Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, July 29, 2009 Embrace technical debt Financial debt plays an important and positive role in our economy under normal conditions. Yet, especially in times like these, it’s easy to rail against the badness of being in debt; it’s a very human feeling. Remember Hamlet? LORD POLONIUS: Neither a borrower nor a lender be; For loan oft loses both itself and friend, And borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry.

Technical Review 168

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Both Sides of the Table

JULY 29, 2009

The post is part of a series called “Pitching a VC&# – the outlines is here. You’ve been trying to raise VC for months. You’ve obviously talked with several funds to hedge your bets. You finally get your first term sheet. Time to celebrate! But wait. What? They’re giving me 48 hours to sign the term sheet or it expires?

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Term Sheet Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital 197

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (22) E.piphany (6) ESL (7) Family/Career (21) Market Types (9) Marketing (17) MIPS Computers (1) Rocket Science Games (7) Secret History of Silico

Silicon Valley 120

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Software By Rob

JULY 24, 2009

Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← The Future of the Web is Small, Academic Earth, Beatles Rock Band, Top Developer Blogs, et al. Startup Marketing Advice, “Failure,&# Things I Learned the Hard Way, and more… → Transitioning from Developer to Software Entrepreneur Micropreneurship , Startups If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.

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Speaker: Nick Noreña, Innovation Coach and Advisor, Kromatic

Every startup and innovation project exists within an ecosystem that either helps or hurts that project. As innovation managers, we need to keep a pulse of that ecosystem and make sure we're helping those innovation projects we're managing every step of the way. In this webinar, Nick Noreña will walk through an Innovation Ecosystem Model that he and his team at Kromatic have developed to help investors, heads of product, teachers, and executives understand how they can best support innovation in

Startup

Cracking the Code

JULY 10, 2009

Cracking The Code. Thoughts from a Venture Capitalist on Software, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Cloud Computing, Internet and more. Friday, July 10, 2009. United Breaks Guitar and more! A few months ago, as I landed back from a snowboarding trip in SFO, I realized that my new snowboard bag had been cut over two inches during the handling. To cut such a thick nylon cover, the handler must have tried very hard!

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Software Review Technical Review RSS Europe 63

BeyondVC

JULY 1, 2009

I am not going to rehash Om Malik's excellent summary of "What went wrong with Joost" but I did want to dive deeper into a few points. As I have always said, raising too much money can be a curse and not a blessing. Here is an excerpt from my post in 2006 Trust me, I love having well capitalized companies. However, having too much money can be a curse, not a blessing.

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abovethecrowd.com

JULY 15, 2009

I have been intrigued by the back and forth between Chris Anderson, Malcolm Gladwell, and Mark Cuban on the topic of “Free” as a strategy and business model. For those that haven’t read the articles and posts, I highly reccomend them all. Here they are in a list: 1) Back in February of 2008, Chris [.].

Business Model 72

Business Model Venture Capital Video Internet 72

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (22) E.piphany (6) ESL (7) Family/Career (21) Market Types (9) Marketing (17) MIPS Computers (1) Rocket Science Games (7) Secret History of Silico

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Software By Rob

JULY 31, 2009

Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← Transitioning from Developer to Software Entrepreneur How to Compete Against Open Source Competition → Startup Marketing Advice, “Failure,&# Things I Learned the Hard Way, and more… Cool News, Links & Reviews If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.

Software Review 39

Software Review Software Developers Software Development RSS 39

Startup Company Lawyer

JULY 20, 2009

[It's been awhile since I wrote anything. I am giving a presentation to some of the founders in TheFunded Founder Institute on incorporating their companies, so I thought I would recycle some thoughts.]. Founders of startup companies often wait to incorporate a company until they are confident that their concept is viable or fundable. At some point, however, an entrepreneur will need to formally incorporate a company.

