Up and Running

JULY 6, 2016

On the other hand, as a writer, manager, and user of business plans as tools for steering a business, I believe you should discuss your technology in the plan for any business. Most business plans are intended to optimize management and allow business owners and management teams to better steer the business.

Technical Review 72

Technical Review Software Review Business Plan Development Team Review 72

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

This product development diagram had become part of the DNA of Silicon Valley. That’s in stark contrast to the traditional Product Development Model where it’s expected a customer is already there and waiting and it’s simply a matter of [.] familiar with Customer Development you should be.

Product Development 147

Product Development Developer Silicon Valley Product 147

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

I was consulting for the two venture capital firms who between them put $12 million into my last failed startup. (My Wasn’t something fundamentally wrong with the way everyone organizes and manages startups? Yet when I talked to my venture capital friends, they said, “Well, that’s just how startups work.

Silicon Valley 126

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital Customer Development 126

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

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 11, 2012

Lean Marketing: Delivering Customer Service via Social Media – [link]. Six Myths of Product Development – [link]. Unlimited Vacation Doesn’t Create Slackers–It Ensures Productivity – [link]. The Scarcest Resource at Startups is Management Bandwidth – [link]. – [link].

Social Media 92

Social Media Small Business Design Media 92

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. So much for timing. Would love to get in touch.

San Francisco 155

San Francisco Technical Cofounder Fractional CTO CTO 155

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 8, 2023

Seth Rosenberg at Graylock published ‘ Product Led AI’ – pointing to opportunities for founders building AI-first companies. Undoubtedly, there will be detractors who believe many products are simply features on top of foundational models.

Generative AI 78

Generative AI ChatGPT Artificial Inteligence Cofounder 78

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. And others are from unusual folks we don't normally think of as entrepreneurs, from corporate managers to government agencies.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Metrics Private Equity 167

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.

Lean 251

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 251

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. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products.

Technology 139

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 139

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

In the old days, the brand manager of a consumer packaged goods product had to spend energy inferring the effectiveness of their television ads through a combination of trailing indicators (like market share) or time-consuming market research. My blog has over 14000 subscribers, for example. Is that a lot? Is that good?

San Francisco 113

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Let’s Fire Our Customers « Steve Blank (tags: product-management startup business) [.] 3) Managing the relationship is more consumptive than the rewards. I’ll add I’m particularly curious about how founders recognize that point at which they need to exit / fire the old customers.

Customer 203

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 203

Steve Blank

AUGUST 27, 2009

This series of posts is a brief explanation of how we’ve evolved from Product Development to Customer Development to the Lean Startup. The Product Development Diagram Emerging early in the twentieth century, this product-centric model described a process that evolved in manufacturing industries.

Silicon Valley 264

Silicon Valley Product Startup Product Development 264

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 29, 2020

Most importantly, the phrase “ bootstrapping a startup ” translates into “growing your business with little or no venture capital or outside investment. It is also important to realize that, statistically speaking, most startups become operational without any venture capital or external funding sources.

Bootstrapping 85

Bootstrapping Global Startup Hungary 85

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

As the (very junior) product marketing manager I got a call from our local salesman that someone at Apple wanted more technical information than just the spec sheets about our new (not yet shipping) chip. But there’s nothing like in-person interaction to find out what your startup/product/messaging REALLY should be.

Silicon Valley 134

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 134

Feld Thoughts

MARCH 12, 2014

Management books delve into every nook and cranny of strategy and tactics. Talking heads discuss the ins and outs of everything from product development to investment theory. Gurus wax lyrical about vision and lean, focused execution. Bloggers and Quora have picked up the slack for the situations those case studies miss.

Stock 130

Stock Venture Capital Lean Product Development 130

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. Larry didn’t practice any kind of textbook management, but he was an intense communicator and inspiring leader. Pragmatic and Lean. What a gift!

Technical Review 334

Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review Database 334

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development Model. In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provide the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development.

Customer Development 247

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 247

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

In hindsight it appeared clear that startups that survive the first few tough years do not follow the traditional product-centric launch model espoused by product managers or the venture capital community. But it is life and death for a new venture. It is the path that is hidden in plain sight.

Silicon Valley 129

Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital California 129

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 27, 2019

Board meeting gets scheduled Nobody thinks too much about it until a week or two before Management team has a last-minute scramble to pull materials together Management is super focused on its daily work of … winning customers, signing biz dev, shipping product … so this prep is a last minute “fire drill” and is seen as a slight distraction.

Stock Options 226

Stock Options Metrics Stock Valuation 226

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Market Type also affects the market size as well as how you launch the product into the market.

Customer Development 204

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 204

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

So let’s be very specific: let’s assume your dream job is product manager at Google, working on the Analytics product. Storm Clouds - A VC : Venture Capital and Technology , November 12, 2010 We have enjoyed an amazing run in the web startup and investing space over the past five or six years. By doing the job.

