Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

With 21 employees today, kaChing is devoted to recruiting professional managers and finding product/market fit , first for money managers, then for consumers. With 21 employees today, kaChing is devoted to recruiting professional managers and finding product/market fit , first for money managers, then for consumers.

San Francisco 158

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment SEC 158

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 25, 2009

How to build companies that matter (the lean start. Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Combining agile development with customer developm. Don't launch Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you? Take a look and let me know what you think.

Agile 60

Agile Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2008

That institution will touch many people in its life: customers, investors, employees, and everyone they touch as well. Every startup has a chance to change the world, by bringing not just a new product, but an entirely new institution into existence. Eventually, I came to summarize these themes with the phrase " the lean startup."

San Francisco 155

San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

In the case of C3, that was to run payroll for 87,000 employees, who were presumably receiving payroll before the project began. In a project like that there are lots of big questions that need to be answered in order to build a working product. But you dont generally have to ask "what problem are we trying to solve?" Thats pretty clear.

Agile 111

Agile Customer Development Developer San Francisco 111

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 17, 2010

The team hired only the best and the brightest. Not to be outdone, the technologists on the team had also brought their big guns, and the meeting was packed with employees of every level – from VP’s all the way down to me. The team hired only the best and the brightest. The engineering team wasn’t happy either.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review San Francisco Lean Software Review 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 13, 2010

I was once asked by a division manager of a major software company why we were not selling more products in Finland. He did not seem to understand that Finland was not part of Scandinavia and that English is not too well understood by most people there (with the exception of the Swedish speaking minority in Finland).

Brazil 121

Brazil Finland Silicon Valley Italy 121

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Joel is focused on the fact that in many environments, programmers are considered "just the hired help" akin to manual labor, and not treated properly. I would add, though, a further question: Do new employees write code on their first day? Do programmers have quiet working conditions? Completely necessary.

Software Review 144

Software Review Technical Review San Francisco Continuous Deployment 144

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 28, 2008

We pitch to potential partners, vendors, publishers, conferences, employees, and even lawyers. Usually we think of pitches in the context of raising money, but that is only one of many pitch situations. Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 128

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 17, 2009

How to build companies that matter (the lean start. Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Combining agile development with customer developm. Don't launch Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you? Take a look and let me know what you think.

Lean 76

Lean San Francisco Web Continuous Deployment 76

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 8, 2008

I bought a bunch of copies, gave them out to my co-founders and early employees, and then expected the whole companys behavior would radically change the next day. I bought a bunch of copies, gave them out to my co-founders and early employees, and then expected the whole companys behavior would radically change the next day."

Customer Development 168

Customer Development Developer San Francisco Customer 168

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

When Ive asked mentors of mine who have worked in big companies about the role of the CTO, they usually talk about the importance of being the external face of the companys technology platform; an evangelist to developers, customers, and employees. Thats an important job, for sure, and Ive been called upon to do it from time to time.

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

Other companies accomplish this by hiring a large staff of content production experts - and get a very good result. As a result, we were able to get started more quickly, avoid writing a ton of art path tools from scratch, and even hire from within that community. We knew that we were only a small team, but we had big aspirations.

Product Development 88

Product Development Developer San Francisco Product 88

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

Every two months, the company would have a big end-of-milestone meeting, with our Board of Directors, Business Advisory Board, and all employees present. Every two months, the company would have a big end-of-milestone meeting, with our Board of Directors, Business Advisory Board, and all employees present.

Advisory Board 151

Advisory Board Customer San Francisco Lean 151

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 3, 2009

The same has been true of an unfortunate number of startups, they manage to generate a lot of hype, raise a lot of money, and sometimes make some of their investors, employees, or founders rich. They dont really create value. But did they leave the world a better place than before they existed? Take a look and let me know what you think.

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Cofounder 60

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

This is why companies often get out-competed by former employees (Palm vs Handspring to name just one), even though the upstart lacks all of the familiar resources, tools, processes, and support they used to have. Perhaps they’ll be able to hire someone especially skilled in the marketing skills needed to find this positioning.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, February 11, 2009 The free software hiring advantage This is one of those startup tips Im a little reluctant to share, because its been such a powerful source of competitive advantage in the companies Ive worked with. This approach gives you an edge in hiring. Instead, engage with the project.

Software Review 68

Software Review Software Hiring San Francisco 68

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

A new employee is more likely to make a mistake than an experienced one, but everyone makes mistakes. Of course, we wouldnt have a new employee write a huge new feature on their first day - usually wed start with a simple cosmetic change or bug fix. a robust set of defense mechanisms against a bad change making it to production.

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 3, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, March 3, 2009 Employees should be masters of their own time Every startup should have a culture of learning. The rule is simple: every employee is 100% responsible for how they spend their time. Now he really thought I was nuts, replying "from the recruiter who hired me, of course!"

