Customer Development, Distribution, Hiring and Management

The Customer Development Manifesto: Reasons for the Revolution.

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development.

Customer Development

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley

Is the Lean Startup Dead?

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

He just hired Meg Whitman. NewTV will depend on partners like telcos to distribute the content. Given Verizon just shut down Go90 , its short form content video service, it will be interesting to see if Verizon distributes Katzenberg’s offerings.). the ex-CEO of HP and eBay, as CEO of NewTV.

Lean

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO

Lessons Learned: Customer Development Engineering

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, September 7, 2008 Customer Development Engineering Yesterday, I had the opportunity to guest lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at the Berkeley-Columbia executive MBA program. Its a nice complement on the product engineering side to his customer development methodology.

Customer Development

Customer Development Engineer San Francisco Developer

How To Find the Right Co-Founders?

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

Who can I hire later? Or if you’re building consumer electronics the key activities might be: low cost hardware design, high volume manufacturing, user interface design, consumer branding and retail distribution. Therefore the ideal medical device team might be a physician; engineer; operator; business development/financial analyst.

Cofounder

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model

Founder personalities and the “first-class man” theory of management

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, July 9, 2010 Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# theory of management At any given time, something like four percent of the US population is engaged in some form of new-company-creation. But I’m not convinced those labels are right at all. Thank you.

San Francisco

San Francisco Management Founder Lean

Announcing our investment in Filebase, the API-layer to access decentralized storage

Version One Ventures

APRIL 20, 2021

The Filebase platform offers a browser-based dashboard and an S3-compatible API to deploy, access and manage data across several decentralized storage networks (they currently support the Sia Network and the Storj Network, with planned support for the Filecoin Network and the Arweave Network by the end of this year). It’s not simple.

API

API Portfolio Distribution Networking

Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

To shed some light, I talked with kaChing , a destination that enables individual investors to find outstanding money managers to manage their money. kaChing launched a virtual portfolio management game on Facebook in January 2008 and a similar version shortly thereafter on kaChing.com.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment SEC

Lessons Learned: The lean startup

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

The application of agile development methodologies which dramatically reduce waste and unlock creativity in product development. See Customer Development Engineering for my first stab at articulating the theory involved) Ferocious customer-centric rapid iteration, as exemplified by the Customer Development process.

Lean

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment

Hacking for Diplomacy – The State Department Takes Notice

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

For our students, that can mean anyone from a Syrian refugee trying to make contact with his family back home, to a supply chain manager for a major apparel brand who wants to make sure his contract factory in Bangladesh doesn’t use forced labor. They tested this updated MVP with refugees and made some surprising discoveries.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean

Hacking for Diplomacy – The State Department Takes Notice

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

For our students, that can mean anyone from a Syrian refugee trying to make contact with his family back home, to a supply chain manager for a major apparel brand who wants to make sure his contract factory in Bangladesh doesn’t use forced labor. They tested this updated MVP with refugees and made some surprising discoveries.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean

Lessons Learned: The three drivers of growth for your business.

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Beware the new hire who has "extensive experience" in startups or big companies - using a different growth driver. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Seth Godin: How often should you publish?

San Francisco

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire

Marching through quicksand

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

One is explaining the world as it used to work: the importance of gatekeepers, the scarcity implied by limited distribution, and the resulting quality bar that the industry is so proud of. Mostly it is the time and expense required to create the means of distribution for that industry. It’s just taking some longer than others.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution

SuperMac War Story 9: Sales, Not Awards « Steve Blank

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

SuperMac sold our graphic boards for the Macintosh through multiple distribution channels: direct sales to major accounts, national chains, independent rep firms, etc. He had teamed up with a former product manager at P&G to deliver seminars on just this subject. It was a management problem.

Sales

Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas

Lessons Learned: Product development leverage

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

Other companies accomplish this by hiring a large staff of content production experts - and get a very good result. Plus, we saw some of the intrinsic limitations of supporting such a large staff: slower cycle times, higher cost basis, and - most importantly - the ability to serve only a limited number of customer segments.

Product Development

Product Development Developer San Francisco Product

Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

So what does CTO mean, besides just "technical founder who really cant manage anyone?" I always assumed I wouldnt manage anybody. Being a manager didnt sound fun - deep down, who really wants to be held accountable for other peoples actions? So I wound up learning the discipline of managing other people.

