Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

I was in New York last week with my class at Columbia University and several events made me realize that the Customer Development model needs to better describe its fit with web-based businesses. In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers?

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Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Pattern Recognition One of the great things about being an entrepreneur is that you are constantly running a pattern recognition algorithm against a continual collection of customer and market data. Let’s Fire Our Customers Part of the DNA of great entrepreneurs is a bias towards decisive and immediate action. Get it done, now.

Customer 216

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 216

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

The first hint lies in its name; this is a product development model, not a marketing model, not a sales hiring model, not a customer acquisition model, not even a financing model (and we’ll also find that in most cases it’s even a poor model to use to develop a product.) Where Are the Customers? Product Development Diagram 1.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 19, 2009

While the last post was titled “ You Know You’re Getting Close to Your Customers When They Offer You a Job “, this post should probably be titled, “You Know You’re Getting Close to Your Customers When You Offer Them a Job.&# Context here.)

Engineer 221

Engineer Silicon Valley Part-Time VPE Advisory Board 221

ConversionXL

JANUARY 28, 2021

We won’t proclaim one is the ‘best’ customer data platform (CDP) for which every business, including yours, should use. Instead, we’ll be covering the core use cases that customer data platforms address and explore whether Segment or Mparticle ultimately deserves a spot in your tech stack. The Rise of CDPs.

Technical Review 86

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Technical Cofounder 86

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 24, 2017

by Tim Conder, VP of Customer Success at Bolstra. While Discovery is incredibly informative for a XaaS vendor, it’s important to remember that it’s a moment of vulnerability and truth for a customer. Discovery typically happens during the sales process and again once a customer is handed over to Customer Success.

Sales 113

Sales Customer Sales Cycle Vertical 113

Steve Blank

MARCH 20, 2009

Our first question was, did the total number of customers that had already bought products from our competitors and us represent a saturated market or the tip of the iceberg? Since I was heading a marketing department, not acting as an individual contributor, I needed to teach all of marketing the importance of customer data.

Silicon Valley 147

Silicon Valley Customer RSS Philippines 147

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 2, 2021

One of the most rewarding aspects of Sales leadership is being “close to the money.” Each day, Sales leader’s teams sign new customers and track performance to target, so they have a good sense of how business is trending. To 3X the team, you’ll need to find 3X potential customers (leads) that convert at the same or higher rate.

Revenue 72

Revenue Retention Forecast Sales 72

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2009

Reducing Risk – Simulation versus Customer Development If you remember the first part of this discussion, startups face two types of risk; invention risk and/or customer/market risk. The Customer Development Process I teach and write about is designed to do just that.

Vertical 137

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing RSS 137

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.

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Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 125

Up and Running

AUGUST 6, 2019

You’ve launched your new restaurant and you’re starting to see customers, but running a restaurant is serious business, especially because your financial livelihood is most likely tied up in startup costs. . Are the menu prices appropriate for your target customer and their taste? Helps customers identify with your restaurant.

Technical Review 86

Technical Review SBA Merger Customer 86

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Passionate – is the company/product/customers the most important thing in your life? However, you will be dealing with almost daily change, (new customer feedback/insights from a Customer Development process and technical roadblocks ,) as the company searches for a repeatable and scalable business model. Get customers first.

Cofounder 229

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 229

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 14, 2018

#3- Outdo ourselves when it comes to customer service. I’m looking forward to continuing to raise the bar when it comes to customer service next year! We listened to our customers and their needs and were able to provide them the very best customer service because of it. 10- Build a cohesive leadership team.

Entrepreneur 68

Entrepreneur Germany Leadership Partner 68

Up and Running

OCTOBER 7, 2019

For example, leadership can use high-level KPIs to measure the overall performance of the company, and managers can use granular KPIs to gauge the effectiveness of processes, such as sales, marketing, or procurement. Customer churn rate: shows the percentage of customers lost in a given period (e.g., Marketing KPIs.

Founder 71

Founder Retention Metrics Technical Review 71

YoungUpstarts

MAY 6, 2014

by Matt Tenny, author of “ Serve to Be Great: Leadership Lessons from a Prison, a Monastery, and a Boardroom “ A recent Gallup poll shows that only 30 percent of Americans are actively engaged at work. This is accomplished easily when you build a culture of servant leadership. Focus on your most important customer.

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Leadership Employee Community Non-Compete 169

Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

They sold to a set of customers I knew nothing about. After talking to its resellers and customers I realized that SuperMac was the only company that could be described as “fifth in a group of three.” They had an existing distribution channel and their dealers and customers thought they knew who the company was and what it stood for.

Silicon Valley 165

Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review RSS 165

ConversionXL

JUNE 30, 2019

Knowing what the competitors are doing—how they’re thinking about the market, which tactics they’re using, how they’re crafting messages and design—can make all the difference in the battle for customers. How do customers think of my company compared to competitors? Interview your competitors’ customers.

SEO 126

SEO Conversion Analytics Design 126

Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 8, 2019

This focus has helped me recruit the best and the brightest in the field, build a world-class operation, and most of all, with all the knowledge in a specific vertical, help build a leading agency for food & beverage manufacturers that are looking to build a direct to consumer channel. Thanks to Aalap Shah, 1o8 ! #5- 5- Two things.

