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.

Vertical 125

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 125

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 6, 2011

First up today was John Bertoni with Mava Consulting , who is setting up a part-time sales force for companies to use without having to invest the fully loaded cost of a direct sales rep per geography. So, effectively, at the cost of one full-time sales rep, they can access coverage in four different regions.

Vertical 115

Vertical Web San Francisco Entrepreneur 115

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

We talked about some simple design rules and I remember him thanking me for coming, saying we were the only chip company who cared enough to call on him (little did he know.) Long gone from Zilog I saw the picture of the original Macintosh design team. I thought nothing about the meeting until years later.

Silicon Valley 143

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 143

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

Brendan McManus said: “Lessons Learned” – A New Type of Venture Capital Pitch [link] #startup #advice [.] Lessons Learned” – A New Type of Venture Capital Pitch « Steve Blank (tags: presentations presuation vc startup) [.] Lessons Learned” – A New Type of Venture Capital Pitch [.]

Venture Capital 239

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 239

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

Reply Lots of low cost experiments « Open Ambition , on April 22, 2009 at 8:58 am Said: [.] Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. Reply Killing Innovation with Corner Cases and Consensus « Steve Blank , on April 22, 2009 at 5:04 am Said: [.] “Speed and Tempo&# – Fearless Decision Making for Startups [.]

Silicon Valley 307

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 307

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Computer hardware companies were faced with their customers asking for low-cost (relatively) desktop computers they had no experience in building. Their engineering teams didn’t have the expertise using off-the-shelf microprocessors (back then “real” computer companies designed their own instruction sets and operating systems.)

Technology 143

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 143

abovethecrowd.com

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

Facilitating work-flow reduces work for the participants, as well as increasing switching costs. But in the early stages, this friction slows your roll-out and increases the costs associated with supplier aggregation. The marketplace is also a work-flow system that enhances the overall experience for all parties. High Fragmentation.

Aggregator 101

Aggregator Marketing Software Review North America 101

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

The Startup Death Spiral: The Cost of Getting Product Launch Wrong By the time of first customer ship, if a startup does not understand its market and customers, failure unfolds in a stylized ritual, almost like a Japanese Noh play. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. Blog at WordPress.com.

Customer Development 232

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 232

Steve Blank

MARCH 25, 2009

Was the company attempting to be a low cost provider by introducing cheaper products to an existing market? Therefore, no, we weren’t really equipped to be the low cost provider. Our company’s graphics boards were designed to speed up a key part of the Macintosh graphics operating system called QuickDraw. No, not really.

Silicon Valley 157

Silicon Valley Marketing RSS California 157

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Filed under: Customer Development , Customer Development Manifesto , Market Types « “Lessons Learned” – A New Type of Venture Capital Pitch Closure » 21 Responses Tweets that mention Times Square Strategy Session – Web Startups and Customer Development « Steve Blank -- Topsy.com , on November 16, 2009 at 7:20 am Said: [.]

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

In less than a month they designed a low-cost video-capture board that plugged into the Mac and allowed you to connect a video camera and VCR. He showed me a little Korean hard drive portable music player, not much more than the Compaq reference design it was based off of. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer.

Video 184

Video Silicon Valley RSS California 184

Mucker Lab

DECEMBER 2, 2015

Most brilliant “Internet of Things” ideas are quicksand for capital unless you have the branding, vertical integration and customer lock-in that Apple achieved. 20 years ago, a majority of “Sand Hill” venture capital went into enterprise-focused startups. The iPod model will separate IoT platforms from fads.

Vertical 60

Vertical Widget Distribution China 60

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

customers aren’t buying it, the cost of distribution is too high, etc.) Education program must emphasize the need to start with customer needs and design your entire product development strategy around a customer development blueprint, as you put it so very well. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. Blog at WordPress.com.

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

Not surprising with a CEO with a PhD in Math, at ESL the engineers ran the company, pursuing bleeding-edge designs in antennas, receivers and microwaves – at times hand in hand with Stanford’s engineering department. could design and produce, and a good part of it was coming from Silicon Valley. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer.

Silicon Valley 194

Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 194

Haystack

FEBRUARY 9, 2019

But Gade’s and Paka’s vision wasn’t simply to leverage AI for a vertical application. Algorithms are powering most of that flow, and these algorithms are often designed to maximize engagement, reduce costs, and the like. Social media is one of the biggest examples of this, inverting and transforming how information flows.

Artificial Inteligence 107

Artificial Inteligence Algorithm Term Sheet Cofounder 107

Cracking the Code

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

This drop in public valuations basically means that private companies lost half of their value in a comparable way and therefore the cost of capital doubled in the past month, pushing much higher the hurdle for any additional investment, be it in sales, marketing or R&D. Rethink vertical segmentation: Healthcare? internet.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Valuation Portfolio 48

Steve Blank

AUGUST 17, 2009

Stanford designed Klystrons producing 2½ Megawatts were manufactured by Varian and Litton would power the radar in the BMEWS (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System) built at the height of the cold war.) The university found government contracts profitable as the government reimbursed their overhead charges (their indirect costs.)

Silicon Valley 155

Silicon Valley RSS California Government 155

David Teten

JANUARY 21, 2021

V: Should you raise venture capital from a traditional equity VC or a Revenue-Based Investing VC? GCVF is pioneering the future of venture capital and high growth startups for all small communities. Versatile has built out a suite of no-cost portfolio acceleration services to help its companies succeed.

