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. You’ll get empathy. Experience. Relationships.

Technical Review 325

Technical Review Early Stage Software Review Los Angeles 325

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2021

Anduril founder Palmer Luckey has sardonically noted that the only defense companies to reach unicorn status in the past 30 years have all been founded by billionaires able to endure long gaps in funding. ai entered the defense market having already built a successful commercial business in the energy vertical.

Artificial Inteligence 337

Artificial Inteligence Marketing Startup Silicon Valley 337

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

No newly hired sales and marketing exec is going to tell a founder, “Hey my prior experience and assumptions may not actually be relevant to this new startup.” The Outsourcing of Founders Responsibility The Product Development model separates founders from deeply understanding their customers and market.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 241

The Equity Kicker

MAY 9, 2016

The bit I liked the most described the role of Stanford in getting Silicon Valley going in the late 1950s. Inspire entrepreneurialism – highlight the positive effects of startups and make ‘founder’ a popular career choice. We focus on ecommerce and marketplaces.

Silicon Valley 60

Silicon Valley Venture Capital eCommerce Startup 60

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 201

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 201

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

Moreover, since the first CEO was likely to have been one of the founders, the trauma of CEO removal begins. Reply Nivi , on September 11, 2009 at 11:17 pm Said: One of the subtle lessons here for founder CEOs: you light a fuse on your own job as soon as you hire the first VP of Sales. innovation. Order Here. Now In Print!

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 228

Austin Startup

MARCH 3, 2020

The LexSet Co-Founders (left to right) CEO Francis Bitonti , President Leslie Oliver Karpas , and COO Azam Khan won $250,000 in Verizon’s Built on 5G Challenge The Forrest Four-Cast: March 3, 2020 LexSet serves AI engineers, especially those with limited resources, with a better way to annotate photos.

Technical Review 63

Technical Review Los Angeles Cofounder Silicon Valley 63

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

Two years out of the Air Force, serendipity (which would be my lifelong form of career planning) found me in Silicon Valley working for my first company: ESL. Communism being a bad science experiment) ESL’s founder Bill Perry was moving the chess pieces. If you think the Cold War turned out the right side up (i.e.

Silicon Valley 176

Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 176

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

The culture and work ethic of Convergent had earned it the title “the Marine Corps of Silicon Valley”. 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.

North Carolina 126

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 126

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. I’ve tried to read a lot of your History of Silicon Valley posts.

Technology 139

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 139

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. To Order Outside of the U.S.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 126

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 112

Early Stage Los Angeles Silicon Valley Cofounder 112

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

Many VCs focus on specific verticals, usually based on the sector in which a VC initially made her reputation. That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. What VCs most typically talk about are: – Industry expertise.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

David Teten

JANUARY 9, 2018

Many VCs focus on specific verticals, usually based on the sector in which a VC initially made her reputation. That said, one limitation in early-stage investing particularly is that 2022’s growth sectors probably don’t fit neatly into a vertical we can define today. What VCs most typically talk about are: – Industry expertise.

Venture Capital 60

Venture Capital Private Equity Silicon Valley Differentiation 60

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

That’s no longer the case in Silicon Valley. So founders might be tempted to first shoot the arrow and then draw the target around it, by choosing the ‘soft’ metrics that puts them in the best light. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Keep teaching! Order Here. Now In Print!

Customer Development 223

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 223

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2009

In the last three posts, we drew the relationship of market risk and invention risk with vertical markets and pointed out verticals where customer development would be useful. would look in each of the verticals. For example, How does sales differ from one market to another? Others you need to know when you execute the plan.

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Vertical Silicon Valley RSS Marketing 123

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 3, 2011

I suggested going for larger companies and also to pick some verticals where the value proposition really shines through. In that case, the verticals of choice could be manufacturing, wholesale and retail. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant. Is it inventory risk that Statisco manages well?

North Carolina 116

North Carolina San Diego Entrepreneur Balance Sheet 116

Transformify

APRIL 21, 2017

I spoke with Toptal Co-founder and CEO Taso Du Val to find out more about how Toptal got started and his predictions for the future of the talent economy. We really wanted to build a network of top tier talent, similar to the caliber of talent that’s working in-house at top Silicon Valley tech companies.

Technical Review 40

Technical Review Silicon Valley Software Review Cofounder 40

Haystack

DECEMBER 29, 2018

And as more economies worldwide seek to shift their investment strategies offshore and seek out technology, hubs like Silicon Valley and Shanghai, among others, have reaped the benefits. Technology is, like water, flowing and seeping into nearly every sector and eventually into most of the global economy. 2/ The Scooter Phenomenon.

Technical Review 165

Technical Review Venture Capital Russia China 165

ReadWriteStart

OCTOBER 27, 2011

Taariq Lewis, the founder of Voluble, is a 1M/1M premium entrepreneur. However, the mistake Said has made is to go "spray and pray" and build numerous different verticals without really fleshing out the business strategy for any of them. She is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and strategy consultant. PTA Portals.

