Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Eric Ries in Times Square For any model to be useful it has to predict what happens in the real world – including the web. I realized the Customer Development model needs to be clearer in what exactly a startup is supposed to do, regardless of the business model. “What is the “Business Model” of your startup?&#

Customer Development 223

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 223

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 19, 2009

After my company was acquired by Salesforce.com I was asked to stop blogging and they took over my blog as an asset in the sale of the company. Another called Parker Harris, the co-founder and CTO. There was no viral social networking products back then like Twitter where people could easily discover your content.

Venture Capital 274

Venture Capital Term Sheet San Diego Viral 274

Duct Tape Marketing

MAY 18, 2023

He’s the Founder of theCLIKK, an email newsletter about digital marketing. 09:42] Was there a point in time when you decided to use newsletters to fit your business model or you started it as a normal standard digital marketing tactic? [11:10] He's the founder of theCLIKK an email newsletter about digital marketing.

ChatGPT 92

ChatGPT Advertising Email Viral 92

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

Different sources define freemium as a business model or a pricing strategy. I talked to Adam Hempenstall, founder and CEO at BetterProposals , who has been using freemium for three years for his SaaS product: “Honestly, I think it was a mistake. However, your pricing options go far beyond freemium and free trial. Youtube ads.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2015

Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing. Defining the right business model requires the same diligence as designing the right product, but the approach and skills required are different.

Business Model 120

Business Model Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

Startups that are searching for a business model need to keep score differently than large companies that are executing a known business model. Yet most entrepreneurs and their VC’s make startups use financial models and spreadsheets that actually hinder their success. Managing the Business. Here’s why.

Balance Sheet 300

Balance Sheet Startup Burn Rate Metrics 300

View from Seed

JUNE 11, 2019

At this point, founders find themselves in a luxurious situation of being able to build the best possible syndicate. Some founders may end up getting a little paralyzed at this stage because they are trying to optimize too many things at once. It’s not necessary to nail down every element of your syndicate simultaneously.

Syndicate 202

Syndicate Syndication Seed Stage Lead Investor 202

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

At Hustle Fund, we back both first time founders as well as repeat founders. One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. Sales cycles matter though. Marketing first. Product second.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

Hippoland

AUGUST 8, 2018

At Hustle Fund, we back both first time founders as well as repeat founders. One thing I’ve noticed is that almost every repeat, previously-successful-founder focuses on the same thing for their respective startups: customer acquisition. Sales cycles matter though. Marketing first. Product second.

Founder 48

Founder Sales Cycle Affiliate Retention 48

abovethecrowd.com

OCTOBER 17, 2013

The company, which the founder cleverly named “Stitch Fix,” had a remarkably unique offering compared to other women’s fashion experiences. Awareness of the service was clearly spreading virally through word of mouth. Dell’s product offering advantage, building to custom order, simultaneously created a business model advantage.

eCommerce 62

eCommerce Technical Review North America San Francisco 62

Cracking the Code

MARCH 24, 2015

gathered at the event. It is not very polished but was designed for a fast read. . -

API 48

API Fractional CTO CTO Hire San Francisco 48

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 12, 2015

Over breakfast he got me up to date on his life since school (two non-CEO roles in startups,) but he wanted to talk about his third startup – the one he and two co-founders had started. In this first step, the goal of a startup is to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.

Startup 120

Startup Lean Venture Capital Advisory Board 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2013

Yet there are big challenges to hyperlocal, at least for consumer-focused hyperlocal startups, according to Sean Barkulis , Founder of UPlanMe one of the early casualties in this space: Every site requires real curated local content to engage users. Watch out for local sales force requirements. Look for new ways to sell.

Finder 210

Finder Curation Seattle Community 210

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

What matters is proving the viability of the company’s business model, what investors call “traction.&# It should be even more important to the founders themselves, because it demonstrates that their business hypothesis is grounded in reality. For a startup, having great sales DNA is a wonderful asset.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

If possible, quantify these in non-technical business terms, such as dollars saved or replacement costs over time. Provide specifics on the customer business model. Include marketing, sales, and customer rollout plans. Professional investors and even customers invest in people, rather than just a product.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Reid Hoffman

MARCH 19, 2019

What makes this tricky is that markets evolve, and an innovative technology or business model can transform a normal market into a Glengarry Glen Ross market. In it we explicitly state: “The real value creation comes when innovative technology enables innovative products and services with innovative business models….What

Cofounder 28

Cofounder Business Model IPO Non-Compete 28

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Benchmarks are typically specific to stage/business model/geo. In Rob Go’s words: For seed and Series A deals, investors will also need to see a high-potential team with founder/market fit , a large and attractive market opportunity , and a business model with increasing returns to scale.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

BeyondVC

FEBRUARY 12, 2014

We have over 20 years of experience backing bold founders with big visions. BOLDstart helps founders at the seed stage accelerate their growth from idea/ alpha phase to product market fit and successful Series A round. In industry terms, this means we looks for companies that have a high viral coefficient.

Seed Stage 110

Seed Stage Agile Viral API 110

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2021

Note that if you’re familiar with the business model canvas, Steps 1-4 below are equivalent to a visual map of the choices a founder makes as they develop a business model canvas. Founders should understand what the customer hopes to accomplish , or what their job to be done is. Sales channels.

Product 436

Product Viral Channel San Francisco 436

Ben's Blog

MAY 30, 2013

Yes, he fits our standard of Founder/CEOs advising Founder/CEOs. In venture capital, we spend lots of time thinking about business models, product market fit, inflection points, network effects, viral coefficients and other points of leverage in a business. It’s about working for each other.

