Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

It was not only my secret weapon in thinking about new startup strategies, it also gave me a view of the management issues my customers were dealing with. Through HBR I discovered the work of Peter Drucker and first read about management by objective. I learned about Michael Porter s’s five forces.

Technical Review 329

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 329

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 22, 2011

As part of our Lean LaunchPad classes at Stanford, Berkeley, Columbia and for the National Science Foundation, students build a startup in 8 weeks using Business Model Design + Customer Development. Set up the logistics to manage your team. Get customers to the site. Test the “problem” with customer data.

Lean 334

Lean Web Coder Business Model 334

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 9, 2013

by Tom Panaggio, author of “ The Risk Advantage: Embracing the Entrepreneur’s Unexpected Edge “ Here’s one of business’s dirty little secrets: Many business owners prefer to keep their customers at arm’s length. Nobody likes feeling unimportant, and with all of the choices out there today, customers don’t have to settle for it.

Customer 170

Customer Technical Review Florida Cofounder 170

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 10, 2012

by Bill Lee, author of “ The Hidden Wealth of Customers: Realizing the Untapped Value of Your Most Important Asset “. Talented product developers. No one can truly understand your customers or genuinely share their interests unless she is a customer herself. Your most powerful growth engine is your existing customer.

Customer 154

Customer Fractional CTO Canada Technical Review 154

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

It was not only my secret weapon in thinking about new startup strategies, it also gave me a view of the management issues my customers were dealing with. Through HBR I discovered the work of Peter Drucker and first read about management by objective. I learned about Michael Porter s’s five forces.

Technical Review 221

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 221

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. ” Fire, Ready, Aim.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Over the past decade, I’ve (somewhat accidentally) put together on this blog a syllabus on how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund. For example, we created a pipeline management tool that automatically adds deals along with relevant information (such as attachments received) to our funnel. 5) Manage deal flow.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

David Teten

SEPTEMBER 6, 2018

Over the past decade, I’ve (somewhat accidentally) put together on this blog a syllabus on how to launch, manage, and invest a VC fund. For example, we created a pipeline management tool that automatically adds deals along with relevant information (such as attachments received) to our funnel. 5) Manage deal flow.

Technical Review 60

Technical Review Private Equity Management Cap Table 60

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 12, 2012

by Bill Lee, author of “ The Hidden Wealth of Customers: Realizing the Untapped Value of Your Most Important Asset “ The old paradigm works like this: Your company produces goods and services that help customers get a job done. In return, the customers pay you money. The new approach makes so much more sense.

Customer 168

Customer Social Media Retention Canada 168

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development.

Customer Development 252

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 252

Up and Running

MARCH 21, 2018

Company branding builds trust and an emotional connection between businesses and potential customers. You’ll think about your business, name, logo and colors; but maybe more importantly, you’ll think through who your target audience is and how you want them to feel about your product or service. Custom development.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Technical Review Hosting SEO 107

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

Eric was the very first practitioner of my Customer Development methodology which became the core of the the Lean methodology. He was named entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School in 2010 and is currently an IDEO Fellow. He later co-founded and served as CTO of IMVU and then authored The Lean Startup.

Lean 120

Lean Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder Channel 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The way our process worked, customers were just a stakeholder that provided input – not drivers of the process. It was only after returning to Stanford and taking the Lean Launchpad class that I became convinced that a radically different, customer-centric approach was the solution. Doing it Wrong. Back to the Present.

Lean 267

Lean Technical Review Acquisition Software Review 267

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Handspring’s customers understood what a Personal Digital Assistant was.

Customer Development 217

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 217

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

When you look through the list , you’ll see big names that we’re very pleased we landed, epic companies we really want to hear from, and people we’re particularly excited to present because they have incredible stories to share--and you won’t hear them anyplace else. Eric Ries will interview him.

Lean 165

Lean Fractional CTO Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE 165

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 26, 2009 A real Customer Advisory Board A reader recently asked on a previous post about the technique of having customers periodically produce a “state of the company&# progress report. Many companies seek to involve customers directly in the creation of their products.

Advisory Board 151

Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 20, 2008 The engineering managers lament I was inspired to write The product managers lament while meeting with a startup struggling to figure out what had gone wrong with their product development process. This engineering manager is a smart guy, and very experienced.

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Twenty eight years ago I was the bright, young, eager product marketing manager called out to the field to support sales by explaining the technical details of Convergent Technologies products to potential customers. These companies would take our computers and put their name on them and resell them to their customers.

Technology 142

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 142

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. They are gaining valuable customer data.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 29, 2024

This isn’t just about having a eureka moment; it’s about understanding the problem you’re solving and why it matters to your potential customers. Then, consider how you’ll reach your customers and what kind of relationship you want to build with them.

Intellectual Property 158

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Business Model Bootstrapping 158

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2019

Lean Methodology consists of three tools designed for entrepreneurs building new ventures: The Business Model Canvas – to write down all the hypotheses about a new business; Customer Development – a process for testing those hypotheses outside the building; Agile Engineering – to rapidly build minimal viable products to test product/market fit.