Entrepreneur 119

Entrepreneur Technical Review Vertical Las Vegas 119

Occam's Razor

JULY 24, 2018

Customer Lifetime Value on the other hand takes a long time to become useful, over months and months (if actioned, it can have a super strategic impact on the business – tens of millions of dollars). The value of voice of customer metrics is evident by their high placement in context of the y-axis. Other hidden features.

Analytics 93

Analytics Framework Metrics Algorithm 93

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

The Times Square Strategy discussion I had with Eric Ries , was still top of mind, so instead of my standard Customer Development lecture , I offered my thoughts on: the origin of Customer Development, where we are today, and where does Customer Development go, and how you can help get it there.

Customer Development 227

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 227

ConversionXL

MAY 11, 2017

Knowing what the competitors are doing – how they are thinking about the market, what tactics they are using, how they are crafting messages and design – can make all the difference in the battle for the customers’ mind share and conversions. How do my customers think of my company compared to the competitors? How do we stand out?

SEO 131

SEO Analytics Conversion Search 131

ConversionXL

MAY 27, 2022

Bootstrapped startup Omnisend carved out a $19 million niche in an already saturated vertical. A demand generation manager’s responsibilities involve creating and distributing targeted content ( blog posts , podcasts, and thought leadership) that educates potential customers on solving common challenges relevant to their product or industry.

Lead Generation 107

Lead Generation Demand Audience eCommerce 107

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 22, 2017

As a founder you ultimately have to learn the skills to play your leadership role, and having a seasoned booster early on just moves you faster along that path. They learn how to talk with potential customers and de-risk their plans from the start. Mentors can provide everything from very technical support to basic business skills.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Incubator Software Review Vertical 48

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

In the next few posts that follow, I’ll describe how thinking of a solution to this model’s failures led to the Customer Development Model – that offers a new way to approach startup sales and marketing activities. The meaning of alpha test , beta test, and first customer ship are pretty obvious to most engineers.

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 228

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

Since every situation is unique, there is no perfect solution to any engineering, customer or competitor problem, and you shouldn’t agonize over trying to find one. An example of a reversible decision could be adding a product feature, a new algorithm in the code, targeting a specific set of customers, etc.

Silicon Valley 307

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 307

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

In this time, building a successful business meant building a company that had paying customers quarter after quarter. It did not mean building a startup into a company to flip or hype on the market with no earnings or revenue, but building a company that had paying customers. They taught you about customers, markets and profits.

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

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. A few successful ones do all these things.

Customer Development 253

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 253

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

I was between my 7th and 8th and final startup; licking my wounds from Rocket Science, the company I had cratered as my first and last attempt as a startup CEO. Yet when I talked to my venture capital friends, they said, “Well, that’s just how startups work. We’ve managed startups like this forever; there is no other way to manage them.”

Silicon Valley 131

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 131

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 16, 2022

DataRails , the financial analysis and reporting software startup, has announced the hiring of David Rosenberg as the company’s new VP of customer success. He has a wealth of experience in the data vertical, having served in previous roles at companies such as Intel, AllScripts, and Vision.bi. Prior Leader Moves On.

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Hiring Software Review Customer 150

Duct Tape Marketing

OCTOBER 13, 2021

Finding New Customers In Untapped Places written by John Jantsch read more at Duct Tape Marketing. Pam is best known for her book Escape from Cubicle Nation, and she recently wrote a new book called – The Widest Net: Unlock Untapped Markets and Discover New Customers Right in Front of You – launching in November 2021. Like this show?

Customer 100

Customer .Net Arizona Networking 100

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

Customer Development/Lean Startups In hindsight startups and the venture capital community left out the most important first step any startup ought to be doing – hypothesis testing in front of customers- from day one. It’s what my textbook on Customer Development describes. and “What did customers think of your prototype?”

Silicon Valley 204

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 204

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

Your Customers are Not Who You Think For years I thought this “million unit chip sale by accident&# was a “one-off&# funny story. That is until I saw that in startup after startup customers come from places you don’t plan on. Your board nods sagely at your target customer list.

Silicon Valley 143

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 143

Steve Blank

MAY 1, 2009

The Customer Development talk can be seen here. That said I will be giving a Customer Development talk at TIECON , Saturday May 16th, 1:30 thanks for asking. steve Customer Development is Hard. Thanks to Dave McClure and Leonard Speiser for the opportunity to speak. It starts at ~40:30 in the video. Order Here.

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Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 154

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 26, 2009

So no post today on entrepreneurship, Secret History of Silicon Valley, Customer Development, Lean Startups, etc. After more customer interviews, we have shifted our market type hypothesis to- entering an existant market. Our friends who run the state park surrounding our ranch will join all of us for Thanksgiving dinner.

Silicon Valley 152

Silicon Valley Turkey United States RSS 152

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 143

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 143

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

Customer Development We were starting Epiphany, my last company. I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. He continued: “I’d like to convince my boss so our company can be your first customer.”

Silicon Valley 253

Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 253

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 269

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 269