Equity 78

Equity Revenue Cofounder Colorado 78

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

It will cost you your job.” Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. By accountable I meant, “we agreed on a delivery date, and between now and the delivery date it’s OK if you ask for help because you’re stuck, or something happened outside of your control. But do not walk into my office the day something was due and give me an excuse.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 269

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Private equity and venture capital investors are copying our sisters in the hedge fund world: we’re trying to automate more of our job. . Many tools designed for B2B marketing in general are also relevant to investors. 3) Raise capital. 645 Ventures released a cap table simulator to help level the playing field.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Steve Blank

APRIL 27, 2009

So they systematically designed electronic devices called “jammers&# to shut down each part of the German air defense system. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. In all the Germans had over 7,500 radars dedicated to tracking and killing the allied bombers. Each allied bombing mission lost 2-20% of their planes.

Silicon Valley 203

Silicon Valley Technical Review Europe Germany 203

Cracking the Code

DECEMBER 2, 2006

potential, share of wallet) and therefore have difficulty to segment them and serve them effectively (2) The existing direct (tele)sales model coverage is failing to provide adequate returns as companies face increased pressure to lower cost of sales. Venture Capital. (3). McKinsey highlight #1: the art of cost cutting or.

Software Review 48

Software Review Technical Review Europe Software 48

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 28, 2009

She said, “Dad, one of the great things you and Mom did was never tell us how much things cost.” Now that I’m older, I’m starting to know what things cost. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. It was something I never thought about, and when I first heard it I thought it was a terrible thing to have taught her.

North Carolina 160

North Carolina Silicon Valley RSS Connecticut 160

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

As the costs of production fall, it’s getting easier and easier to send in a proposal or even a complete work. We faced this same problem in entrepreneurship and venture capital, but we are getting past it. Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and what. Ever-more artists and authors are petitioning them.

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Steve Blank

MARCH 22, 2009

Steve my name is Donald xx, and I’m the head of external affairs of the CIA’s venture capital firm and we’d like you to keynote our conference.” So I gave my “ The Secret History of Silicon Valley ” talk as the keynote to the CIA’s venture capital conference. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer.

Silicon Valley 267

Silicon Valley Thailand RSS Venture Capital 267

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

In times when venture capital is hard to get, investors extract high costs for failure (down-rounds, cram downs , new management teams, shut down the company.) Sales people cost money, and when they’re not bringing in revenue, their wandering in the woods is time consuming, cash-draining and demoralizing.

Lean 260

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 260

Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

While the story about the Potereo benchmarks was about relentless execution, its glib description of designing the benchmarks could be read as we cheated. These were applications we had never seen or ran before when the boards were designed. As a private company you can decide that winning at all costs is your culture.

Silicon Valley 127

Silicon Valley RSS Startup California 127

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

The Customer Development Model Customer Development is designed to solve the problems of the Product Development model I described in the four previous posts. A few successful ones do all these things. The difference is that the ones that succeed invent a Customer Development model. This post describes such a model.

Customer Development 253

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 253

Steve Blank

AUGUST 20, 2009

Resegmentation means these startups are trying to lure some of the current or potential customers away from incumbents by either offering a lower cost product, or by offering features that appealed to a specific niche or subset of the existing users. Get a blog at WordPress.com Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer.

Silicon Valley 206

Silicon Valley Startup RSS Customer Development 206

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

Different market opportunities present radically different startup risks and costs. Capital Requirements In my class students form teams and spend a semester building a detailed plan for a company. So the first heuristic is: do not assume the startup rules are the same for all vertical markets.

Vertical 156

Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 156

Steve Blank

MAY 21, 2009

Without a budget, costs can quickly spiral out of control (last minute impulse purchases to jazz up your booth, for example) and defeat your best laid plans. A rule of thumb is that your space costs represent about a quarter of your total show budget. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. Blog at WordPress.com.

Silicon Valley 203

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 203

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Everyone was using a road map that was designed for a very different location, yet they are surprised when they end up lost. The startup develops its first positioning statement and uses this to explain the company and its benefits to venture capitalists. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. Ortho kills. Blog at WordPress.com.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 269

Steve Blank

JULY 2, 2009

To an entrepreneur, being asked to join a venture firm with an Entrepreneur-in-Residence title means you have been tapped on the shoulder by the VC gods. The CDROM content business in the early 1990’s was one of the many of the long line of venture capital fads. How could it go wrong? Little did I know.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Sloan put in place GM’s management accounting system (borrowed from DuPont) that for the first time allowed the company to: 1) produce an annual operating forecast that compared each division’s forecast (revenue, costs, capital requirements and return on investment) with the company’s financial goals. Blog at WordPress.com.

Silicon Valley 179

Silicon Valley United States RSS Customer Development 179

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2009

I was asked to explain why a marketing program that cost $150,000 bucks literally generated nothing in revenue for the company. Theme: Digg 3 Column by WP Designer. They hit each other with baseball bats until one of them dropped.) This first Zen moment happened at a SuperMac exec staff meeting. Blog at WordPress.com.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 120

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

This means that more and more entrepreneurs are designing solutions to global problems, creating innovative products and services that meet real needs, and driving social change. This trend is going to continue, both as a way for individuals to make more money and have more control and for companies to cut the costs of a full-time employee.

Artificial Inteligence 108

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Global 108