Version One Ventures

JULY 14, 2014

The big debate among tech circles has always been if it’s possible to build a “Silicon Valley” company outside of the Valley. Is Silicon Valley a physical place or a state of mind ? Smaller start-ups in Silicon Valley, particularly those in un-sexy markets, have a tough time drawing in top engineers and designers.

Silicon Valley 154

Silicon Valley Los Angeles San Francisco Seattle 154

YoungUpstarts

MAY 29, 2011

This week Blackbox , founded by entrepreneurs Bjoern Lasse Herrmann and Max Marmer, released its first Startup Genome Report — a 67-page in depth analysis on what makes Silicon Valley startups successful based on profiling over 650 startups. Founders that learn are more successful. Solo founders take 3.6x

Silicon Valley 230

Silicon Valley Cofounder Technical Cofounder Startup 230

Steve Blank

JUNE 6, 2016

Innovation outposts in Silicon Valley allow big companies to sense and respond to rapid changes in technology. The show follows the journeys of founders who share what it takes to build a startup – from restaurants to rocket scientists, to online gifts to online groceries and more. And download any of the past shows here.).

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Entrepreneur Fractional CTO Analytics 120

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

Entrepreneurs beyond Silicon Valley, including those working abroad, often have to retool Lean Startup methods to apply them in places with very different business cultures. Those conversations can often circle around the difficulties of entrepreneurship outside Silicon Valley. On September 24 in the U.S.

Silicon Valley 168

Silicon Valley Lean Puerto Rico Japan 168

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

Jon Sebastiani , founder and CEO of KRAVE Jerky , a company that got its start in my class at Berkeley back in 2011 and was recently acquired by Hershey. That’s part of the magic of Silicon Valley.”. — On Getting Another Chance : “ I would have paid for the privilege to work in the legendary place called Silicon Valley.

Lean 120

Lean Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder Channel 120

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 27, 2012

Recently I wrote a post arguing to make the definition of a Startup more inclusive than that to which Silicon Valley, fueled by Venture Capital return profiles, would sometimes like to attach to the word. ” Put simply, if you care about building a successful tech community outside Silicon Valley you should read this book.

Community 378

Community San Diego Silicon Valley Los Angeles 378

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 25, 2018

Just as national cultures influence and shape a country, so does the startup culture set by founder strategy drive the future of a new venture. Most startups are created by one or two entrepreneurial founders, with a vision and focus on developing an innovative solution, rather than on developing people. Place shapes culture.

Silicon Valley 143

Silicon Valley Retention Metrics Architecture 143

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 11, 2010

CEO – “Well, we’ve missed our sales numbers for the last six months.” What does this have to do with missing your sales plan? CEO – “Well our VP of Sales isn’t making the sales plan and he says it’s a marketing problem, and he’s a really senior guy.”. The CEO asks the VP of Sales to join us in the conference room.

Burn Rate 251

Burn Rate Silicon Valley Marketing Boston 251

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 6, 2014

When you first start your company and raise initial venture capital your board probably consists of 1-3 founders and 1-2 VCs. Most experienced VCs won’t push you to give up founder control at this stage of the business nor should they. Founder’s perspective. how to build an initial sales organization.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

View from Seed

APRIL 21, 2015

On the heels of our research on HBS entrepreneurs , NextView’s Dimitri Dadiomov (HBS ’15) interviewed several top founders on the early stages of their companies. Matt Prince , Co-Founder and CEO, CloudFlare (Web performance and security to protect and accelerate websites; $72.1 On Launching and Finding Early Traction.

Founder 120

Founder Las Vegas Entrepreneur Cofounder 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

When Sloan arrived at GM in 1920 he realized that the traditional centralized management structures organized by function (sales, manufacturing, distribution, and marketing) were a poor fit for managing GM’s diverse product lines. If you’re following Tesla, you might be interested to know that Sloan wasn’t the founder of GM.

Michigan 296

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 296

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

After 20 years of working in startups, I decided to take a step back and look at the product development model I had been following and see why it usually failed to provide useful guidance in activities outside the building – sales, marketing and business development. So what’s wrong the product development model?

