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Is the Lean Startup Dead?

Steve Blank

Jeff Katzenberg has a great track record – head of the studio at Paramount, chairman of Disney Studios, co-founder of DreamWorks and now chairman of NewTV. It helped that in the nuclear winter that followed the crash, 2001 – 2004, startups and VCs were extremely risk averse and amenable to new ideas that reduced risk.

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Hear how the Lean Startup began — and helped one company find success: Episode 2 on Sirius XM Channel 111: Eric Ries and Jon Sebastiani

Steve Blank

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. Eric Ries co-founded Catalyst Recruiting while attending Yale, and continued his entrepreneurial career as a Senior Software Engineer at There.com. Taking My Class.

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Should Founders Be Allowed to Take Money off the Table?

Both Sides of the Table

If a company has reached a level of success, has been around for a few years and you believe the company has potential to break out into a much bigger company then you should let the founders take money off of the table. Founders however are asked to take low salaries and never really get back the time they worked for free.

Founder 329
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6 Tips for Coming Up With Your Million-Dollar Business Idea

Up and Running

Voices.com , an online marketplace that matches voice actors with advertising agencies and TV and radio stations, began in 2004 as an idea scribbled down on a napkin by newlyweds David and Stephanie Ciccarelli. “I realized in the early 1990s that there was no appropriate yoga for fitness professionals,” says YogaFit® founder, Beth Shaw.

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The Guy Who Took on Google (and now LinkedIn): Mike Yavonditte

Both Sides of the Table

Mike is a no BS guy, has all the attributes I look for in a founder and says things like, openly shares knowledge and opines without a filter including this one, “whoever invented uncapped convertible debt should be spanked!&# They sold in December 2007, but he started selling Quigo in 2004.

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Cliff Notes S-1: Kayak ? AGILEVC

Agile VC

Kayak was started here in my backyard of Boston… co-founder & CTO Paul English and the product/engineering team is based here in Concord MA. Co-founder & CEO Steve Hafner and the business team are based in Norwalk, CT. Founding Date: 2004. round closed in June 2004. Series A Preferred.

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LinkedIn: The Series A Fundraising Story ? AGILEVC

Agile VC

Many assume it was a cakewalk, based on the success LinkedIn has enjoyed over time and the current stature of our founder/CEO Reid Hoffman (now Chairman). Google is still a private company (their IPO was Aug 2004). conference happened at the end of 2004). It’ll be nearly two years before the concept of “Web 2.0″