VC Cafe

DECEMBER 1, 2022

However, in reality the Metaverse is still in its early stages of development, and yet, we already can see positive examples of its impact. L eanne Eliott-Young ( Institute of Digital Fashion ) commented on how fashion brands leaning in to engage with younger customers Roblox. Into the Metaverse event in London.

Generative AI 88

Generative AI Vertical Early Stage PR 88

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

The same issues arose time and again: big company management styles versus entrepreneurs wanting to shoot from the hip, founders versus professional managers, engineering versus marketing, marketing versus sales, missed schedule issues, sales missing the plan, running out of money, raising new money.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 126

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Some of the other founders had sold minicomputers to scientists and engineers, but no one knew or understood the unique class of applications and customers of supercomputers. A few days later Gordon became a founder. Reply Karma in the Lean Startup Era , on January 28, 2010 at 5:26 pm Said: [.] We were going to be guessing.

North Carolina 126

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 126

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web. The first question to ask is: “Does your startup have market risk or is it dominated by technical risk?” Lean Startup /Customer Development is used to find answers to the unknowns about customers and markets.

Customer Development 223

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 223

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. Over its lifetime a Lean Startup may spend less money than a traditional startup.

Lean 250

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 250

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

If you’ve tried to slog your way through my book on Customer Development you know that I’m insistent that the founders need to be the ones getting outside the building (physically or virtually) to validate all the initial hypotheses of the business model and product. Hiring a VP of Sales in customer discovery typically sets a startup back.

Technology 139

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 139

Hunter Walker

SEPTEMBER 22, 2014

My particular POV is that piggy rounds, just like party rounds, are risky choices for most founders (and have my own obvious bias in this statement). Often these funds are attempting to build out a reputation or gain exposure to a new vertical. 1) Large Funds Are Chasing Potential Outliers Earlier.

Later Stage 95

Later Stage Valuation Semantic Institutional Investors 95

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

And even more importantly, was there any way to reduce risk in early stage ventures? Reply Best books for the lean product managers — Justin Gibbs , on April 28, 2009 at 2:44 pm Said: [.] Where as most start-up founders start with the conviction that they know success looks like and [.]

Product Development 146

Product Development Developer Silicon Valley Product 146

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

What makes an individual a great startup founder (versus an employee) has been something I had been thinking about since I retired. A Day in the Life of A Founder For those of you who’ve never started a company, let me assure you that it never happens like the pleasant articles you read in business magazines or in case studies.

Founder 302

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 302

Steve Blank

JUNE 5, 2009

Reply An Interview with Mark Fletcher, Founder of Bloglines and ONEList — TechDrawl , on July 10, 2009 at 3:56 pm Said: [.] I talk about this in my book and there is always a discussion at the Lean Startup Group at [link]. As he points out, starting [.] You process your customer data differently depending on market type.

Silicon Valley 219

Silicon Valley RSS Vertical California 219

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

This is what our hiring landscape looked like over the past year: Pre-2015, we hired three founders: 1x hustler in charge of strategic growth hacking. Lean marketing. Thanks to Intercom’s powerful tracking and automatic emails, we know when a startup founder finished and shared a deck. 1x hacker in charge of product/development.

Revenue 60

Revenue Acquisition Channel Campaign 60

cdixon.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

But it’s probably wise to be more secretive in some vertical markets: [link]. link] Lean Startups Blog – rants and raves from the startup trenches. ” He noted that Chris Dixon (@cdixon) of Hunch tweeted, “New early-stage start up [.]. link] Nivi. People copy success, not ideas. link] Bruce Colwin.

Stealth 68

Stealth Startup NDA Cofounder 68

Steve Blank

APRIL 29, 2009

As a founder you need to prepare yourself to think creatively and independently, because more often than not, conditions on the ground will change so rapidly that the original well-thought-out business plan becomes irrelevant. Every potential startup founder should think about their level of comfort operating in chaos and uncertainty.

