Steve Blank

APRIL 4, 2011

This week, our first team up was PersonalLibraries (the team that had software to help researchers manage, share and reference the thousands of papers in their personal libraries.) And as engineers they believed weed versus crop recognition, while hard, was doable. Let the real learning begin. The Nine Teams Present.

Customer 236

Customer Business Model Nebraska Cloud 236

The Next Web

MAY 4, 2013

Editor’s note: This is a guest post by Stefano Bernardi, who is on the founding team of Betable , where he heads Customer Development. Reference Checks. On top of deciding if the market is big enough, most investors only do one type of due diligence for seed deals: reference check the founders. Join an accelerator.

San Francisco 159

San Francisco Europe Technical Review Due Diligence 159

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

A month or two before the QuickTime public announcement in May, the SuperMac hardware engineers (who had a great relationship with the QuickTime team at Apple) started a “ skunk works ” project. So SuperMac engineering also developed video compression software, called Cinepak. The software was idiot proof.

Video 168

Video Silicon Valley RSS California 168

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

If you are a practitioner of Customer Development, ESL was doing it before most us were born. The Army offered Fred Terman, the Dean of Engineering at Stanford, a $5M contract to build an electronics countermeasures lab. By 1961 its customers now included our intelligence agencies.

Silicon Valley 176

Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 176

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

Customer Development is all about gathering a list of what features customers want by talking to them, surveying them, or running “focus groups.” As the engineers were busy rearchitecting the original Stanford MIPS chip into a commercial product, one of my jobs was to find out what features customers wanted.

Customer Development 280

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 280

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

Five Easy Pieces – The Marketing Mission After a few months of talking to customers , talking to our channel and working with sales we defined the marketing Mission (our job) was to: Help Sales deliver $25 million in sales with a 45% gross margin. Two paragraphs, Five bullets. It didn’t take more.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 263

Steve Blank

JANUARY 28, 2020

Customer Development became one of the three parts of the Lean Startup as Eric Ries and Alexander Osterwalder provided the other two components (Agile Engineering and the business model canvas.) Here again I referred to Christensen’s work not only in the Innovators Dilemma, but the Innovators Solution.

Lean 429

Lean Business Model Government Agile 429

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2021

A decade later, I began to teach the foundations of Lean, first at UC Berkeley (Customer Development) and then at Stanford using cases and business plans. Lean-driven (hypothesis testing/business model/customer development/agile engineering). Let’s Teach Lean Via Experiential Learning. experiential.

Lean 435

Lean Agile Business Model Business Plan 435

Steve Blank

AUGUST 26, 2010

Customer Development is a stupidly simple idea. Unlike a traditional business book, The Four Steps is more akin to a reference manual for how to “engineer&# a startup – from the initial search for a repeatable business model all the way through the management techniques to transition to a company.

Customer 235

Customer Customer Development Business Model Developer 235

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

customer development. agile engineering. Some general customer development slides click here. Called “ How to Build a Startup: The Lean LaunchPad ,” it walks you through the Business Model Canvas and an overview of the customer development process. Berkeley presentations, lectures and syllabus here.

Open Source 335

Open Source Silicon Valley Lean Customer Development 335

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

The human tendency to moralize about debt affects engineers, too. Leverage product development with open source and third parties. Financial leverage refers to investing that is supplemented by borrowed money. Technical debt only refers to the latter. Sometimes quick and dirty actually incurs less debt.

Technical Review 168

Technical Review Software Review San Francisco Lean 168

Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

Objects in Our Mirror are Larger than they Appear Our first goal was to set up benchmarks to measure the performance of our own graphics boards on the real applications our customers used (Photoshop, Quark, Illustrator and PageMaker.) We provided customer references and testimonials supporting the key features we were promoting.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 124

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 2, 2010

They’re an albatross if they perform as they do in a large company, and believe that they “own&# customer interaction, feedback to engineering and authoring market requirements documents. In a startup they will be part of the Customer Development team. Filed under: Customer Development.

