crowdSPRING Blog

SEPTEMBER 19, 2014

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! The Myth of Venture Capital | Re/code by Jon Oringer – crowdspring.co/1tNFeV7. Bad Notes on Venture Capital – crowdspring.co/1u3NJvn.

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

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.

Customer Development 244

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 244

The Startup Magazine

MARCH 7, 2024

Every new startup is exciting. However, many startups also suffer from growing too fast too soon, which is unsustainable for many companies. Rather than change anything, they become the latest in a long line of the costliest startup failures resigned to history and a case study on what not to do to avoid a startup flameout.

Startup 112

Startup Forecast Social Media Cost 112

Up and Running

JULY 2, 2014

Picking the right attorney in your startup is as important as picking the right business partner. My business partner and I made many mistakes in our first tech startup, and so many of them were the result of choosing a lawyer who was a terrible fit. Let me paint the picture for you: We were about two months into our startup idea.

Technical Review 118

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Dilution 118

David Teten

MAY 1, 2013

This is part 1 of a 2-part series on domain names and startups; part 2 will be “ Build Your Startup on a Vacant Domain Name ”. A startup called Corpora made headlines for all the wrong reasons after tech bloggers ran an image search to find the company logo. credit: Wikipedia)). Facebook paid $8.5

Naming 114

Naming Semantic Venture Capital Startup 114

This is going to be BIG.

NOVEMBER 22, 2013

Personally, I learned an important lesson when I was raising the seed round for my startup, but I didn''t learn it until we folded almost two years later. Running a startup is going to be difficult. Something isn''t going to go your way--product development, hiring, revenues. Venture Capital & Technology'

Technical Review 136

Technical Review Angel Investor Due Diligence Venture Capital 136

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

Traction can simply mean showing that you’re making progress with customers, product development, channel partners, initial revenue as a proof point, attracting well-known angel investors, winning industry awards / recognition. They tell you they’re going to ship product and they do. They hire key staff.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

The Startup Magazine

SEPTEMBER 12, 2019

Most startups view venture capital funding as a blessing from above — eager to take it as soon as they can get it. Tempted by large sums of money and the perceived validation that comes along with being funded, founders turn to venture capitalists to accelerate their company’s growth. Focus on Product Development First.

Early Stage 85

Early Stage Venture Capital Bootstrapping Pre-Money Valuation 85

The Startup Magazine

AUGUST 15, 2022

There are many benefits of selling your startup through a mergers and acquisitions advisor. When selling your startup with a mergers and acquisitions advisor, it’s essential to identify the key employees who have made the most valuable contributions to the business. As an entrepreneur, you already built a marketable startup.

Merger 131

Merger Acquisition Due Diligence Valuation 131

SiliconHills

JUNE 9, 2015

million in funding from LiveOak Venture Partners and Silverton Partners. The Austin-based startup plans to use the money to hire five or more additional employees and for product development and marketing, said Darin Hicks, its CEO. Million in Venture Capital appeared first on SiliconHills.

Venture Capital 48

Venture Capital Austin Partner Product Development 48

SiliconHills

JUNE 23, 2015

The Austin-based startup plans to use the money for product development and to hire more sales and business development employees. Silverton Partners led the founding round which included participation from ATX Ventures and […] The post Alert Media Raises $4.16 million in a Series A funding round.

Venture Capital 48

Venture Capital Media Austin Product Development 48

OnlyOnce

MAY 13, 2021

As I finished up my work on the Second Edition of Startup CEO: A Field Guide to Scaling Up Your Business and started working on a new startup, my colleagues and I started envisioning a new book as a sequel or companion to Startup CEO that is going to be published on June 9 with our same publisher, Wiley & Sons.

Startup 62

Startup Cofounder Venture Capital Leadership 62

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 11, 2013

If you aren’t so sure, need something fast, or need to keep your costs low, then an LLC is the best legal and taxable entity to facilitate your startup. Incorporate your startup after the business plan, but before you spend a dollar on product development. Every startup business needs annual tax return coverage.

LLC 234

LLC Nevada Delaware Limited Liability Company 234

David Teten

AUGUST 19, 2019

I’ve been a traditional equity VC for 8 years, and I’m now researching new business models in venture capital. 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.

Revenue 60

Revenue Technical Review Software Review Equity 60

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

They couldn’t keep up with the fast product development times that were enabled by using standard microprocessors. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products. The answer depends on your answer to two questions: which step in the Customer Development process are you on?

Technology 143

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 143

ReadWriteStart

FEBRUARY 13, 2020

Government-led programs like the Startup Visa Program and the Global Talent Stream are proving successful in attracting quality talent. To date, some 1,000 technology companies have hired 4,000 workers through the program. Public venture capital has been vital in establishing Canada’s leadership in the resource space.

Canada 127

Canada Government Venture Capital Early Stage 127

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

Thirty years later we now realize that its one the causes of early startup failure. This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. It has become an integral part of startup culture.

