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Beyond the garage

Startup Lessons Learned

And, most importantly, the Lean Startup idea is starting to take root in industries and contexts very different from it’s Silicon Valley roots. Brad Smith is the CEO of Intuit, one of the most successful software companies in Silicon Valley. No BS, no vanity metrics, no launches, no PR.

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Lessons Learned: Please teach kids programming, Mr. President

Startup Lessons Learned

Im not offering extensive studies or research to support this conclusion; the evidence from my peers right here in the innovation capital of America, Silicon Valley, is absolutely overwhelming. Asked to help, I am confident that Silicon Valley and every other innovation center will step up. They are nerds.

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Lessons Learned: What is customer development?

Startup Lessons Learned

But too often when its time to think about customers, marketing, positioning, or PR, we delegate it to "marketroids" or "suits." Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. Towards a new entrepreneurship ► 2009 (88) ► December (4) Continuous deployment for mission-critical applica.

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Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you?

Startup Lessons Learned

In a startup, these channels of communication are critical to understand for advertising, launch and PR purposes. If youre used to pitching your company in a startup hub, like here in Silicon Valley, you may suffer from a debilitating disease: the inability to describe your product to normal people.

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Lessons Learned: Don't launch

Startup Lessons Learned

Announce a new product, start its PR campaign, and engage in buzz marketing activities. Even if you must launch to your customers, avoid the urge to also launch in extra places, just because your PR firm can do it at the same time. If you are having trouble raising money, sometimes a little PR can help. Help you raise money.

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10 years of entrepreneurship

Startup Lessons Learned

And then, at my first Silicon Valley startup , I watched friends get laid off in successive waves as it started to fail. We go to mixers, buy fancy offices, focus on PR, and try to one-up each other. Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. No business model, either. I think its wasteful.

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Lessons Learned: Achieving a failure

Startup Lessons Learned

Launch with a PR blitz, including mentions in major mainstream publications. As with many Silicon Valley failures, a flawless PR launch turned into a flawed customer acquisition strategy. Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. Conduct constant focus groups and usability tests.