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

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. He had teamed up with a former product manager at P&G to deliver seminars on just this subject.

Sales 120

Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

We give abundant advice to founders about how to make startups succeed yet we offer few models about dealing with failure. The press called Rocket Science one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley and predicted that our games would be great because the storyboards and trailers were spectacular. Should be past grief.”

Redemption 332

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 332

ReadWriteStart

JULY 12, 2012

For instance, a tech whiz with no sales skills needs to have a strong salesperson on board to land investors. As a Silicon Valley attorney and founder of technology incubator StartWorks , Montgomery has participated in many tech startups and has a natural interest in what makes them succeed. The 3 Types of Intelligence.

Founder 144

Founder Silicon Valley Startup Incubator 144

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

This post describes how following the traditional product development can lead to a “startup death spiral.&# In the next posts that follow, I’ll describe how this model’s failures led to the Customer Development Model – offering a new way to approach startup sales and marketing activities. The board raises a collective eyebrow.

Customer Development 232

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 232

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 21, 2014

” Who cut you in on their bonus because even though you’re “just an sales engineer” they know you really deserved more credit for this deal. Our founder, Yves Sisteron, was my mentor and board member at my first startup. Stuart was a co-founder at my first startup company and ended up running global operations.

CTO Hire 320

CTO Hire Cofounder San Francisco Silicon Valley 320

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Twenty eight years ago I was the bright, young, eager product marketing manager called out to the field to support sales by explaining the technical details of Convergent Technologies products to potential customers. They looked at their watches, gave our sales guy a quizzical look and left.

Technology 143

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 143

Version One Ventures

MAY 24, 2016

Just a few years ago, if you wanted to do something big, you needed to go to Silicon Valley. Over the past month, I’ve spent a lot of time in NYC, Toronto, and Ottawa for board meetings, conferences, meetings with our founders, re-connecting with co-investors, and meeting new entrepreneurs. Waterloo has another unicorn with Kik.

Silicon Valley 113

Silicon Valley San Francisco Startup DC 113

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Steve is the CEO of Founders Space, one of the world’s leading startup accelerators with over 50 partners in 22 countries. Founders Space was ranked the #1 incubator for overseas startups by Forbes and Entrepreneur Magazines. 18:05] How does the Founder Space operate? [20:21] He's the CEO of founders space.

San Francisco 96

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 96

The Next Web

FEBRUARY 1, 2014

is a venture capitalist investing in Silicon Valley and Singapore. You might have started searching for a tech-oriented co-founder to help you launch your idea, only to find that your startup can’t afford the ongoing salary for a skilled software developer. What drives sales for online services and mobile apps?

Web 160

Web Silicon Valley Salary Demand 160

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 19, 2009

He would go on to be a co-founder of two mechanical engineering software companies.) In short order they learned how to transition from being customers on the receiving end of a sales pitch to giving one. Back in the 1960’s and 70’s no sane MBA’s would work for a Silicon Valley startup.) Order Here. Now In Print!

Engineer 221

Engineer Silicon Valley Part-Time VPE Advisory Board 221

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

For example: Mitch Kapor was a founder of Lotus. As the emeritus Chief Technology Officer of the United States, he still connects government and Silicon Valley. He’s a founder of Andreessen Horowitz, which has backed Facebook, Skype, Jawbone, and dozens of other companies whose products you use.

Lean 165

Lean Fractional CTO Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE 165

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

I had last been in Chapel Hill on a winter’s day in 1986, traveling with the VP of Sales of our new supercomputer startup, Ardent. My ex-boss was going to be the VP of Engineering and I would report to the CEO whose marketing acumen and sales instincts seemed at the time to be telepathic and sense of theater was legend.