Silicon Valley 269

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 269

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

In other words, you must start bootstrapping an online startup , because the future of the global business world is online. What is a startup? Before we look at ways to bootstrap a startup, let’s consider a comprehensive definition of what a startup is. Ways to bootstrap a startup.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

YoungUpstarts

MAY 16, 2018

There, he would be showered in venture capital, build a team of similarly brilliant twenty-somethings, acquire millions of customers seemingly overnight, and steer his startup to an IPO and himself to the cover of Inc magazine well before his 30th birthday. Who’s more likely to successfully make that first sale or hire?

Silicon Valley 157

Silicon Valley Forecast Venture Capital Business Plan 157

This is going to be BIG.

OCTOBER 18, 2012

Just once I'd like to see a pitch deck with a slide for the hiring plan and *most* importantly, how they're going to execute it. Top talent drives revenues, business development, great product development. Oh, you're going to hire 15 engineers with my $5mm? sounds good.". %^%#@@!!

Hiring 111

Hiring PR Differentiation Acquisition 111

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Larry had the DNA I’ve seen common with all the successful entrepreneurs I’ve backed in my 25 years of Venture Capital work—only he had a more exaggerated case than most. This is not usual—startups that fail often have a lot of people milling around who don’t know what the goal is. Hired the Smartest People. What a gift!

Technical Review 334

Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review Database 334

This is going to be BIG.

JUNE 30, 2010

Startups, on the other hand, have lots of little failures and successes over time. The first time around, his meetings with Union Square Ventures didn’t result in a check—not until a little nudge got Fred thinking more about it. A lot of startups, however, don't seem to realize this. backgrounds at startups?

Technical Review 113

Technical Review Due Diligence Venture Capital Later Stage 113

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 18, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, April 18, 2010 Four myths about the Lean Startup Myth: Lean means cheap. Lean startups try to spend as little money as possible. Truth: The Lean Startup method is not about cost, it is about speed. Myth: The Lean Startup methodology is only for Web 2.0/internet/consumer

Lean 167

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Startup 167

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development.

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 228

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 31, 2012

Many writers have outlined the critical success factors for product companies, like sell every unit at a profit, patent the design, and continuous product improvement. The distinction between product companies and services companies is easy to see. Customers don’t like to see you learning on the job or outsourcing.

Angel Investor 227

Angel Investor Venture Capital Partner Networking 227

Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

Market Risk vs. Invention Risk - Click to Enlarge For companies building web-based products, product development may be difficult, but with enough time and iteration engineering will eventually converge on a solution and ship a functional product - i t’s engineering, not invention.

Vertical 162

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 162

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 17, 2015

As you probably know, Forward Partners bundles help from our startup team, our proven methodologies and office space with our cash investment so I will be talking my own book tomorrow and hence here. Twenty years ago 3i dominated venture capital in the UK with a very low touch model.

Early Stage 60

Early Stage Venture Capital San Francisco Silicon Valley 60

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 4, 2008

(Maybe youd like to start with The lean startup , How to listen to customers , or What does a startup CTO actually do? ) He serves on the advisory board of a number of technology startups, and has worked as a consultant to a number of startups, companies, and venture capital firms.

San Francisco 155

San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 20, 2010

Many writers have outlined the critical success factors for product companies, like sell every unit at a profit, patent the design, and continuous product improvement. The distinction between product companies and services companies is easy to see. Customers don’t like to see you learning on the job or outsourcing.

Product 228

Product Angel Investor Venture Capital Partner 228

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. Over its lifetime a Lean Startup may spend less money than a traditional startup. Lets see why.

Lean 260

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 260

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

That is until I saw that in startup after startup customers come from places you don’t plan on. He’s Only in Field Service When I was at Zilog, the Z8000 peripheral chips included the new “ Serial Communications Controller &# ( SCC ).

Silicon Valley 143

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 143

SiliconHills

FEBRUARY 26, 2016

The Austin based startup, founded in 2011, received the funding from Palo Alto-based CSC Venture Capital. It plans to use the money on product development and to hire more […] The post WigWag Gets $3.17 Million in Funding appeared first on SiliconHills.

Venture Capital 48

Venture Capital Austin Product Development Internet 48

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 6, 2011

The Lean Startup Book is done. If you've been waiting for a comprehensive account of the Lean Startup and how it can help you achieve dramatically better business results, this is it. Some are from obscure startups who you haven't heard of -- yet. Here's the description you'll find on the book jacket itself: Most startups fail.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Metrics Private Equity 167

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

My original post was directed at hiring managers. It said that I didn’t believe it was a good idea to hire job hoppers. My view still stands – for many hiring managers a large factor in looking through resumes of somebody who is 30+ and has never worked somewhere for more than 18 months will be the job hopping element.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

Gust

OCTOBER 31, 2011

Many writers have outlined the critical success factors for product companies, like sell every unit at a profit, patent the design, and continuous product improvement. The distinction between product companies and services companies is easy to see. Customers don’t like to see you learning on the job or outsourcing.

Angel Investor 143

Angel Investor Venture Capital Partner Networking 143

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

Joseph Campbell’s insight of the repeatable patterns in mythology is equally applicable to building a successful startup. All startups (whether a new division inside a larger corporation or in the canonical garage) follow similar patterns—a series of steps which, when followed, can eliminate a lot of the early wandering in the dark.

Silicon Valley 133

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital California 133