Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2009

Simulation to Reduce Invention Risk If you’re in a vertical where “invention risk” is dominant, then you want to do everything you can to manage and reduce those risks. When I wrote the Four Steps to the Epiphany , the Customer Development text, I hadn’t yet thought about what vertical markets it might be appropriate for.)

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Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing RSS 128

ConversionXL

JANUARY 18, 2022

This is particularly true for complex verticals such as B2B SaaS products, where product marketing’s ability to pinpoint users with the most need and educate them on product features and benefits proves useful. clearly states what they do (“build web apps”), their benefits (“without code”), and who it’s for (“entrepreneurs”).

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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. As the underlying technology for the Metaverse continues to evolve, we will see more and more use cases brought to life across verticals. Into the Metaverse event in London. Hamza Khan.

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Generative AI Vertical Early Stage PR 88

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

To support sales, Marketing tries to “make up a better story,” and the web site and/or product presentation slides start changing (sometimes weekly or even daily). Reply Customer Development – Not Just for Web Startups » Biotech by the Bay , on May 1, 2010 at 11:34 am Said: [.] The board raises a collective eyebrow.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 224

Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

Ignore This Post The same caveat applies as in the first post; If you’re selling via the web, and trade shows seem hopelessly anachronistic, ignore this post. Why are you saying that “If you’re selling via the web and trade shows are something your grandfather told you about, ignore this post.&#. this may be a useful read.

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Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 128

abovethecrowd.com

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

The opposite was true for OpenTable where the installation of a personal computer and internet connectivity were part of the early roll-out requirements. But in the early stages, this friction slows your roll-out and increases the costs associated with supplier aggregation. Aggregating demand is much harder and more critical.

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Aggregator Marketing Software Review North America 101

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 18, 2010

We spent the first 45 minutes or so talking about industry trends (in this order): The history and background of True Ventures, one of my favorite early-stage VC’s (and the one with whom Om is a venture partner). Network of vertical focused sites: BeachMint, BeachMint, WineMint, etc.; But it’s a real phenomenon.

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Venture Capital Non-Compete Vertical Europe 225

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

This could be useful information for those that want to get involved with a early stage start-up and want to evaluate it but not necessarily for funding. I have an idea for how to connect user social web conversations to 2-way search and contextual advertising. What are all the important questions that a VC will or should ask?

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cdixon.org

SEPTEMBER 17, 2011

But it’s probably wise to be more secretive in some vertical markets: [link]. Great points, though your bio does read “Personal investor in early-stage technology companies, including … a handful of other startups that are still in stealth mode!” link] Nivi. People copy success, not ideas. ” chris.

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Stealth Startup NDA Cofounder 68

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 24, 2014

As is the case in other countries with a relatively new, rapidly growing tech sector, e-commerce is Russia’s fastest growing vertical. These partnerships are ideal for helping high risk projects receive serious capital at an early stage, especially as private investors are more willing to commit funds when the state acts as a guarantor.

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Russia Europe Government Vertical 140

Up and Running

JULY 26, 2016

See Also: The Top 10 Tools for Tracking Your Web Metrics. Especially in the early stages, keeping a relationship with your customers can be paid off exponentially, not only in overall engagement but with extremely valuable word of mouth marketing. Successful and failed experiments. Masterful onboarding (cheap).

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Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 30, 2015

HW: In 2006 you created Wallstrip, an online video company focused on the finance vertical. User generated content is the smartest, most efficient way and now that people spend more of their web time on smartphones and messaging apps, building a media business is even harder. We never left. what guidance would you give them?

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San Diego Arizona Media Founder 48

Genuine VC

FEBRUARY 3, 2011

Once you’ve figured out whether you want to find a very early stage startup or a late stage one (the topic of my first post in this series ), the real hard work begins. DOs for a systematic rather than haphazard startup job search: Pick a specific vertical or theme (e.g.

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Startup Portfolio Later Stage Hiring 148

Austin Startup

DECEMBER 6, 2010

A 2009 report from the SANS Institute Report called web application attacks from open source breaches one of the top cyber security risks for companies. By recognizing an early customer pain in the adoption of cloud platforms, Gazzang has quickly established an impressive track record with its core client base.

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SQL PHP Database Open Source 59

Duct Tape Marketing

FEBRUARY 22, 2017

Even if you’re at a very early stage, if you’re reading this, it’s safe to say that research tasks are below your pay grade, and conducting them will leave you time for little else. Which of your client verticals are your champions? Later, your email platform will pull this data to form your email template.

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Curation Lead Generation Technical Review Email 44

Steve Blank

AUGUST 20, 2009

Startup 2 Entrepreneur -“I’m competing against Company x and we are going to offer a lower-cost, web-based version. Me –“That’s a great hypothesis, do customers tell you that they’d buy your version if it was cheaper or on the web? That’s why early stage companies aren’t run by accountants with spreadsheets.

Silicon Valley 181

Silicon Valley Startup RSS Customer Development 181

Steve Blank

MAY 26, 2009

Verticals Are Different I began to realize that entrepreneurs (and their professors) act like every vertical market and industry has the same set of rules. The guidelines I had originally proposed to my students worked for enterprise software or Web 2.0 Just for discussion, the markets I chose were: Web 2.0,

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Vertical Silicon Valley Intellectual Property RSS 149

Rob Go

DECEMBER 10, 2012

Consumer web is overheated. Custommade takes the difficult process of finding an artisan to craft a custom product and brings it to life on the web. Healthcare IT is another historically difficult category for early stage investors that I think might present more opportunities now than in the past. Quantified self.

