ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Where Airbnb recognized the value in another platform, Dropbox doubled down on the strength of its product as a distribution channel. For example, if you run a software company, talking to clients at a trade show might put you in touch with the right audience. The result? An increase in listings from 50,000 to 500,000.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. There was now a public market for companies with no revenue, no profit and big claims.

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 235

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

customers aren’t buying it, the cost of distribution is too high, etc.) Was the sales revenue model based on actually testing the hypotheses outside the building? Greg Boutin Founder, Growthroute Ventures, [link] Reply TO REVENUE » Talking on Techie-Biz Divide at Communitech Guelph on Sept. The products sold themselves.

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 25, 2011

What excited me was that they had an immensely talented team that understood how to produce & distribute low-cost videos, initially via YouTube. They know this model of YouTube production & distribution better than anybody else that I’ve met in my 5 years in Los Angeles. Sound familiar?

Silicon Valley 291

Silicon Valley Los Angeles Distribution Internet 291

Austin Startup

SEPTEMBER 23, 2017

Distributed Ledgers The current stagnation with Ethereum to Hyperledger to Corda and everyone else pretending they have a distributed ledger solution for fintech is distributed ledgers actually transcend the concept of financial technology.

Technical Review 54

Technical Review Technology Artificial Inteligence Software Review 54

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 17, 2011

In Silicon Valley, we've had access to the tribal knowledge, but no one has tried to capture it, derive a methodology out of it, and package it in a way that entrepreneurs around the world can benefit from this knowledge and expertise. With that, let's look at the two entrepreneurs who pitched today from Costa Rica.

Costa Rica 114

Costa Rica America Silicon Valley Entrepreneur 114

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Activities might include hardware or software development, mastering a 10,000 mile supply chain, low-cost manufacturing, or to provide services in a foreign country. For the deputy secretary, such a dialogue in Silicon Valley is not a matter of charity, but necessity.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

Activities might include hardware or software development, mastering a 10,000 mile supply chain, low-cost manufacturing, or to provide services in a foreign country. For the deputy secretary, such a dialogue in Silicon Valley is not a matter of charity, but necessity.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Austin Startup

OCTOBER 15, 2017

What seems to be the best way to create customers and revenue may result in a business model that is out of vogue with the investment world and shortchanges you on enterprise valuation. If you bill for your technology services on a percentage of ad spend, you are guaranteed to look like an agency that deserves a revenue multiple of 1–2X.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Software Review Nevada Silicon Valley 48

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 30, 2012

In Silicon Valley, Technology Talent Gap Threatens G.O.P. Special Report: Silicon Valley’s dirty secret – age bias | Reuters – [link]. How PRWeb Helps Distribute Crap Into Google & News Sites – [link]. Red All Over: Newspaper Revenues Fall In Q3 – [link].

Social Media 100

Social Media Small Business Central African Republic Design 100

Transformify

APRIL 21, 2017

We have arguably the largest distributed workforce in the world. We really wanted to build a network of top tier talent, similar to the caliber of talent that’s working in-house at top Silicon Valley tech companies. That’s Toptal in a nutshell -- the best talent, from all over the world, accessible and ready to work.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Cofounder 40

Steve Blank

MARCH 18, 2011

The signals are loud and clear : seed and late stage valuations are getting frothy and wacky, and hiring talent in Silicon Valley is the toughest it has been since the dot.com bubble. Software companies had to buy specialized computers and license expensive software. Carpe Diem. We’re now in the second Internet bubble.

Internet 335

Internet IPO Silicon Valley Agile 335

Austin Startup

NOVEMBER 6, 2017

Background Reading: When LLCs Make Sense for Startups Not Building a Unicorn If you have spent almost any time reading about the basics of startup legal issues, you know that Delaware C-corps are the default organizational structure for a “classic” tech startup (software, hardware) planning to raise angel/VC money and scale.

Delaware 48

Delaware LLC Startup Silicon Valley 48

Steve Blank

AUGUST 5, 2010

When I first came to Silicon Valley the world of Venture Capital looked pretty simple. VC’s invested in things that ran on electrons: hardware, software and silicon. But these VC’s aren’t Lean because they fund startups with web-based distribution models. Here’s why. Electron-based Venture Capital.

Lean 263

Lean Internet Silicon Valley Venture Capital 263

Gust

OCTOBER 16, 2012

This summer I conducted our third annual survey of the pre-money valuation of pre-revenue companies recently funded by angel groups in North America. For the first time, we asked for data from specific business sectors, as follows: All pre-revenue deals. Pre-revenue life Science, biotech and medical device deals. Organization.

Angel Groups 169

Angel Groups Valuation Pre-Money Valuation North Dakota 169

crowdSPRING Blog

NOVEMBER 27, 2012

After all, without customers, there is no revenue. On the other hand, startups targeting software makers have more flexibility in their approach because these companies generate multiples more profit. If you try to sell your products and services to everyone in the world, you will waste both time and money.

Small Business 110

Small Business Marketing Startup Silicon Valley 110

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 19, 2015

YouTube takes too high of a revenue split (45% vs. 30% that Apple and many other distribution companies take – FWIW, YouTube argues this is because their costs are much higher since they host and stream the video). YouTube is a distribution and marketing channel like any other. You can’t build a brand on YouTube.

SEM 150

SEM Los Angeles Silicon Valley Acquisition 150

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Yet we used the product development model not only to manage product development, but as a road map for finding customers and to time our marketing launch and sales revenue plan. After that there’s a discussion of how the product will reach the customer and the potential distribution channel.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 269

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

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Since the term “cloud computing” was coined in 1996—at least as we have come to understand its meaning—the software as a service industry has exploded. In fact, SaaS industry revenue is projected to grow from $49 billion in 2015 to $67 billion in 2018, a compound annual growth rate of approximately eight percent.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

thebarefootvc

SEPTEMBER 6, 2021

At the same time, a company called Yield Games has created a metaverse game where players can play to earn – that is, they receive characters to play with (often via scholarships) or that they can buy, which then earn them back revenue in the form of tokens as they play the game.