Employee 146

Employee San Francisco Lean Software Review 146

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

How to build companies that matter (the lean start. Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Combining agile development with customer developm. Don't launch Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you? Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 30, 2008

Over-communicate with employees, investors, customers. Ive also used the voluntary salary reduction tool - its particularly useful as a way to get passionate employees who dont have a lot of personal expenses to buy into the mission of the company at a deep level. Pay attention to where your cash is. Dont sugar coat.

Lean 121

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 121

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

In fact theyd cause there to be more jobs for Americans, because the companies they started would hire more employees as they grew. In fact theyd cause there to be more jobs for Americans, because the companies they started would hire more employees as they grew. Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 150

San Francisco Founder DC Washington 150

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

Whether youre a US citizen or an immigrant, entrepreneur or investor, founder or employee, theres something you can do. Whether youre a US citizen or an immigrant, entrepreneur or investor, founder or employee, theres something you can do. Soon, I promise. But in order for this idea to progress into legislation, we need your help.

San Francisco 118

San Francisco DC Startup Lean 118

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 23, 2009

How to build companies that matter (the lean start. Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Combining agile development with customer developm. Don't launch Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you? Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Audio 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 23, 2009

Priority will be given to employees of companies participating in the fbFund REV program, but I am confident that there will be room for members of the general public who want to attend. I just got word that this is going to be happening this coming Thursday, June 25 in Palo Alto (in the former Facebook HQ).

Lean 74

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 74

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 21, 2010

Yet, the real stories of successful startups are full of activities that can rightly be called institution-building: hiring creative employees, coordinating their activities, and creating a company culture that delivers results. The word institution connotes bureaucracy, process, even lethargy. How can that be part of a startup?

San Francisco 168

San Francisco Startup Lean Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 29, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 29, 2008 The ABCDEFs of conducting a technical interview I am incredibly proud of the people I have hired over the course of my career. On the one hand, it gives you insight into what kind of employee the candidate might be. Thats OK, were not trying to hire a therapist.

San Francisco 146

San Francisco Lean Agile Java 146

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 31, 2009

How to build companies that matter (the lean start. Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Combining agile development with customer developm. Don't launch Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you? Take a look and let me know what you think.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2009

For example, I often cite a real example of a problem that has as its root cause a new employee who was not properly trained. I pick that example on purpose, for two reasons: 1) most of the companies I work with deal with this problem and yet 2) almost none of them have any kind of training program in place for new employees.

San Francisco 164

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 20, 2009

Because this radical notion of progress is located firmly in the heads of its employees, and not in any artifacts they produce, the lean startup is employee-centric and knowledge-obsessed. Its unit of progress is that of validated learning about its customers. It is a truly fun place to work. Read the rest of the article here.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 7, 2009

We eventually discovered (via five whys ) that we also had to get each new employee acculturated to a fearless way of thinking. For people we hired from larger companies especially, this was challenging. Because this was such a big cultural change for most new employees, we didnt leave them to sink or swim on their own.

San Francisco 131

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Software Review Lean 131

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 19, 2009

We do not develop a product until we get a paying customer," says Orit Pennington , who co-founded the six-employee company with her husband in 2002. We do not develop a product until we get a paying customer," says Orit Pennington , who co-founded the six-employee company with her husband in 2002.

San Francisco 137

San Francisco Product Lean Continuous Deployment 137

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 1, 2009

A: have them deploy code to production on their first day as an employee. A: yes, yes, yes Q: "Seems like the biggest issue is changing peoples mentality. How did you deal with that on a new recruit (specificaly seasoned ones)?" made a big impression. Q "In CD you spend a lot of time on phone with users. How does this map to the web?

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 60

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

If I have some budget for outside help, should I hire a vendor to help us drive down our payment fraud rates by 1% (ROI easy to predict), or hire a market research firm to give us insights into potential customers (ROI hard to predict)? Its much easier to make trade-offs within a single kind of work than across types of work.

San Francisco 79

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 79

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

Then I wouldnt have the chance to work with the incredible employees and mentors from whom I learned so much. And yet, missing out on these trends wasnt the end of the world. If I had joined Google early, Id never have had the opportunity to be part of the founding of IMVU. Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

And we cant hire new engineers any faster, because you cant be interviewing and debugging and fixing all at the same time! Even with the highest standards imaginable, theres no way to hire just genius hackers. Hire a CTO or VP Engineering. Worst of all, your teammates are constantly wanting to have meetings. Just change it.

Software Review 94

Software Review Technical Review Part-Time VPE San Francisco 94

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 2, 2010

If you’re a pure startup and haven’t raised any money – you might change the life of every person you hire. You looked after me when I got there and treated me like a friend, not an employee. And sitting next to Errki from Finland who taught me one of my all time favorite swear words, “ perkele.&#.

Europe 352

Europe France San Francisco Chicago 352

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

How to build companies that matter (the lean start. Join the Lean Startup discussion at Web 2.0 Combining agile development with customer developm. Don't launch Lo, my 2295 subscribers, who are you? Take a look and let me know what you think.

San Francisco 117

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 117