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IP Stock Options Preferred Stock Capital Gains 67

K9 Ventures

JULY 22, 2009

Ever since I found the blog Startup Company Lawyer , I’ve had a high regard for its author, Yokum Taku , a partner at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Yokum’s posts are always chock-full-of-good-information. His most recent post was on the topic of When do I need to incorporate a company? I’ve spent some time thinking about this before, and, in fact, had a couple of tweets related to this as well: Yokum already did an excellent job of laying down the legal considerations.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 30, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, July 30, 2009 Techstars brings The Lean Startup to Boulder Im very excited to announce a pair of events that will kick off a very busy fall speaking tour. Ill be in Boulder for two days. Ill let David Cohen of Techstars , who organized the trip, describe the plan: On August 19th, Eric will be speaking at a dinner in Boulder.

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abovethecrowd.com

JULY 29, 2009

Jason Calacanis penned an elegant and well reasoned blog post today implying that Yahoo has committed suicide by entering into a 10-year search deal with Microsoft. I would like to make a few points explaining why I respectfully disagree with Jason. I believe that board rooms all over America were heavily distracted by Google’s rise. Envious of Google’s success, [.

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America Search 47

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (22) E.piphany (6) ESL (7) Family/Career (21) Market Types (9) Marketing (17) MIPS Computers (1) Rocket Science Games (7) Secret History of Silico

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Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 124

Software By Rob

JULY 16, 2009

Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← One of the Most Time Consuming Startup Roadblocks The Future of the Web is Small, Academic Earth, Beatles Rock Band, Top Developer Blogs, et al. → Two Must-Read Books for Micropreneurs Cool News, Links & Reviews , Micropreneurship If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.

Software Review 37

Software Review Software Developers Software Development RSS 37

Seeing Both Sides

JULY 15, 2009

VCs have an unfair advantage when it comes to financings. They simply have more experience doing deals. A typical start-up company will do 2-4 venture capital financings before a successful exit (or, conversely, an ignomious ending). A typical serial entreprenur may lead 2-3 companies in their career before calling it quits (or checking themselves in to an insane asylum).

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Altgate

JULY 13, 2009

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← Last Chance To Take CompStudy Survey Seeking CTO in Boston for Healthcare IT startup → These Robots Are Getting Pretty Good Posted on July 13, 2009 by fnazeeri You have to admit that there is some pretty cool technology here in Boston.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 3, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, July 3, 2009 Lean Startup fbFund wrap-up Last week I had a real blast meeting with the companies at the fbFund incubator at Palo Alto. They were kind enough to open the event up to the public, which meant we were seriously stressing the buildings HVAC - and I have pictures to prove it: Thank you all so much! As usual, Id like to post the slides and then offer some additional commentary.

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abovethecrowd.com

JULY 27, 2009

There are quite a few stories circulating in the blogosphere and Twittersphere discussing the recent acquisition of Zappos by Amazon. Some of these articles have a quite sinister and devious tone, imagining some remarkable behind-the-scenes drama that would make Spielberg pay attention. Here are two specific example: PE Hub’s “Zappos CEO Wanted To Stay Independent, Sequoia Wanted [.

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Steve Blank

JULY 9, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (22) E.piphany (6) ESL (7) Family/Career (21) Market Types (9) Marketing (17) MIPS Computers (1) Rocket Science Games (7) Secret History of Silico

Silicon Valley 139

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Software By Rob

JULY 17, 2009

Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← Two Must-Read Books for Micropreneurs Transitioning from Developer to Software Entrepreneur → The Future of the Web is Small, Academic Earth, Beatles Rock Band, Top Developer Blogs, et al. Cool News, Links & Reviews If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.

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Web Software Review RSS Software Developers 27

Professor VC

JULY 22, 2009

ProfessorVC. The last blogger in Silicon Valley. Wednesday, July 22, 2009. Burn Rate. The burn rates of my portfolio companies is certainly top of mind right now, but thats not what this post is about. Not yet anyway.Things may change by the end. Ever wonder what your ops guy is doing when hes not obsessing over your sites health 7x24. If anyone still carries a beeper these days, its him.

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Burn Rate San Jose Silicon Valley Angel Investor 28

Altgate

JULY 14, 2009

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← These Robots Are Getting Pretty Good Words of widsom from my youth → Seeking CTO in Boston for Healthcare IT startup Posted on July 14, 2009 by fnazeeri This opportunity is with an unannounced healthcare IT startup lead by a MD/PhD with a successful track record of building and selling companies.