Silicon Valley 262

Silicon Valley Management San Francisco Product 262

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

So I initially gravitated to the CTO title, and not VP of Engineering. But since I spent a long time in a hybrid CTO/VP Engineering role, I still have this nagging question. I want to add one last idea, even though I recognize it is controversial, bordering on the boundary between the CTO and VP Engineering. Heres my take.

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

Other than measuring engineering progress, there’s no standard language to communicate progress. I use the Investment Readiness Level as part of my sessions to help the students understand that being ready for investment means that besides having a pretty PowerPoint, they need to do real work and show Customer Development progress.

Sacramento 308

Sacramento Framework Customer Development Lean 308

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 10, 2012

Your most powerful growth engine is your existing customer. Even customers who identify themselves as “promoters” in customer surveys — saying they’d be highly likely to refer your firm to a colleague or friend — aren’t actually doing so. That’s right. You have to make it easy for them to do so.

Customer 154

Customer Fractional CTO Canada Technical Review 154

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 15, 2011

Our Lean LaunchPad class teaches scientists and engineers that starting a company is another research project that can be solved by an iterative process of hypotheses testing and experimentation built around the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. And I am definitely enjoying it.”.

Silicon Valley 243

Silicon Valley Lean Customer Development Business Model 243

ConversionXL

MARCH 4, 2020

Thank you pages” for lead forms are often generic—and, by default, set to be indexed by search engines. GA12 refers to the custom dimension 12 in Google Analytics and a relevant setting in the testing tool for that experiment. Ensure confirmation pages are set to “noindex.” At CXL Agency , we set this up for most clients.).

Analytics 88

Analytics IP Metrics Conversion 88

Steve Blank

MAY 14, 2012

The excerpts, which appeared first at Inc.com , highlight the Customer Development process, best practices, tips and instructions contained in our book. These founders specify, design, and build a fully featured product using classic product development methods without ever leaving their building. Focusing on the launch date.

Balance Sheet 335

Balance Sheet Business Model Customer Development Metrics 335

Steve Blank

MARCH 15, 2011

Autonomow team members: Jorge Heraud (MS Management, 2011) Business Unit Director, Agriculture, Trimble Navigation, Director of Engineering, Trimble Navigation, MS&E (Stanford), MSEE (Stanford), BSEE (PUCP, Peru). Vogt Holding), PhD Mechanical Engineering (FAU, Germany), MS Engineering (ETH Zurich, Switzerland. Stay tuned.

Business Model 237

Business Model Nebraska Peru Germany 237

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

First, because the amateurs weren’t SEC-registered, the site had to refer to them with awkward terms like “geniuses.&# First, because the amateurs weren’t SEC-registered, the site had to refer to them with awkward terms like “geniuses.&# Within a month, kaChing observed several interesting things.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment SEC 158

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 15, 2009

One is used by engineers to refer to the process of getting code fully integrated into production. Another is used by marketing to refer to what customers see. In traditional batch-and-queue development, these two concepts are linked. All customers will see the new software as soon as it’s deployed.

Continuous Deployment 167

Continuous Deployment Software Review San Francisco Lean 167

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2013

Last fall, I began teaching the Lean LaunchPad course at Princeton ( EGR 495: Special Topics in Entrepreneurship ) with four teams of undergraduates (ok, there were a few engineering grad students in the mix), a brave first-time LLP co-teacher (Cal Simmons), and a talented and dedicated teaching assistant (Ismaiel Yakub). Beertending.

Lean 284

Lean Cofounder Dividend Business Model 284

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2010

Its in reverse-chronological order, so start with page 3 or just use Seans handy reference. When I first encountered customer development , it was considered pure lunacy by mainstream entrepreneurs and VCs. Its in reverse-chronological order, so start with page 3 or just use Seans handy reference.