Denmark 78

Denmark Acquisition Viral Green 78

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

So we know from this that the problem is not the quality of those sales people. They also know precisely how much additional traffic will need to be generated to reach the growth targets, and how many sales people are needed at a given productivity level, etc. SolidWorks 2: The best VAR management program in the world?

Metrics 55

Metrics Design Entrepreneur Startup 55

The Next Web

AUGUST 19, 2013

He is the co-­founder and CEO of Quote Roller and PandaDoc. His passions are business process automation, surfing, and his new baby girl Maya. ?. Sales are the bloodstream for most businesses, and tech startups are no exception. This mix is not a good start when it comes to sales and marketing.

Belarus 137

Belarus Viral Channel Startup 137

Ben's Blog

MAY 30, 2013

Yes, he fits our standard of Founder/CEOs advising Founder/CEOs. In venture capital, we spend lots of time thinking about business models, product market fit, inflection points, network effects, viral coefficients and other points of leverage in a business. It’s about working for each other.

Denmark 44

Denmark Acquisition Viral Green 44

Lightspeed Venture Partners

NOVEMBER 12, 2012

It’s hard to describe in words, so here is a short clip to give you an idea: The founder, Drew Beaumier has been making these prototypes out of children’s toy parts for the last two years. The founder, David Cox, used to give computer classes at a Mac store and noted that many of his customers were over 50 years old.

Valuation 99

Valuation Post-Money Valuation Viral Algorithm 99

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 27, 2011

And, oh by the way, we also really like the idea of the 1M/1M entrepreneurs building valuation and negotiating leverage through these business development efforts, instead of signing off large chunks of their company in form of equity early on. The game has started getting some traction already, and has a good virality index.

Dilution 114

Dilution Revenue Finance Entrepreneur 114

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

If the elements of your business aren't expertly developed and aligned, even the best dream will be in jeopardy. Such failures ignore the essential business elements investors look for before committing to a startup. As a startup founder, you won’t have the marketing resources or brand recognition to appeal to all consumers.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Technical Review Distribution Viral 120

Austin Startup

JUNE 23, 2010

Furthermore, because the unique “spreading&# technology creates a powerful viral and virtual word of mouth effect, it has driven significant increases in both online traffic and physical traffic to the featured businesses’ websites and locations. Next month, Spreadsy intends to extend its reach to Dallas, TX.

Dallas 75

Dallas Partner Austin Viral 75

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2020

What most founders don’t realize is: Every stage of a startup requires a different set of metrics and milestones and founder skills. Knowing these will help a founder position her pitch to get investors’ attention. Founders need to keep their eye on the prize — not just the next funding round. Business Model.

Cofounder 429

Cofounder Seed Stage Valuation Metrics 429

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 14, 2017

by Jon Leighton, Director of digital agency iResources and founder of neatly.io. Indeed some of the biggest names out there started off as a completely different business; including Twitter, Nintendo and most recently, Slack. But pivoting applies to all businesses and the theory behind it is exactly the same. Channel pivot.

Technical Review 157

Technical Review Architecture Revenue Channel 157

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

The one-page pitch format is also more suitable for SaaS businesses that are constantly testing new ideas. Your pitch is going to cover your strategy (what you’re going to do), your tactics (how you’re going to do it), your business model (how you will make money), and your schedule (who is doing what and when).

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 2, 2019

Of course, I’m a total social login fan, but at least offering your users a choice between filling out a registration form and signing up using their social account IDs seems like straightforward business sense. The number of visitors directly correlates to revenue—whatever business you are in. This post contains video, click to play].

Social Network 73

Social Network Viral Social Media B2C 73

Software By Rob

AUGUST 5, 2010

You’re a startup founder, whether actual or aspiring. Business books are a founder’s learning tool. The problem is that the premise of all of them – whether true or false – is irrelevant to you as a startup founder. Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed.

Founder 78

Founder Startup Software Review Software 78

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Tim Friedman, Founder, PE Stack , said, “If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s managers, it would be to take the time to understand the demands of the modern institutional LP. I previously posted a detailed presentation with sales technology tools useful for B2B sales. She is a model for us all!

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

ConversionXL

JUNE 24, 2014

There is much more to say about registration processes than I have space for in this article, but you can read more here: Why user registration sucks and how it hurts your business. The number of visitors directly correlates to revenue – whatever business you are in. Knowing who your users are means knowing what they do and don’t want.

Social Network 130

Social Network Viral Social Media B2C 130

grasshopperherder.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2011

We’re testing a viral loop, direct sales, and affiliate marketing.&# If I can steal your idea by just hearing it, there is no defensible business model there. If you’re waiting for a technical co-founder to put up a landing page with signup form, you’re lazy. A: “I don’t know.

Cofounder 47

Cofounder NDA Founder Sweat Equity 47

www.jasonnazar.com

MARCH 22, 2011

A perfect case in point is Mark Hendrickson the founder of Plancast. When he had the idea for his company, he didn’t write a long business plan or try to raise money to hire an agency to build a website for him. Entrepreneurs that start companies in LA are often focused on revenue and business models.

Los Angeles 48

Los Angeles Silicon Valley Southern California San Francisco 48

Up and Running

OCTOBER 2, 2015

This week, Peter and Jonathan list their most-hated business buzzwords and talk about false assumptions you could be making about your business. Joe Pulizzi (founder, Content Marketing Institute) also joins in to talk about the six steps of the Content, Inc. I think the word viral lost its meaning and lost its way long ago.

Viral 60

Viral Audience Advertising Social Media 60