Boston 31

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, July 2, 2009 How to conduct a Five Whys root cause analysis In the lean startup workshops , we’ve spent a lot of time discussing the technique of Five Whys. It allows teams to diagnose sources of waste in their development process and continuously improve, reversing the usual trend of teams getting slower over time.

San Francisco 164

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 164

Pascal's View

JULY 8, 2009

On June 25th I moderated a panel on the implications of America’s. Innovation Crisis for Cybersecurity at the National Press Club in. Washington, D.C. The full transcript of the slides integrated with my. prepared remarks is now posted at www.levp.com. This event was sponsored by the non-profit Security Innovation Network. At the end of the panel I asked each of the panelists, Bob Ackerman of Allegis Capital , Professor Randy Katz of Berkeley , and Dave Robbins of BigFix , to answer the

America 28

America United States Entrepreneur Stock Options 28

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (22) E.piphany (6) ESL (7) Family/Career (21) Market Types (9) Marketing (17) MIPS Computers (1) Rocket Science Games (7) Secret History of Silico

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VC Adventure

JULY 23, 2009

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Business Model Business Plan 48

Software By Rob

JULY 14, 2009

Software by Rob Passionate about Startups and MicroISVs Lessons Learned by a Serial Entrepreneur home about press micropreneurs archives ← A Micropreneur’s Perspective: Selling Physical Products vs. Digital Products Two Must-Read Books for Micropreneurs → One of the Most Time Consuming Startup Roadblocks Micropreneurship If youre trying grow your startup youve come to the right place.

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Software Review Startup HTML RSS 44

Altgate

JULY 12, 2009

@altgate Startups, Venture Capital & Everything In Between Skip to content Home Furqan Nazeeri (fn@altgate.com) ← Cracking the Code on Patient Medical Record Search These Robots Are Getting Pretty Good → Last Chance To Take CompStudy Survey Posted on July 12, 2009 by fnazeeri I’ve posted a couple of times on CompStudy , the annual survey of executive compensation in private / startup companies.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, July 13, 2009 The Principles of Product Development Flow If youve ever wondered why agile or lean development techniques work, The Principles of Product Development Flow: Second Generation Lean Product Development by Donald G. Reinertsen is the book for you. Its quite simply the most advanced product development book you can buy.

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Pascal's View

JULY 1, 2009

Last Thursday I moderated a panel on the implications of America’s Innovation Crisis for Cybersecurity at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C. The full transcript of the slides integrated with my prepared remarks is now posted at www.levp.com. This event was sponsored by the non-profit Security Innovation Network. At the end of the panel I asked each of the panelists, Bob Ackerman of Allegis Capital , Professor Randy Katz of Berkeley , and Dave Robbins of BigFix , to answer the fo

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Government Washington Security America 28

Steve Blank

JULY 20, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (22) E.piphany (6) ESL (7) Family/Career (21) Market Types (9) Marketing (17) MIPS Computers (1) Rocket Science Games (7) Secret History of Silico

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Silicon Valley Chad RSS San Francisco 175

VC Adventure

JULY 23, 2009

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Business Model Business Plan 48

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, July 9, 2009 10 years of entrepreneurship I recently passed my ten-year anniversary of becoming an entrepreneur. I almost didnt realize it, but theres no escaping the math. In the summer of 1999, I started working on a startup from my college dorm. Id eventually take a leave of absence from school and pursue it full-time, making just enough progress to catch the tail end of the dot-com bubble - and all of the dot-bomb crash.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 31, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, July 31, 2009 A new way to recruit for (and find) startup jobs In my work, I come across a lot of great startups. A common question I get asked is "do you know someone amazing that we can hire?" Similarly, I get pinged by many colleagues, friends, and fans who are looking to find a job with a startup. I do my best to play matchmaker, but as those of you who have ever tried to fill a job in a startup know, the most important and elusive quality for a startup h

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Steve Blank

JULY 2, 2009

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (22) E.piphany (6) ESL (7) Family/Career (21) Market Types (9) Marketing (17) MIPS Computers (1) Rocket Science Games (7) Secret History of Silico

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