San Francisco 133

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 133

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 2, 2008

Alas, they arent published in a dead-tree medium yet, so I cant say something like "they are the essential reference on my bookcase." The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? but rest assured they would be. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

San Francisco 125

San Francisco Software Review Technical Review Continuous Deployment 125

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

This is an incredible skill, one that most engineers overlook. For more on how this plays into the process of scaling up, see the Customer Creation stage of the customer development model.) But in the meantime, by iterating on their product with customers, they have a chance to get there on their own.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2015

Corporate venture funds are often referred to as ‘strategic’ investors because of the unique benefits they bring to the table. They have hundreds, if not thousands, of engineers, world-class design studios, subject matter experts from supply chain to manufacturing. Could they excel at customer development with enterprises?

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Balance Sheet Technical Review Portfolio 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 5, 2017

I was having coffee with the CEO of a new startup, listening to her puzzle through how to communicate to potential customers. So, refer to your strategy: Are you trying to reach potential customers or potential investors and acquirers? Evangelists are not customers who will give a reference. they’ll win.).

Marketing 312

Marketing Audience Technical Review PR 312

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 29, 2010

Each part of the program is organized around one phase of the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop and begins with a keynote address from a heavy hitter: Steve Blank on Customer Development, Randy Komisar on "Getting to Plan B" and - a third person, not-yet-announced-but-extremely-cool-trust-me. I think this is a fair question.

San Francisco 120

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 120

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 18, 2010

Lean, when used in the context of lean startup, refers to a process of building companies and products using lean manufacturing principles applied to innovation. That process involves rapid hypothesis testing, validated learning about customers , and a disciplined approach to product development.

Lean 167

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Startup 167

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2016

Javier : … the entrepreneurial engine of the United States is bar none the most efficient wealth creation and job creation tool that has ever existed. … . Hillary : It has been referred to as an oxymoron (but) it’s not true at all. Filed under: Customer Development , SiriusXM Radio Show.

Small Business Administration 120

Small Business Administration SBIR United States Entrepreneur 120

BeyondVC

MAY 5, 2004

Just because one customer wants it does not mean you have a big market opportunity-do your homework to make sure the customer’s pain is not unique and that this is not a custom development job. I recently caught up with the former VP Engineering who was looking for a new job.

Product 60

Product Software Review Technical Review Early Stage 60

Steve Blank

AUGUST 3, 2009

Frederick Terman, Stanford’s Dean of Engineering, enlisted Stanford University as a major arms suppliers in this war. Stanford as a Center of Microwave and Electronics In 1946 after running the military’s secret 800 person Electronic Warfare Lab at Harvard, Fred Terman returned to Stanford as the dean of the engineering schoo l.

Silicon Valley 157

Silicon Valley RSS Europe Germany 157

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 8, 2009

There are a lot of advantages to piloting, but the one that bears on datablindness is this: it’s extremely difficult to argue that your pilot program is a success without referring back to the expectations that got it funded in the first place. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

San Francisco 84

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 84

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

The presentation didn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development. Your “Customer Development Process&# has really resonated for me. I use it as a frame of reference for measuring progress in my startup. The primary goal of customer development is to reduce the cost of mistakes.

Venture Capital 216

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 216

www.women2.org

MARCH 8, 2012

After quitting my job and starting Sorced , I spent a few months validating my business concept by creating the product mockups and doing customer development. Consequently, I either needed a tech co-founder or to pay someone to develop the product. Given those criteria, where are the watering holes to find these engineers?

Cofounder 47

Cofounder Technical Review San Francisco Founder 47

news.ycombinator.com

SEPTEMBER 16, 2011

His friends at General Electric said he was wasting his time on the gas combustion engine because the world was going electric. -- ErrantX 215 days ago | link. The story of the v-8 engine is a bit different. His quote on the subject, "no amount of finance will cure mismanagement". From "Think and Grow Rich".

Stealth 41

Stealth Technical Review Startup Software Review 41