Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 31, 2016

Growth hacking and growth teams are so commonplace today, at least inside Silicon Valley, that it’s easy to forget that “growth” (as we know it now) is a relatively new phenomenon. The evolution of the growth function changed this dynamic, mashing together product dev and marketing as integrated functions.

Software Review 60

Software Review South Africa Hockey Stick Viral 60

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

When Sloan arrived at GM in 1920 he realized that the traditional centralized management structures organized by function (sales, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing) were a poor fit for managing GM’s diverse product lines. Modern Corporation Marketing. auto market. car market. General Motors had 20%.

Michigan 291

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 291

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2015

During the last three years he’s worked with over 100 companies, many of which established Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley. He’s now helping companies get the most out of their relationships with Silicon Valley. and the emergence of new industries, markets and customers.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Venture Capital United States Technical Review 120

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

At a university business plan competition, for the first time they can swim in the sea of expertise that we/I take for granted in the middle of Silicon Valley. I love business plan competitions (and with my valley-centric bias, I think Berkeley and Stanford have two of the best.) I was simply confused about what a plan was for.

Business Plan 152

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 152

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.

Silicon Valley 268

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 268

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 8, 2015

Read part one on the Evolution of Corporate R&D and part two on Innovation Outposts in Silicon Valley. . Today, large companies are creating Innovation Outposts in Innovation Clusters like Silicon Valley in order to tap into the clusters’ innovation ecosystems. These challenges may be either strategic or tactical.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Acquisition Boston Early Stage 120

bizthoughts.mikelee.org

MARCH 8, 2012

If you’re a non-technical entrepreneur in Silicon Valley that’s out of college now, it can be tough to find a technical cofounder. Be a great product manager, marketer, or whatever your role is, and foster deep connections there. The dot-com bubble had just popped and amazing talent was all over the market.

Technical Cofounder 40

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Technical Review Software Review 40

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 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

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. Ultimately you want to see if you can find customers and a market for the product as specified – as early as possible. Technology?

Vertical 124

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 124

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

In Silicon Valley, rock climbing’s a current hot spot for startup folks. SVASE or Founder Dating in Silicon Valley, First Tuesday in London and Hackers and Founders in New York all come to mind. To be blunt, find a way to move to Silicon Valley. So is ultimate frisbee. Find your ticket.

Cofounder 66

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 66

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

Home Books for Startups Guide Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Tools Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Email Subscription Get Steve Blank via your RSS Feed RSS - Posts RSS - Comments Categories Air Force (12) Ardent (10) Audubon (1) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (39) Business Model versus Business Plan (..)

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110

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. What is customer development?

Lean 102

Lean San Francisco Agile Continuous Deployment 102

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

A description of the problem you’re solving for your customers, and your solution to the problem, which is usually your product or service. A description of your target market or the different market segments you’re targeting. Also, make a bullet list of the marketing activities that will drive customers to your door.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Sloan realized that the traditional centralized management structures (like General Motors had in 1920) were poor fits for the management of GM’s already diverse product lines. auto market with 60% of the U.S. car market. This time in what would become Silicon Valley. General Motors had 20%.

Silicon Valley 175

Silicon Valley United States RSS Customer Development 175

mashable.com

SEPTEMBER 12, 2011

One of the things we hear a lot about in Silicon Valley is how cheap and easy it is to launch a startup these days. And no matter what the latest trends indicate, you will eventually have to spend money on PR and marketing. That’s why i haven chosen to start working in Network marketing and MLM. Have an account?

Startup 79

Startup Social Media RSS Social Network 79

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 14, 2010

At today's roundtable we had some intensive discussions around market sizing and its impact on financing. You have heard, I am sure, that venture capitalists only invest in very large market opportunities - $500 million to $1 billion. I asked him several times what exactly is his TAM (Total Available Market). 30 million market?

Bootstrapping 114

Bootstrapping Marketing Angel Investor Silicon Valley 114

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 17, 2009

I plan to apply these models to my own ventures, especially within new contexts separate from software and web development. The problem is that the most authentic innovators and entrepreneurs are in the Valley. I want more than anything to come to Silicon Valley after I graduate and join the vibrant ecosystem.

Lean 76

Lean San Francisco Web Continuous Deployment 76

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 15, 2010

His posts are born of tremendous research into the secret history of Silicon Valley , and if you haven’t read those essays, you should. My belief is that the root cause of the IPO shortage is that successful startup companies cannot find productive ways to invest large amounts of money to scale anymore.

IPO 166

IPO San Francisco Lean Silicon Valley 166

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

Especially if you aren’t from around Silicon Valley. I too am looking for someone to work with that knows the manufacturing and distribution end of a solid product. Not everybody can, especially if they need to run with the idea to get to market. pentaxfan I love the article and picked up a few great tips!

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

maplebutter.com

JANUARY 8, 2013

Written By Dan Martell on February 2nd, 2012 | Category: Hiring LeanStartup Marketing Metrics Startup Life | 6 Comments. Take the market and break it down into smaller chunks. Near shoring development with your team (ex: your team is based in Canada / India) is cool, but not outsourcing. Product, product, product!

Technical Review 44

Technical Review Startup Cofounder Software Review 44

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

You have heard, I am sure, that venture capitalists only invest in very large market opportunities - $500 million to $1 billion. But there are others - many others - who are looking for smaller opportunities, playing in the sweet spot of $50-$100 million market opportunities. Is that a $20 million market? $30 30 million market?

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.readwriteweb.com

OCTOBER 18, 2010

You have heard, I am sure, that venture capitalists only invest in very large market opportunities - $500 million to $1 billion. But there are others - many others - who are looking for smaller opportunities, playing in the sweet spot of $50-$100 million market opportunities. Is that a $20 million market? $30 30 million market?

Marketing 52

Marketing Bootstrapping Incubator Angel Investor 52

www.vccafe.com

MARCH 11, 2013

Whether you’re wondering what site search you should use or what is the best email marketing tool, knowledge is power. Steve Blank on Lean Customer Development. Inbound Marketing vs Interruption marketing. Email marketing. Market Research. Promotions/Marketing. Social Media Tracking/Marketing.

Software Review 53

Software Review Technical Review Startup 53

Scalable Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

In doing research for a post on “The Enterprise Cool Kids” at the tail end of last year, I interviewed Silicon Valley veteran Marc Andreessen about where he thought the enterprise was headed. So GoodData is at the intersection of kind of marketing and business. Marc Andreessen On The Future Of Enterprise. ALEXIA TSOTSIS.

Software Review 22

Software Review Startup Venture Capital Stock 22

www.quora.com

JANUARY 16, 2011

get someone who can code fast and prototype young or old - getting to validation and in market is top priority. I've seen the best & most senior developers mentally masturbate over specs while the competition blew past them. Knowledge of the market , your desired positioning , strategy to get there. Scale comes later.

Developer 42

Developer Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder 42

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

For months, we made constant product and policy changes, trying to end the controversy without simply undoing our original decision and abandoning the mainstream market. Loyalty is not something that people distribute to all and any that they come into contact with regardless of warrant. Then the reality of our problem hit us.

Community 158

Community Management Lean Software Review 158