Global 40

Global Community Africa Marketing 40

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 20, 2020

Andy is a global thought leader in remote work, telecommuting, and distributed workforces having served as CEO of Crossover and Sococo and on the board of Texas Central, our new bullet train. He was also born here and went to UT Austin before heading out to Silicon Valley for a stint.

Austin 110

Austin Texas Cofounder Los Angeles 110

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

Sales people cost money, and when they’re not bringing in revenue, their wandering in the woods is time consuming, cash-draining and demoralizing. Scalable: The goal is not to get one customer but many – and to get those customers so each additional customer adds incremental revenue and profit. Lets see why. Something else?

Lean 260

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 260

Venture Chronicles

MAY 5, 2010

Last week I had the opportunity to attend GigaOM’s GreenNet 2010 event, which was looking at how energy solutions are powering a new wave of innovation in Silicon Valley. I was pleased to see that Katie had focused a good amount of the agenda and speaker slots for talks given by regulators and public utility officials.

Technical Review 36

Technical Review California San Francisco Silicon Valley 36

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

How does product development differ in communications hardware versus enterprise software, etc. Business and Revenue Model – How do we organize to make money? Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. For example, How does sales differ from one market to another? Regulatory Issues – What are they?

Vertical 125

Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 125

Steve Blank

MAY 16, 2016

In companies this would be product line extensions, more efficient supply chain, new distribution channels. In a company you know you’ve been successful when you generate revenue and profit. In those case revenue will become an additional metric. More next week on innovation and the intransigent middle. Now back to the class.

San Diego 145

San Diego Metrics Indonesia Silicon Valley 145

Agile VC

MAY 23, 2012

We now only think about “electricity” companies in the narrowest of senses… the small number of businesses (relative to the overall impact of electricity in the economy) that are actually in the business of generating and distributing electrical current. Im a former Silicon Valley entrepreneur turned East Coast VC.

Internet 182

Internet Silicon Valley IPO Seed Stage 182

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

When WordStream began receiving complaints that the seven-day free trial of their PPC management software wasn’t long enough, the brand decided to A/B test 14-day and 30-day trials. No changes were made to the customer journey, and it had nothing to do with revenue lift. It isn’t about finding quick hacks to boost short-term revenue.

Framework 102

Framework Marketing Acquisition Retention 102

Reid Hoffman

OCTOBER 21, 2019

We argued extensively in our book, Blitzscaling , that these strategies and tactics describe why Silicon Valley Bay Area – which has a population of less than 4 million – generates such a massively disproportionate number of global technology companies. Distribution. Distribution. What is Blitzscaling? High Gross Margins.

Silicon Valley 53

Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review United Kingdom 53

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 17, 2010

They pronounced “The End of Software.&# It was typical Marc Benioff marketing hyperbole but it was very effective. We had all worked in the software industry for a decade and saw the problems of on-premise software. We evangelized to customer about the problems of on premise software. - You have a data problem.

Flash 326

Flash Mobile Application Development Cloud 326

Steve Blank

JULY 2, 2009

Entrepreneur-in-Residence After SuperMac I had been approached by one of our venture investors to be an entrepreneur in residence (EIR), a Silicon Valley phrase which says one thing but means another. Peter described the first company in which “Hollywood meets Silicon Valley” and we were enthralled.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 120

Up and Running

MAY 28, 2015

We recently had Tim Berry, Palo Alto Software founder and business planning expert, present our Bplans audience with his latest advice on lean business planning. I’m the CEO of Palo Alto Software. A lot of people have asked about the software. She’s opening a small deli in an office park in the Silicon Valley.

Lean 60

Lean Business Plan Video Software Review 60

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 8, 2011

In 2012, one of the greatest unaddressed pain points for the mobile and online industries is this overabundance of eyeballs that publishers, software, app and game developers are struggling to find monetization models for. Today's discussion was about how to generate additional distribution and acquire traffic.

Greece 116

Greece Entrepreneur India Silicon Valley 116

Austin Startup

AUGUST 7, 2017

Texas has produced world-changing startups in the past such as Dell Software , National Instruments and Whole Foods Market but all of those were founded more than 30 years ago. Austin is good at software, Dallas is good at retail, Houston is good at oil & gas, and San Antonio is good at cybersecurity (just for a few examples).

Texas 97

Texas San Antonio Houston Dallas 97

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 24, 2012

Welcome back to Smart Bear Live, the call-in show with Jason Cohen, sponsored by Software Promotions. Dan: My question is related to all this talk that I hear in the Silicon Valley about Internet scale. or an MSN or an AOL in terms of portal distribution. I was in a 10-year company. Jason: I Just ask what the question is.

Silicon Valley 204

Silicon Valley Software Review Internet Technical Review 204

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

For this article, we asked 14 SaaS CEOs a simple question: “How much did you spend on your MVP before you had your first dollar of revenue?”. An engineer by training, Founder and CEO Larry Gadea built the MVP of Envoy’s first product, Visitors, by himself using only free versions of software. “I million in revenue a year. .

Sweat Equity 78

Sweat Equity Software Review Vesting Cofounder 78

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 11, 2020

Sam is one of the most prolific company builders in Silicon Valley. Eric Ries : You were one of the first people who when the crisis was breaking, I saw your name all over Silicon Valley, in the Y Combinator forums. I would encourage people to just reach out to the normal crew of Silicon Valley Investors [for].

Silicon Valley 68

Silicon Valley Technical Review Government .Net 68