisor, a business is nothing until people are aligned and work in sync. Key partners.

Intellectual Property 250

Intellectual Property Business Model Angel Investor Channel 250

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 13, 2024

In a progressively saturated market, these startups need to reevaluate their strategies and wisely distribute resources to remain competitive and sustainable amidst the demands of investors and well-established competitors.

Down Round 154

Down Round Marketing Artificial Inteligence Startup 154

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

The first will be commodity businesses that are valued for their ability to execute their current business model. The second class will be firms with a demonstrated ability to continually innovate and reinvent their business models. These innovations do not require change in a company’s existing business model.

Private Equity 326

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 326

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? What's the business model short-term and long-term? Who might be partners? What's you believe is your biggest technology risk, if any? Who's the customer? How does the product solve a pain? Who are the main competitors?

Fractional CTO 264

Fractional CTO CTO Hire NDA Technical Review 264

SoCal CTO

MARCH 3, 2011

This overview (executive summary) needs to include: Product and Business What is the product? What's the business model short-term and long-term? Who might be partners? What's you believe is your biggest technology risk, if any? Who's the customer? How does the product solve a pain? Who are the main competitors?

Fractional CTO 259

Fractional CTO CTO Hire NDA Technical Review 259

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Steve is also the author of Surviving a Startup: Practical Strategies for Starting a Business, Overcoming Obstacles, and Coming Out on Top. You know, could you look at my business plan?

San Francisco 95

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 95

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. My partners will tell you that I am an incredibly impatient person. You want someone who will challenge you and be an intellectual sparring partner.

IRR 156

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 156

David Teten

JANUARY 19, 2021

(co-written with Jamie Finney, Founding Partner at Greater Colorado Venture Fund. Similar to the explosion of seed funds in the past decade, we (and some limited partners too ) believe these Flexible VCs are on the forefront of what will become a major segment of the venture ecosystem. FLEXIBLE VC VS. OTHER VENTURE CAPITAL MODELS.

Cofounder 78

Cofounder Technical Review Equity Dividend 78

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

I thought his technology was was potentially a killer app. He said, “After we graduated we took our great idea, holed up in my apartment and spent months researching and writing a business plan. Why a business plan is different than a business model. So do you mean I should never have written a business plan?”

Business Model 329

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 329

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Union Square Ventures The next morning I got to spend time with Brad Burnham , partner at Union Square Ventures talking about their investment strategy and insights about web-based businesses. Bill and his partner Fred Wilson have invested in ~30 or so companies with 27 still active. End of theory.&# But not the only form.

Customer Development 224

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 224

View from Seed

AUGUST 17, 2021

It’s by far the longest time I’ve spent working on any one thing, and I feel very blessed to have been able to work with my partners, colleagues, founders, and collaborators. My partners will tell you that I am an incredibly impatient person. You want someone who will challenge you and be an intellectual sparring partner.

IRR 136

IRR Dilution Founder Portfolio 136

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 22, 2011

The 21 NSF teams had been out of the classroom for just 15 hours as they filed back in with their business model canvas presentations. Their assignment appeared (to them) to be deceptively simple: Write down their initial hypotheses for the 9 components of their company’s business model (who are the customers?

Business Model 236

Business Model Intellectual Property Lean Wiki 236

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

One of the groups I spoke to was the Australian Sports Technology Network. They realized if they could develop and promote a well-coordinated sports technologies industry, they could capture their unfair share of the $300 billon sports consumer market. They intended to get scale for their business by growing in the U.S.

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

They shared their experiences of how technology has enhanced – and threatens to undermine – diplomatic work. Each team continues to capture its work on a Mission Model Canvas – a modified version of the Business Model Canvas that’s at the heart of the Lean Startup methodology.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

They shared their experiences of how technology has enhanced – and threatens to undermine – diplomatic work. Each team continues to capture its work on a Mission Model Canvas – a modified version of the Business Model Canvas that’s at the heart of the Lean Startup methodology.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Mucker Lab

AUGUST 27, 2014

At the time, LA and Santa Clara were both the epicenter of the technology industry due to the significant overlap between the aerospace/military industry (Los Angeles) and the computing business (Silicon Valley). While in Silicon Valley entrepreneurs often ideate through a superficial process of derivative “X for Y” concepts (e.g.

Los Angeles 138

Los Angeles Southern California Silicon Valley Technical Review 138

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I had really positive experiences such as working with Greg Gretsch at Sigma Partners where he championed us to a partners’ meeting where we sort of got crucified. We made changes and Greg was a gentleman throughout the process rather than berating us for our performance (it was our first partners’ meeting).

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

VC Cafe

OCTOBER 4, 2022

As the tools are being democratised (from OpenAI’s invite-only approach to Stable Diffusion’s open source disruption), new APIs are making it possible for developers to create novel products using these technologies. As marketplaces transformed the way we buy goods online, technology is about to do the same to service market.

Generative AI 204

Generative AI Artificial Inteligence Video Architecture 204

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 14, 2016

Technology is changing the future of work and the workforce. We have entered in an industrial revolution of the digital age, and just as machines took over the heavy duty human labor in manufacturing plants, computerization and digital technologies are now efficiently performing the manual data- and business-related workload of humans.

Technology 100

Technology Artificial Inteligence Business Model Software 100

The Equity Kicker

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

I’m excited to let you know that David Norris joined us today as my Partner. He’s been COO of some amazing businesses, including HouseTrip and LiveBookings, and will now help our founders succeed just as he helped the founders of those companies. Today I am proud to join Forward Partners as a VC.

Partner 91

Partner Early Stage Business Model HTML 91

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 9, 2012

While I got my start as a technology entrepreneur, I have always felt that industries such as traditional book publishing or Fortune 500 retailing will reap huge competitive advantages by adopting Lean Startup approaches. Market segments drive your business model.

Entrepreneur 167

Entrepreneur Lean Southern California San Diego 167

David Teten

JANUARY 11, 2020

They’re taking a $1m check from me, or giving $5m to me as a limited partner. In the venture capital/private equity business, investors are B2B microinfluencers. Other coinvestors: Limited partners, other VCs who are coinvestors, private equity funds which are potential growth-stage investors, etc. Today, I do this manually.

Social Media 60

Social Media Technical Review Media Private Equity 60

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Posted on September 14, 2009 by steveblank Over the last 30 years Wall Street’s appetite for technology stocks have changed radically – swinging between unbridled enthusiasm to believing they’re all toxic. Each VC firm/partner has a different spin on what to weigh more.) 3) invest in and take equity stakes in exchange for capital.

Silicon Valley 224

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 224