Entrepreneur 116

Entrepreneur San Francisco Technical Review New Jersey 116

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 23, 2011

I asked Harshil to focus his entire product and go-to-market strategy on the college-bound age 18 market and develop his assessment module, vertical search engine for colleges and trust network to address the needs of that market and that market alone. Age 18 is worried about college and that in itself is a sizable market.

Spain 115

Spain Entrepreneur India San Francisco 115

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Creating a vertically oriented regional ecosystem is a pretty amazing accomplishment for any country or industry. However, in meeting some of the sports startups one of the things that struck me is that most of the founders who said they wanted to grow big hadn’t given much thought about how they would go about building size and scale.

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

Steve Blank

APRIL 30, 2009

Luckily (or maybe because we were in Silicon Valley where there was a domain expert for everything) there was a very smart consultant in the retail computer space, Seymour Merrin, who preached about the importance of packaging. Hopefully you and your co-founders are experts in one or two parts (agile development, SEO/SEM, etc.)

Sales 120

Sales Silicon Valley RSS Las Vegas 120

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

On a more serious note, any tips on attracting founders? BTW, I personally would _never_ “find&# a founder over the web. It’s a two-fer: you’ll learn about selling AND get to find some founder candidates. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. You haven’t missed a thing.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

A company called Aapps, founded by Nolan Bushnell (founder of Atari), make a product called the MicroTV, Digivideo, and Digivideo Color in the 1990 – 1991 timeframe that displayed live video in a window on the Mac. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. steve MIchael W. , Order Here. Now In Print!

Video 168

Video Silicon Valley RSS California 168

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 17, 2018

And we also look at companies that are creating the best product for a specific vertical – including bio/healthcare and other emerging tech. From Fund I and now to Fund III, we have been able to serve as an important bridge between Silicon Valley and other tech ecosystems. We invest across North America.

Silicon Valley 127

Silicon Valley North America San Francisco LP 127

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

RBI normally requires founders to pay back their investors with a fixed percentage of revenue until they have finished providing the investor with a fixed return on capital, which they agree upon in advance. For background, see Revenue-Based Investing: A New Option for Founders who Care About Control. Decathlon Capital.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 21, 2010

The word conjures images of twenty-something graduate students hacking code in a Silicon Valley dorm room, fueled by a steady supply of Red Bull and Ramen. The article summarized several findings that I personally found surprising: Technology company founders born in the U.S. By Akira Hirai Entrepreneurship.

Silicon Valley 233

Silicon Valley Investment Bankers Affiliate Vertical 233

YoungUpstarts

FEBRUARY 20, 2014

They connect buyers and sellers in creative new verticals, helping merchants and non-profits interact with customers or donors. Bill Clerico is CEO and co-founder of WePay , where he drives the company’s vision, strategy and growth. His goal is to make payments easy for the world’s small businesses and the platforms that serve them.

Silicon Valley 217

Silicon Valley Non-Compete API Vertical 217

Steve Blank

JANUARY 6, 2011

Marcos Polanco, founder of Clearshore and himself a serial entrepreneur, “never found time to read the blog, no matter how much I loved it. For 2011, I’m glad to announce that you can now hear my blog posts via a podcast that you can subscribe to, download or have emailed to you a few days after each blog post goes live.

Silicon Valley 201

Silicon Valley California Vertical Customer Development 201

ReadWriteStart

JANUARY 6, 2011

In fact, in the discussion on JuJu brands is yet another validation of the verticalization and niche-ization of the Internet. This week, I published an article called The Top 10 Vertical and Social Web Trends where I have discussed this at length. You can register for the next roundtable here.

Vertical 115

Vertical Web San Francisco Entrepreneur 115

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

Reid Hoffman

DECEMBER 12, 2019

Silicon Valley can frequently be too provincial in its views of entrepreneurship, strategy, and markets. In my previous podcast with my friend and entrepreneur Wences Casares, we talked about the ability of entrepreneurs down here to see global markets that Silicon Valley entrepreneurs might miss.

Chile 36

Chile Global Silicon Valley Estonia 36

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 21, 2010

The Churchill Club , Silicon Valley’s largest public affairs organization, invited Carl Schramm , president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation and I to talk about entrepreneurship. Rich Karlgaard , publisher of Forbes and co-founder of the Churchill Club refereed the event. Reply Leave a Reply Click here to cancel reply.

Silicon Valley 143

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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: [.] Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. Reply Process for the Enterprise » Blog Archive » Faith-based versus Fact-based , on June 21, 2009 at 3:55 pm Said: [.]

Silicon Valley 219

Silicon Valley RSS Vertical California 219

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Extra credit if you know the back-story of slide 1 and why it’s appropriate for founders and their team. Steve Blanks 30 years of Silicon Valley startup advice. The video below was my presentation to the group. sgblank Lean Startup Cirle 111909 This movie requires Adobe Flash for playback. Order Here. Now In Print!

Customer Development 217

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 217

Ben's Blog

MARCH 1, 2011

Two aspects of the original vision that deeply depend on the kind of general partners that we hire are: We will help develop founders into CEOs. Many VCs excel at picking companies, evaluating CEOs and bringing in professional CEOs, but generally do very little to help a promising founder develop into a CEO. A Little Help.

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Partner Technical Review Venture Capital Cofounder 78