Lean 334

Lean Marketing Agile Customer Development 334

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

We learned this weekend that it was named after his East Hampton home. We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc. I’m going to save that for a future blog post.

PR 279

PR Technical Review Portfolio Customer Development 279

ConversionXL

JANUARY 24, 2014

In my interview with Hunter, we discuss: The key responsibilities of a business development professional. How to get big name testimonials and clients. The importance of the customer feedback cycle & the role it plays for AWeber. It’s Not A Conversion Problem, It’s A Customer Development Problem.

Developer 104

Developer API Cofounder New Jersey 104

ConversionXL

JULY 1, 2014

Conversions are mostly about being relevant to your customers. If what you offer and the way you present it is relevant to your visitors they will convert to buying customers. Then again if you don’t understand who your customer is or worse it’s “everybody” then you have very little change of being successful at it. Demographic.

Customer 76

Customer Design Software Review Lead Generation 76

crowdSPRING Blog

JUNE 6, 2014

Customer] Retention is King (good insights on measurement) – crowdspring.co/1haiyJt. The Best Managers Aren’t Control Freaks | by Frank Gruber – crowdspring.co/1pRN2jq. Need a great name & URL for your new business? 5 Quick Tips for Buyers in Naming Projects – crowdspring.co/ThAKX4. 1pNIOcD.

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Software Review 94

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

Note to Chinese Communist party – the best name for your propaganda department should probably not be the “Propaganda Department.”). Management 101. But the differences are worth noting – it’s a young ecosystem, so startup management tools are nearly non-existent. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital'

China 326

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 326

Steve Blank

JULY 22, 2010

Customer Validation needs to have the CEO actively involved. Customer Development Diagnostics over Lunch. He went through his product feature by feature and matched them to the customer problems. It certainly sounded like he had done a great job of Customer Discovery. Here’s an example in a direct sales channel.

Forecast 275

Forecast Sales Customer Customer Development 275

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2010

There are few courses which teach aspiring entrepreneurs the skills (business models, customer and agile development, design thinking, etc.) If you’ve read any of my previous posts, you know I believe that: 1) a product is just a part of a startup, but understanding customers, channel, pricing, etc. to optimize this search.

Wiki 315

Wiki Lean Management Business Model 315

Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

The “strategy” of learning who SuperMac’s customers were, what solutions they needed and what our repositioning would be was a three month effort. it was the speed of the applications that customers were using to get their work done. So I was going to give our customers metrics neither they or anyone else had ever seen before.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 126

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

Once you have assembled the right core team, I recommend prioritizing as follows: First, meet with your portfolio company management. For example, recruiting writ large is useful at all stages of development. Welsh, Carson, Anderson, and Stowe advertises that “60% of WCAS XII portfolio companies benefit from repeat management.”

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

For the past 30 years great colleges have approached recruitment by creating a list of names from the PSATs and then sending out glossy brochures. Prior to founding Carely , Michael Eidsaune earned his MBA in finance and spent several years in investment management, eventually earning his level 1 CFA certification.

Cofounder 145

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 145

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

Note to Chinese Communist party – the best name for your propaganda department should probably not be the “Propaganda Department.”). Management 101. But the differences are worth noting – it’s a young ecosystem, so startup management tools are nearly non-existent. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital'

China 218

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 218

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 15, 2010

Finally, I HATE the name. Golden rule of branding for me: 1) name your company or product your URL and 2) don’t paint yourself into a corner. &# Tweet&# = corner. My bet: within 18 months they will change the name and go multi-stream. Sounds like somebody didn’t do their homework on this name. uh, hello!

Venture Capital 271

Venture Capital Affiliate Valuation San Francisco 271

Up and Running

MAY 18, 2016

You’ll learn more about what destroys startups, how to use the Customer Development method to succeed, how to use the Business Model Canvas, how to identify and keep your customers, and how to drive profits. Lean Customer Development: Building Products Your Customers Will Buy. B y Cindy Alvarez.

Startup 80

Startup Venture Capital Angel Investor Lean 80

Steve Blank

AUGUST 15, 2016

For the past 30 years great colleges have approached recruitment by creating a list of names from the PSATs and then sending out glossy brochures. Prior to founding Carely , Michael Eidsaune earned his MBA in finance and spent several years in investment management, eventually earning his level 1 CFA certification.

Cofounder 120

Cofounder Entrepreneur Africa Sales Cycle 120

ConversionXL

MARCH 4, 2020

Getting its numbers aligned with other tools in your martech stack keeps results credible and blood pressure manageable. You can also set up custom alerts in Google Analytics to spot a dramatic change in conversions. You can store the information with a custom dimension. How to fix it. How to fix it. Image source ).

Analytics 88

Analytics IP Metrics Conversion 88

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

Thats the conclusion Ive come to after watching tons of online products fail for a complete lack of customers. Our goal is to find out whether customers are interested in your product by offering to give (or even sell) it to them, and then failing to deliver on that promise. We finally settled on a $1.99 Setup a simple website.

Demand 167

Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167