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Raising Money Using Customer Development

Steve Blank

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Did the partner have a good or bad day, etc.

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The Customer Development Manifesto: Reasons for the Revolution.

Steve Blank

So what’s wrong the product development model? The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.)

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Why Lean May Save Your Life – The I-Corps @ NIH

Steve Blank

The traditional model of how to turn scientific discovery into a business has been: 1) make a substantive discovery, 2) write a business plan/grant application, 3) raise funding, 4) execute the plan, 5) reap the financial reward. identify financing vehicles before you need them. Join the I-Corps @ NIH.

Lean 271
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The Lean LaunchPad Class: It’s the same, but different

Steve Blank

It’s hard to imagine, but only a decade ago, the capstone entrepreneurship class in most universities was how to write – or pitch- a business plan. In my experience, I saw that most business plans don’t survive first contact with customers. As a serial entrepreneur turned educator, this didn’t make sense to me.

Lean 251
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A New Way to Teach Entrepreneurship – The Lean LaunchPad at Stanford: Class 1

Steve Blank

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. to get hard-earned information.

Lean 300
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How to Manage Supply Chain Planning Like a Pro

YoungUpstarts

Too often, businesses view their supply chain as a necessary evil as opposed to a valuable resource. This integral element of most businesses is woven through every aspect of operations. From manufacturing to sales to finance, the supply chain routinely fails to command the respect it deserve.

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Someone Stole My Startup Idea – Part 2: They Raised Money With My.

Steve Blank

Customer Development We were starting Epiphany, my last company. I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. He continued: “I’d like to convince my boss so our company can be your first customer.”