B2B 62

B2B Internet Vertical Early Stage 62

Steve Blank

MAY 21, 2009

If you’re in markets that still exhibit at them (semiconductors, communications, enterprise software, medical devices, etc.,) you know they’re expensive in time, dollars and resources. Did this help them to understand your company/product Part 2 of the memo, to be posted tomorrow: using a trade show to generate leads.

Silicon Valley 178

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 178

Rob Go

FEBRUARY 5, 2012

There is a lot of discussion on the web about raising seed and series A rounds, but not much after that. Usually financial metrics are pretty sparse at early stages and investors have a hard time giving companies “credit” for steady, linear progress. I’d like to see similar growth in 3-4 others.

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Business Model Seed Stage Valuation Vertical 65

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

The Customer Development model delineates all the customer-related activities in the early stage of a company into their own processes and groups them into four easy-to-understand steps: Customer Discovery , Customer Validation , Customer Creation , and Company Building. is no right or wrong in the early days of startup.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 242

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 12, 2009

Reply Dan Hodgins , on November 13, 2009 at 1:12 am Said: Hi Steve, Just listened to your “Retooling Early Stage Development&# for about the 10th time tonight as I was cleaning my room. Reply A dozen of the best start-up pitches on the Web | JonBischke.com , on November 13, 2009 at 10:05 pm Said: [.]

Venture Capital 209

Venture Capital Silicon Valley RSS Hockey Stick 209

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

What you are searching for is not the one-off revenue hits but rather a repeatable pattern that can be replicated by a sales organization selling off a pricelist or by customers coming to your web site. I see a lot of early-stage entrepreneurs waste too much time chasing money rather than figuring this out first.

Lean 244

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 244

Reid Hoffman

SEPTEMBER 8, 2020

Then, you can refine through testing different ads and web landing pages. For example, if you’re an early-stage SaaS provider that is shifting from a horizontal solution to a vertical focus, your mission, culture, and competencies can stay the same and the pivot transition will probably go smoothly.

Startup 36

Startup Silicon Valley Business Model Mobile 36

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 24, 2019

Opportunity cost is very real for any stage company, but it is critical for an early-stage one. Coremetrics invented the enterprise-scale Web beacon (or data tags) data collection for Web analytics. The key to success with both Coremetrics and Bazaarvoice was winning over the key industry influencers first.

Software Review 48

Software Review Sales Cofounder Analytics 48

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 18, 2011

Our firm invested at a very early stage in retail brands including CostCo, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Ulta, Starbucks and many more. I am on record as saying that my opinion is that Web 2.0 “And importantly Web 2.0 “And importantly Web 2.0 companies versus the Web 1.0

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Term Sheet Mobile Cofounder Early Stage 303

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

I do not want to necessarily start a flame war about particular creations of “Web 2.0 I can’t remember if they were in the Wired article or on the web site, but every once in a while I still go over to ebay and see if I can find any for sale. Reply Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply. Order Here.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

OCTOBER 24, 2011

” Introduced a few months ago as an Austin event, I’m now doing this live audio advice column to the web, taking phone calls from startups around the country. Michael: Well, I’m very in the early stage, and my question reflects that. And then there’s three relatively new ones that are fast and web based.

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Cofounder Technical Review Software Review Differentiation 208

mashable.com

OCTOBER 11, 2011

Not to mention, early-stage startups usually only employ a few people focused on product and development. Then research which journalists at that publication cover the vertical in which your startup or its news would fall. Web Video Roundup. Programming and Web Development Lists. Web Design. Top Stories.

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PR Startup Social Media Technical Review 103

Rob Go

JULY 11, 2013

I was asked recently how NextView evaluates such early stage companies for investment. The web and the app store is littered with terrific products that have a hard time getting scale, even though the teams behind them are strong and the product and market seem pretty attractive.

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Distribution Vertical Viral B2B 66

VC Cafe

JULY 11, 2011

It’s hard to be an early stage startup. Funtactix is a pioneer in web-based gaming, building the next generation of exclusive social game experiences that connect fans to the world’s leading media franchises. On one hand, VCs ask you to show traction and on the other hand, you need money to get traction.

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Artificial Inteligence Turkey Boston 92

techcrunch.com

FEBRUARY 19, 2010

Been there Done that This is very depressing for all future founders, or even currently early stage founders. cheers [link] Article Playground This venture is surely worth it Dougie Howse I think another problem with VC investments into web companies is the expectation to make 30-50+ times of return.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Sweat Equity Valuation 62

www.businessinsider.com

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

First, the valuation of early-stage startups remains frothy and fraught with uncertainty. While all Google Ventures partners make some seed investments, the firm recently hired Digg founder Kevin Rose as a partner ; Rose focuses on early-stage and seed investments, drawing on his extensive experience as an angel investor.

Silicon Valley 54

Silicon Valley Startup Valuation Venture Capital 54

mashable.com

OCTOBER 5, 2012

Naming can be one of the most difficult challenges in the early stages of a startup. Naming on the web is difficult because it’s a multiple-step process that’s a mix of art, science and pure perseverance. For my Adult web store I used my dogs name + Pleasure box and I came up with corbinspleasurebox.org. GrowYourFish.

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Naming Startup Social Media RSS 84