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Step 1: Start with a lean plan. It’s the fastest way to get your idea onto paper, and it’s the very first step in the lean planning process, which is much easier and more iterative than traditional business planning methods. Introducing Lean Planning: How to Plan Less and Grow Faster. How to Write a Traditional Business Plan.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

Up and Running

JULY 24, 2015

Introduction to Operations Management. You’ll learn how to be efficient, track inventory, and manage the quality of your product or service with this online course from Wharton. Product development. They can help with development and licensing, too. Entrepreneurship Through the Lens of Venture Capital.

Entrepreneur 60

Entrepreneur Small Business Administration SBA Pennsylvania 60

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

It should go without saying that this post is not advice, nor is it recommendation of what you should do, it’s simply my observation of how companies using Customer Development positioned themselves to successfully raise money from venture investors. Is there a profitable business model? Can it scale?”

Customer Development 264

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 264

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Sloan Foundation , the Sloan School of Management at MIT , the Sloan program at Stanford , and the Sloan/Kettering Memorial Cancer Center in New York. Sloan realized that the traditional centralized management structures (like General Motors had in 1920) were poor fits for the management of GM’s already diverse product lines.

Silicon Valley 162

Silicon Valley United States RSS Customer Development 162

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2015

In our last post, we addressed the six key questions that senior management should address to determine if an Innovation Outpost makes sense for a company. These priorities have been identified by earlier planning work at the senior management level. Startups, entrepreneurs, and management teams. see the previous post.).

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Incubator Acquisition Business Model 120

Up and Running

MARCH 1, 2016

Boris Wertz, founding partner of Version One Ventures, believes that if you’ve worked in an industry you’re passionate about for a long time, you may know something about the market that nobody else knows. If You Want Venture Capital, You Need It. You can do this on your own too using the lean planning methodology.

Non-disclosure Agreement 60

Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Non-Compete Naming 60

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 11, 2014

And when you look at the tools that we use, I mean we’ve made so many technological advances, but really to manage a meeting there’s not a practical tool available. We use email; we use Word; we use task manager; we use a file sharing tool. They are so happy that they finally have a tool to manage their business.

Technical Cofounder 220

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Software Review Management 220

David Teten

OCTOBER 1, 2015

I’ve seen a range of options for supporting entrepreneurs, which I can rank from least to most involvement in companies by investors: financier VCs, e.g., Correlation Ventures. portfolio operator VCs, e.g., Andreessen Horowitz, ff Venture Capital, First Round Capital, Google Ventures. mentor VCs, e.g., most VCs.

Software Developers 60

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Technical Cofounder 60

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

It’s our hood alignment station,” the plant manager said proudly. One day, I was at the Ford Wixom auto assembly plant training my replacement and I was at met at the door by an irate plant manager. the manager followed us still yelling. These damn models weren’t designed right so we’re fixing them on the line.”

Founder 302

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 302

Steve Blank

AUGUST 24, 2009

Somewhere in the midst of total chaos, human-kind managed to layer enough integrity into a system that had built a rather wonderful world. No amount of paid publicity can achieve much if the product fails to make the customer happy. I think it is because in the end, customers count.

Silicon Valley 192

Silicon Valley PR Technical Review RSS 192

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 18, 2010

Congratulations to all of you who actually managed to slog through it.). Raising Money Using Customer Development……… 47. Lessons Learned – A New Type of Venture Capital Pitch……… 52. Customer Development Manifesto. Customer Development In the Real World.

Silicon Valley 211

Silicon Valley Customer Development IP Developer 211

Steve Blank

MAY 4, 2009

In an early stage startup, instead of sales being up front, the point departments are likely to be product development and customer development. Later on in this same company’s life, sales will become the pointy end and product development moves to a supporting role. Who’s on the Sharp End?

Silicon Valley 127

Silicon Valley RSS Non-Compete California 127

techcrunch.com

OCTOBER 23, 2010

The timing is perfect, there is more than a little overlap with Vivek Wadhwa’s guest post on venture capital earlier today. Maybe you can be the project manager and team up with someone else who is a prgrammer. Don’t use all your resources (time, energy and money) only to find that the product is a dud.

Technical Review 84

Technical Review Cofounder Technical Cofounder Software Review 84

Steve Blank

MAY 9, 2017

the wave of semiconductor startups in the 1960’s/70’s, the emergence of Venture Capital as a professional industry, the personal computer revolution in 1980’s, the rise of the Internet in the 1990’s and finally. The second thing that’s changed is that we’re now Compressing the Product Development Cycle.

Restful 228

Restful Silicon Valley Puerto Rico San Jose 228

steveblank.com

JULY 8, 2011

signup, upgrade, trial pricing Zuora – online subscription management FeeFighters – find the cheapest credit card processors HealPay – Collections made easy Customer Support Tender – support, knowledgebase tool for your site GetSatisfaction - conversations between companies / customers.

Software Review 110

Software Review Startup Silicon Valley Analytics 110