Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2013

In a startup instead of paying consultants to tell you what they learned you want to pay them to teach you how to learn. Roominate , one of my favorite Lean LaunchPad teams came out to the ranch last week for a strategy session. Hiring PR Agencies. Bettina said, “We want to drive customer demand into our channel.”

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2008

(Maybe youd like to start with The lean startup , How to listen to customers , or What does a startup CTO actually do? ) He serves on the advisory board of a number of technology startups, and has worked as a consultant to a number of startups, companies, and venture capital firms.

San Francisco 155

San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

Well yes, I understand that, but this is a startup, what else do you want to do? “I The “strategy” of learning who SuperMac’s customers were, what solutions they needed and what our repositioning would be was a three month effort. Stay out of startups. The head of the PR agency agreed that we would work together as a team.

Silicon Valley 124

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 124

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2013

In a startup instead of paying consultants to tell you what they learned you want to pay them to teach you how to learn. Roominate , one of my favorite Lean LaunchPad teams came out to the ranch last week for a strategy session. Hiring PR Agencies. Bettina said, “We want to drive customer demand into our channel.”

PR 208

PR China Lean Channel 208

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2009

Whats striking about these stories, if you get past the PR hype, are two very important themes: These prodigies were self-taught, and had a fundamental fascination with technology from a very young age. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Expo SF (May. .

Programming 143

Programming San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 143

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

What are they, how do they differ and what can startup do to take advantage of them? Paths to Liquidity: a quick history of the four waves of startup investing. Lean Startups/Back to Basics (2000-2010): No IPO’s, limited VC cash, lack of confidence and funding fuels “lean startup” era with limited M&A and even less IPO activity.

Internet 334

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 334

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

But I want to talk about a different kind of leverage, the kind that you can get in product development. Its a force that allows startups to build products at parity with much larger companies - cheaper and much faster. Its a key lean startup concept. Open APIs and data-oriented architecture (aka "web 2.0").

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Product Development Developer San Francisco Product 88

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

Many thanks, you’ve changed my startup a hundred times already. Hopefully you and your co-founders are experts in one or two parts (agile development, SEO/SEM, etc.) But the rest; sales, marketing, bus dev is actually customer development that the founder needs to understand. Keep ‘em coming.

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Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. It has become an integral part of startup culture. None of mine did.)

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Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 263

Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

While one could argue that a trade show is just another demand creation activity akin to advertising or PR, trade shows are the closest eyeball-to-eyeball contact you’re company is going to have with customers, competitors and partners. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Now In Print!

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Thanks to those of you who were willing to fill out the survey, I learned my net promoter score (about 25) as well as some clear other segmentation insights: about 80% of you are founders of or work at a startup, you read many of the same other blogs, and many of you would like to engage with Lessons Learned in formats and venues beyond this blog.

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 24, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, February 24, 2009 The lean startup at UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Image by Jessica_Mah via Flickr Last week I had the opportunity to lecture again in Steve Blank s entrepreneurship class at Haas, which is always a great learning experience - for me at least! Eric takes a different approach.

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Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 74

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 4, 2010 Stop lying on stage Entrepreneurs crave information about successful startups, and they should. About half the interesting things I know about famous startups, I learned at YC dinners. The higher the vanity ratio, the more effective the PR. It helps companies with PR.

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San Francisco Lean Metrics PR 167

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 26, 2012

We'll be discussing the Lean Startup movement, the upcoming conference, and whatever else you decide you want to ask about. Throughout the hour (from 10am-11am) we'll be picking people to win free tickets to the Lean Startup Conference on December 3. FM or 89.3

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Lean San Francisco Houston Engineer 159

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 18, 2013

This post was written by Sarah Milstein, co-host of The Lean Startup Conference. Exciting news: we’ve nailed down dates for The Lean Startup Conference 2013. We know Lean Startup methods are being applied by people around the globe, in startups and established organizations alike, and in sectors of every stripe.

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Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 167

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

And so, the concept for a digital PR service was born. Using my existing skills and resources (including an old domain name), I tested a productized digital PR offer. My service startup quickly grew and became a platform to identify new problems we could solve for clients. These days, many agencies start as a lean operation.

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PR B2B Lean Audience 120

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

This "success theater" is occasionally useful for PR or getting through a tough board meeting. This "success theater" is occasionally useful for PR or getting through a tough board meeting. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? Dont forget to leave a comment.

Metrics 121

Metrics San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 121

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. I reminded her that all the Lean tools she learned in class–Customer Discovery, business model and value proposition canvases– contained her answer. Customer Discovery Never Stops.

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Marketing Audience Technical Review PR 312

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 17, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, April 17, 2010 Sneak preview, KISSmetrics (and more) Hear the CEO of KISSmetrics give a sneak preview of what hell be presenting at the Startup Lessons Learned conference on April 23 (were less than a week away!): The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? Announce a new product, start its PR campaign, and engage in buzz marketing activities. Marketing launch) Make a new product available to customers in the general public.

