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Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 5, 2009
Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Entrepreneurs put together their funding presentation by extracting the key ideas from their business plan, putting them on PowerPoint/Keynote and pitching the company – until they get funded or exhausted.
Steve Blank
AUGUST 31, 2009
In the next few posts that follow, I’ll describe more specifically how this model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. Given this certainty, it’s logical that a startup will hire a sales and marketing team to simply execute your business plan. All of this is usually a bad idea.
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Steve Blank
MAY 7, 2009
I hate business plan competitions. I Love Business Plan Competitions I had a breakfast with a friend who has founded a few companies in Thailand and started the New Ventures Program at one of their universities. For all the reasons why business plan competitions are wonderful for students from outside the U.S.,
Steve Blank
JULY 27, 2009
I walked into the VP of Sales’ office and with my knees trembling, I politely asked for the job. He said, “you know I figured it would be you to come in here and ask for the job. All I had to do was ask. For entrepreneurs good things come to those who ask. What’s Marketing?
Steve Blank
JUNE 8, 2009
In the last three posts, we drew the relationship of market risk and invention risk with vertical markets and pointed out verticals where customer development would be useful. In contrast to simply executing your business plan, the Customer Development process is built on low-cost and continuous learning and iterating.
Steve Blank
JUNE 3, 2009
Reducing Risk – Simulation versus Customer Development If you remember the first part of this discussion, startups face two types of risk; invention risk and/or customer/market risk. The Customer Development Process I teach and write about is designed to do just that. However, for the Web 2.0
Steve Blank
OCTOBER 31, 2014
Not all start ups want to go in that direction – some will opt instead to become a small business. There’s nothing wrong with a business that supports you and perhaps an extended family. Creating a vertically oriented regional ecosystem is a pretty amazing accomplishment for any country or industry.
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