Silicon Valley 173

Silicon Valley Iraq RSS Vietnam 173

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Yet the processes that early-stage companies were using were identical to that of large corporations. e práticas de empreendedorismo em Startups no Brasil, especialmente relacionados aos temas Customer Development e Lean [.] Reply founders, beware « Adisababa’s Weblog , on January 20, 2010 at 10:05 am Said: [.]

Silicon Valley 128

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital California 128

Steve Blank

AUGUST 20, 2009

I would be very curious to hear the (hypothetical) suggestions you would have given to twitter’s founders, for example. That’s why early stage companies aren’t run by accountants with spreadsheets. Reply steveblank , on August 21, 2009 at 10:20 pm Said: David, No advice is applicable in all cases.

Silicon Valley 188

Silicon Valley Startup RSS Customer Development 188

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. What are Early Stage VC’s Really Asking? Your presentation doesn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development. Just as a refresher.

Customer Development 264

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 264

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

Tim Friedman, Founder, PE Stack , said, “If I could offer one piece of advice to today’s managers, it would be to take the time to understand the demands of the modern institutional LP. Data companies focused on early-stage startups include Aingel , fundsUP , Preseries , PredictLeads , and Sploda. 3) Raise capital.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

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. This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. Its strength is its rigor and flexibility.

Customer Development 246

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 246

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. We’ll look at the model stage-by-stage.

Silicon Valley 263

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 263

Steve Blank

JUNE 22, 2009

Cultural Revolution at Large Corporations – the Founders Return Of the companies that do reinvent themselves it’s interesting that often its the founder or an outsider that has the insight and makes the radical changes. At HP the founders were still at the company and still running the business.

Silicon Valley 169

Silicon Valley RSS California Agile 169

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

It was amazing to see the two founders, Fred Durham and Maheesh Jain, build a $100 million company from coffee cups and T-shirts. But Cafepress’s most memorable moment was when the founders used a “Lessons Learned” VC pitch to raise their second round of funding and got an 8-digit term sheet that same afternoon.

Venture Capital 216

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 216

Steve Blank

MAY 21, 2009

Plus tips on overall trade show strategy.

Silicon Valley 185

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 185

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

Filed under: Marketing , Technology , Venture Capital | Tagged: Steve Blank , Venture Capital , Entrepreneurs , Early Stage Startup , Tips for Startups « Customer Analytics – From Those Who Should Know SuperMac War Story 10: The Video Spigot » 14 Responses Michael F.

Business Plan 143

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 143

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

The Customer Discovery lessons of “get outside the building and test your hypothesis with customers,&# and “the founders need to hear the results,&# came from this debacle. The Customer Validation lesson of, “no formal launch until you have early sales validating the product and sales process&# was also born here.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

We Don’t Need Domain Experts When I looked around at our executive staff, there wasn’t a single founder who was a gamer. Founders need to validate their vision in front of customers early and often. Worse, there wasn’t a single person on our executive team who had come from a game company. More on this in future posts.)

Silicon Valley 212

Silicon Valley RSS Video San Diego 212

Steve Blank

APRIL 7, 2009

But what I remind them is that great grades and successful founders/technology entrepreneurs have at best a zero correlation (and anecdotal evidence suggests that the correlation may actually be negative.) And founders don’t apply for jobs. Google is looking to hire workers. Google is looking to hire workers. Reply Michael F.

Silicon Valley 329

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 329

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 24, 2013

Satya and I hypothesize that New York will be an important geography for us so we’re spending quality time leaning in. Already have a bunch of local friends; critical mass of startups in verticals matching our Bottom Up Economy theme; on-the-ground frequently (I grew up here and Satya lived in Manhattan for several years).

Silicon Valley 103

Silicon Valley New York Vertical Early Stage 103

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 22, 2009

Getting Out of the Building Wasn’t Entertainment – Discovery and Validation Now that I was the master of the “facts” about customer needs in these specialized vertical markets , and with my team of vertical marketers , I thought I had achieved absolution and redemption. But there was one fatal flaw.

Silicon Valley 178

Silicon Valley RSS Vertical California 178