CTO

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review

Lessons Learned: Just-In-Time Scalability

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Agile Lean

Going to Trade Shows Like it Matters – Part 2

Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

Everyone should have a chance to walk the floor looking for deals, technology, distribution, customers, etc. If your don’t have enough employees on the payroll, hire relatives, friends, or part-timers and train them. You’ll never have to do it again.) Trade Show Post Mortem Evaluate the experience. What didn’t?

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development

Lessons Learned: Principles of Lean Startups, presentation for.

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 4, 2008

It is becoming easier and cheaper for companies to bring products to market, leveraging free and open source software , cloud computing, open social data (Facebook, OpenSocial ), and open distribution (AdWords, SEO). Agile software development. Customer development. This speeds up the Ideas-Code-Data feedback loop.

Lean

Lean San Francisco Agile Continuous Deployment

The Leading Cause of Startup Death – Part 1: The Product.

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. The Product Development Diagram Emerging early in the twentieth century, this product-centric model described a process that evolved in manufacturing industries. None of mine did.)

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development

Smarticus — 10 things you could be doing to your code right now

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

Software Review

Software Review San Francisco Technical Review Continuous Deployment

Scaling Sales: From Craft to Machine

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 11, 2013

Before this occurs, the sales process is a craft or an art - custom-made by the founder or evangelist sales VP. You dive deep into a customer development process, working closely with a few customers who feed you requirements and are willing to trial an imperfect product that is evolving quickly. 1) Enterprise Sales.

Sales

Sales Technical Review Software Review B2B

Andrew Chen: Growing renewable audiences

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 12, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

Audience

Audience San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean

Lessons Learned: Ideas. Code. Data. Implement. Measure. Learn

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC

Lessons Learned: A new version of the Joel Test (draft)

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

I am convinced one of Joel Spolskys lasting contributions to the field of managing software teams will turn out to be the Joel Test , a checklist of 12 essential practices that you could use to rate the effectiveness of a software product development team. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

Software Review

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment

Lessons Learned: Test-Driven Development as andon cord

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 1, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 1, 2008 Test-Driven Development as andon cord You cannot control what you cannot see, and the hardest part of managing software projects is that the final product is so intangible. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco

San Francisco Developer Continuous Deployment DC

Waves of technology platforms

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2008

So one of the first things we did was to hire an Oracle expert and get to work. So did I when I finally found myself building an app with real scalability, a few years later, but a combination of our just-in-time scalability technique and great open source scaling tools, made it manageable. Were in a new wave of platform evolution.

San Francisco

San Francisco Technology Continuous Deployment Lean

Lessons Learned: The one line split-test, or how to A/B all the time

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

I had the opportunity to pioneer this approach to funnel analysis at IMVU, where it became a core part of our customer development process. To promote this metrics discipline, we would present the full funnel to our board (and advisers) at the end of every development cycle. How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Continuous Deployment

Building A Loyal Customer Base Starts With A Simple ‘Thank You’

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 5, 2016

By Jay DesMarteau, head of small business and government banking distribution for TD Bank. While the holidays can be unpredictable, small business owners can navigate these waters by focusing on keeping their customers happy. Creating a customer loyalty program is another way to show appreciation and build a repeat customer base.

Customer

Customer Distribution Government Agile

On deployment

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC

Lessons Learned: Greasemonkey compiler

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 6, 2008

Ive been even more impressed by the various Greasemonkey compilers out there, that let you turn a Greasemonkey script into a full-blown Firefox extension, for easy distribution. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC

How to listen to customers, and not just the loud people

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 14, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Customer Lean Continuous Deployment

Lessons Learned: Validated learning about customers

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

They are gaining valuable customer data. These founders have not managed, to borrow a phrase from Steve Blank , to create a scalable and repeatable sales process. Instead, each potential customer has to go through a self-serve process of signing up and paying money. They are closing orders. They are close to breakeven.

Customer

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick

Not crossing the chasm

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 2, 2008

"In a phase change the things that made you successful before don't work anymore" It's tough to cross the chasm without "being remarkable" The distribution and word-of-mouth or word-of-mail that results from being remarkable can sometimes be the difference between crossing the chasm, or falling in and never getting out.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC

Seth Godin: How often should you publish?

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

but its really about how to manage your effort between what he calls the frontlist and backlist. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC

Marc Prensky's Weblog: Cell Phones in Class

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC Lean

How to get distribution advantage on the iPhone

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, September 18, 2008 How to get distribution advantage on the iPhone I have had the opportunity to meet a lot of iPhone-related companies lately. There are other models, in other distribution channels. On Facebook, viral distribution has proved decisive. I havent found any yet.

