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Steve Blank
MARCH 19, 2009
They had an existing distribution channel and their dealers and customers thought they knew who the company was and what it stood for. When I went through their financials as part of my due diligence I realized that if they ditched their low margin disk drive products, it wouldn’t take much to make them a profitable company.
Both Sides of the Table
APRIL 13, 2011
RSS was something that had appeared.” “….I And I would rather, even before the executive summary, have something to play with (a demo)…” It falls in the category of show don’t tell. We have a theme we call Protocol, which are technology protocols and markets built around technology protocols like SMTP for email and RSS.
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Steve Blank
SEPTEMBER 14, 2009
One of the biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make is misunderstanding the role of venture capital investors. There’s lots of lore, emotion, and misconceptions of what VC’s do or don’t do for entrepreneurs. What Do VC’s Do? The reality is that VC’s have one goal – to maximize the amount of money they return to their investors.
Steve Blank
NOVEMBER 16, 2009
Even startups that are dominated by technical risk have the customer validation risk of finding positive ROI distribution in a large market. Slightly off-topic, there’s a good example of an entrepreneur going through the “Discovery/Validation&# process for a web business that charges for its product here. Examples here.
Steve Blank
AUGUST 31, 2009
customers aren’t buying it, the cost of distribution is too high, etc.) The Focus on a Finished Product Rather than a Minimum Feature Set The passion of an entrepreneur coupled with the product development diagram drives you to believe that all you need to do is build the product (in all its full-featured glory) and customers will come.
Steve Blank
MAY 22, 2009
Everyone should have a chance to walk the floor looking for deals, technology, distribution, customers, etc. Partnership Opportunities At any show you are attending there has to be tons of opportunity for business to business relationships you hadn’t thought about. Write it down and keep it in a tradeshow handbook for those who will follow.
Steve Blank
APRIL 30, 2009
SuperMac sold our graphic boards for the Macintosh through multiple distribution channels: direct sales to major accounts, national chains, independent rep firms, etc. But the computer retail channel was a large part of our sales.
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