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San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

Steve Blank

MAY 21, 2009

The Message Sitting around a conference room table brainstorming messages that might resonate with customers, or worse having a PR agency doing that for you, is a firing offense in a small company. You should be brainstorming messages with current and potential customers. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice.

Silicon Valley 185

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 185

Steve Blank

AUGUST 24, 2009

If you’re a startup raising money or just want to see your name online, there’s not a better blog on the web. Is this behavior an outlier or is it the norm in the PR industry? Reading this TechCrunch post made me remember the first time I saw someone confront a worldview they didn’t expect. Or is it just someones end of innocence ?

Silicon Valley 191

Silicon Valley PR Technical Review RSS 191

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2008

This is completely analogous to the situation elsewhere on the internet, where launching a new website, product, or service with PR is getting harder and harder. Customers and prospects are overwhelmed by the number of media and companies clamoring for their attention. Acqusition competition is how new apps get new customers.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Retention SEM 68

Steve Blank

JUNE 22, 2009

Over the last 35 years venture capital has funded nimble new entrants (on a scale never imagined by Schumpeter ) who exist to exploit discontinuities in technology or customer behavior. Startups have forced an accelerated cycle of creative destruction for large companies that didn’t exist in the first half of the 20th century.

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Silicon Valley RSS California Agile 169

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

For startups (and other innovators ), that’s a decisive advantage. The work itself, especially in startups, depends primarily on intelligence, communication, creativity and empathy. Their recent article suggests that startups led by women are actually more successful, on average, than those led by men.

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San Francisco Lean Sweden Continuous Deployment 167

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

To give you a better idea of what entrepreneurs in this industry are thinking about during each phase of the startup process, I interviewed SaaS entrepreneurs from all over the world, including our own COO Noah Parsons. Step 1: Start with a lean plan. Introducing Lean Planning: How to Plan Less and Grow Faster.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

In the summer of 1999, I started working on a startup from my college dorm. And the great ideas that became todays successful tech startups dwarf anything that had been done to that point. Nonetheless, my first startup was a tool for college students from elite colleges to create resumes and help them find jobs. Great post!

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2021

Having just retired from a career as an entrepreneur I had started thinking about why startups were different from large companies. Shawn immediately said the name I had given the four steps was confusing – I had called it market development – he suggested that I call it Customer Development – and the name stuck.

Product 436

Product Viral Channel San Francisco 436

Steve Blank

AUGUST 3, 2009

Later posts will talk about these technologies and the startups that spun out of Stanford to build them. Stanford and an emerging set of Silicon Valley startups would be deeply involved in designing the technologies, techniques and ELINT systems on these planes. The NSA and ELINT In the 1950’s the Strategic Air Command and the U.S.

Silicon Valley 157

Silicon Valley RSS Europe Germany 157

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 27, 2009 Cash is not king Cash on hand is just one important variable in a startup’s life, but it’s not necessarily the most important. In lean times, it’s most important to focus on cutting costs in ways that speed you up, not slow you down. What counts as an iteration?

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 117

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 7, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Learning is better than optimization (the local maximum problem) Lean startups don’t optimize. Instead, we try to accelerate with respect to validated learning about customers. How can we do split-testing when we have only a pathetically small number of customers ?

San Francisco 154

San Francisco Lean Metrics Design 154

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Not being able to hear negative customer input is an extremely bad idea. Out of the Ashes A few of the key tenets of Customer Development , came from the ashes. So while the words may have passed through my ears I couldn’t “hear&# it. Rocket Science seems to be a bit of an extreme case though.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

Does anyone know where the registration cards that the customers sent back are?” As a company with a past history, the company had a massive advantage over a typical startup – it had customers. Normally in a startup you spend an inordinate amount of time and energy in Customer Discovery and Customer Validation.

Silicon Valley 192

Silicon Valley RSS Software Review Technical Review 192

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

He wanted to build direct customer relationships to get product feedback but only 2% of customers would ever return their registration cards. So when he saw the browser it instantly dawned on him that this would be the greatest customer development tool ever. This has been their formula for nearly 15 years.

Product 350

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The Next Web

JANUARY 27, 2013

It’s been slightly over two years since I attended Startup Weekend in September 2010, which literally changed my world for the better. Startup Weekend provided an absolute cultural shock to me. When I started out after attending Startup Weekend, I was a complete idiot. It’s startup life. Decisions are never perfect.

Netherlands 159

Netherlands Technical Review Software Review Cofounder 159

Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

The Search for the Black Swan What keeps founders and their investors going is the the dream/belief that your startup will be the Black Swan – a company that breaks all the obvious rules, ignores tradition and does something unique and spectacular and with a result that is unpredicted and financial returns that are breathtaking.

Silicon Valley 212

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The Startup Toolkit

JUNE 27, 2012

Premature scaling is the #1 killer of startups[1][2]. Similarly, I think that working nights & weekends is an awesome way to start doing customer development and answering the big questions about your business. 2] Data via the startup genome project. [3] But never scaling[3] will also kill you.

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Burn Rate PR Campaign Hiring 35