North Carolina 131

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 131

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 10, 2016

Funding challenges and other issues founders face in the early days of starting up were the focus of interviews with the latest guests on Entrepreneurs are Everywhere , my radio show on SiriusXM Channel 111 (airing weekly Thursdays at 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm Eastern). Will Zell , co-founder and CEO of Nikola Labs wireless power company.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Ohio Columbus Entrepreneur 120

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 26, 2013

We give abundant advice to founders about how to make startups succeed yet we offer few models about dealing with failure. The press called Rocket Science one of the hottest companies in Silicon Valley and predicted that our games would be great because the storyboards and trailers were spectacular. Should be past grief.”

Redemption 224

Redemption Cofounder Silicon Valley Burn Rate 224

Hippoland

JULY 6, 2018

From that perspective, things have been mostly rosy in the Silicon Valley for startups! except for 2008-2009, which is another story) But, I think we’re in trouble, Silicon Valley. This will make it harder for SF to compete for startup founder talent. I went to college during the bust.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley San Francisco Portugal Ireland 48

Hippoland

JULY 6, 2018

From that perspective, things have been mostly rosy in the Silicon Valley for startups! except for 2008-2009, which is another story) But, I think we’re in trouble, Silicon Valley. This will make it harder for SF to compete for startup founder talent. I went to college during the bust.

Silicon Valley 48

Silicon Valley San Francisco Portugal Ireland 48

Steve Blank

MAY 29, 2011

The email continued, &# The problem I’m working on is that many founders are either making uninformed decisions or inefficiently learning the new skills they need. The solution I’m exploring is a just in time learning methodology that accelerates founders’ learning curve by aggregating relevant content, peers and mentors.&#.

Technical Cofounder 334

Technical Cofounder Early Stage Startup Silicon Valley 334

Version One Ventures

JULY 20, 2017

million seed round, we’re looking back at our journey with founders Mike Murchison and David Hariri. Intrigued, Boris reached out to Mike Murchison and learned that he and his co-founder David Hariri were building a social network to help others solves problems online. . We led the Volley pre-Seed round.

Artificial Inteligence 150

Artificial Inteligence Silicon Valley Stealth Term Sheet 150

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

The Founder’s New Insight Smart founders are never satisfied with simply executing their current business model, they are constantly observing, orienting and deciding whether their current business model can be made better. But the purpose of this post is what happens when a founder (or large company CEO) finds a better business model.

Customer 216

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 216

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 5, 2011

2 preamble issues having read the comments on TC today: 1: I know that the prices of startup companies is much great in Silicon Valley than in smaller towns / less tech focused areas in the US and the US prices higher than many foreign markets. This article originally appeared on TechCrunch. I acknowledged this in the article.

Pre-Money Valuation 336

Pre-Money Valuation Valuation Silicon Valley Stock 336

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

GrowthHackers founder and former Head of Growth at Dropbox, Sean Ellis , coined the term: “A growth hacker is a person whose true north is growth. Where campaigns to build brand awareness and generate top-of-funnel sales drive traditional marketing, data across the entire customer lifecycle drives growth hacking in marketing.

Retention 113

Retention Marketing Acquisition Channel 113

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 1, 2023

By Daniel Sokolovksy, Co-Founder and CEO, WARP and Troy Lester, Co-Founder and CRO, WARP The dissolution of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was more than just a bank collapse, it was a reality check for both startups and the VCs that fund them. As a founder, ask yourself – does your business actually warrant VC funding?

Early Stage 135

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 135

ReadWriteStart

JULY 12, 2012

For instance, a tech whiz with no sales skills needs to have a strong salesperson on board to land investors. As a Silicon Valley attorney and founder of technology incubator StartWorks , Montgomery has participated in many tech startups and has a natural interest in what makes them succeed.

Founder 65

Founder Silicon Valley Startup Incubator 65

Berkonomics

AUGUST 10, 2017

Since this number is budgeted and pre-authorized, managers tend to focus upon other things such as sales, marketing and product development issues. Not long after, the company was sold in a “fire sale” amounting to slightly less than the debt on the books. All investors, including the VC firm, lost everything.

Silicon Valley 97

Silicon Valley Burn Rate Angel Investor Down Round 97

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. Order Here. Now In Print!

Silicon Valley 131

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 131