Distribution

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment

Entrepreneurs are Everywhere – Show No. 16: Wayne Sutton and Dave Kashen

Steve Blank

JANUARY 17, 2016

Yet this same network of connected people affects who gets funded, how startup teams form, and who gets hired. . Silicon Valley) is a network-based system — about who you know … who gets funded, how teams are forms, who gets hired in certain companies, how promotions (are determined) — that is all relationship-based.

Silicon Valley

Silicon Valley North Carolina Cofounder Entrepreneur

Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees

www.instigatorblog.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

I gave him similar numbers to what I had been given when I was hiring the first few employees for Standout Jobs. This is especially true when you think of a tech startup, where the first few hires are typically engineers/programmers. But I also told him that I though the numbers were wrong. .&# 1% is just not a lot.

Equity

Equity Employee Startup Vesting

How to Usability Test your Site for Free

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 16, 2008

The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Thoughts on scientific product development Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you? How to listen to customers, and not just the loud.

San Francisco

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Lean DC

Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Expo for free

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 17, 2009

Hello Eric, Great talk at the fb developer garage. Im passionate about music (topspin like companies)and movie (jaman like companies)distribution. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

Lean

Lean San Francisco Web Continuous Deployment

Lessons Learned: Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you?

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

I originally thought I might get some development process tips (I manage developers), but I find that Im really enjoying your business tips (SEM, listening to customers, etc.). The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Posted item in Facebook news feed.

San Francisco

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC

Lean Startups aren't Cheap Startups

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.

Lean

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS

Two new scholarship programs for lean startups

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 28, 2010

Oh, and did I mention that theyre hiring ? To ensure that those who are regular contributors to the movement to be able to attend as well, Ive given each Lean Startup Meetup leader a set of discount codes and a few half-price tickets to distribute to their members. Oh, and did I mention that theyre hiring ?

Lean

Lean Programming San Francisco Continuous Deployment

A Simple Map for Innovation at Scale

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 25, 2022

How do they connect with a new generation of customers who had no brand loyalty? How to they use the new distribution channels competitors have adopted? How do they make these transitions without alienating and losing their existing customers, distribution channels and partners?

Framework

Framework Distribution Channel Leadership

The Customer Development Manifesto: Reasons for the Revolution.

Is the Lean Startup Dead?

Trending Sources

Lessons Learned: Customer Development Engineering

How To Find the Right Co-Founders?

Founder personalities and the “first-class man” theory of management

Announcing our investment in Filebase, the API-layer to access decentralized storage

Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot

Lessons Learned: The lean startup

Hacking for Diplomacy – The State Department Takes Notice

Hacking for Diplomacy – The State Department Takes Notice

Lessons Learned: The three drivers of growth for your business.

Marching through quicksand

SuperMac War Story 9: Sales, Not Awards « Steve Blank

Lessons Learned: Product development leverage

Lessons Learned: What does a startup CTO actually do?

Lessons Learned: Just-In-Time Scalability

Going to Trade Shows Like it Matters – Part 2

Lessons Learned: Principles of Lean Startups, presentation for.

The Leading Cause of Startup Death – Part 1: The Product.

Smarticus — 10 things you could be doing to your code right now

Scaling Sales: From Craft to Machine

Andrew Chen: Growing renewable audiences

Lessons Learned: Ideas. Code. Data. Implement. Measure. Learn

Lessons Learned: A new version of the Joel Test (draft)

Lessons Learned: Test-Driven Development as andon cord

Waves of technology platforms

Lessons Learned: The one line split-test, or how to A/B all the time

Building A Loyal Customer Base Starts With A Simple ‘Thank You’

On deployment

Lessons Learned: Greasemonkey compiler

How to listen to customers, and not just the loud people

Lessons Learned: Validated learning about customers

Not crossing the chasm

Seth Godin: How often should you publish?

Marc Prensky's Weblog: Cell Phones in Class

How to get distribution advantage on the iPhone

Entrepreneurs are Everywhere – Show No. 16: Wayne Sutton and Dave Kashen

Changing Equity Structures for Early Startup Employees

How to Usability Test your Site for Free

Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Expo for free

Lessons Learned: Lo, my 5 subscribers, who are you?

Lean Startups aren't Cheap Startups

Two new scholarship programs for lean startups

A Simple Map for Innovation at Scale

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