Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 20, 2008 The engineering managers lament I was inspired to write The product managers lament while meeting with a startup struggling to figure out what had gone wrong with their product development process. Even worse, agile wasnt really helping me ship higher quality software. Great stuff!

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Hearpreneur

JUNE 21, 2017

My Mama, the founder of Yuca’s Hut in Los Feliz, CA, didn’t allow a lack of college degrees or a business plan to deter her from launching her dream. Larry Page, Google co-founder.I It’s an important quote for employees and business owners to internalize, because a company is people working toward success.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, September 30, 2008 What does a startup CTO actually do? When Ive asked mentors of mine who have worked in big companies about the role of the CTO, they usually talk about the importance of being the external face of the companys technology platform; an evangelist to developers, customers, and employees.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

I have personally sold many copies of his book, and continue to recommend it as one of the most important books a startup founder can read. I used to give copies of Four Steps out to my employees, in the hopes that it would instantly indoctrinate them into the methodology of Customer Development. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 28, 2010

kaChing launched a virtual portfolio management game on Facebook in January 2008 and a similar version shortly thereafter on kaChing.com. Andy Mathieson, a founder and managing member at Fairview Capital , was particularly supportive. Andy Mathieson, a founder and managing member at Fairview Capital , was particularly supportive.

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Hearpreneur

AUGUST 9, 2020

The defining moment for VisionSpring was when Founder Jordan Kassalow went on a volunteer mission to Mexico at age 23. Originally named the Scojo Foundation in 2001 and re-named VisionSpring in 2008, Scojo Foundation was named for co-founders Jordan and Scott (ScoJo). billion people worldwide who need them.

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Hearpreneur

JANUARY 31, 2016

We decided to start something we felt would have the greatest positive impact on fellow business owners, an Agile Methodology consulting company. We quit our jobs, pooled our money, and set out to help companies implement Agile – a highly efficient, organized, and empowering way to run your business. 6 – Forging a New Path.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 28, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, October 28, 2008 A hierarchy of pitches Every company will need to pitch itself from time to time. We pitch to potential partners, vendors, publishers, conferences, employees, and even lawyers. October 31, 2008 8:10 AM entrepreneurialactivism.com said. is it a revolutionary and novel idea?

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, September 10, 2008 A new version of the Joel Test (draft) (This article is a draft - your comments are especially welcome as I think through these issues. Its not that the idea behind them is wrong, but I think agile team-building practices make scheduling per se much less important. Youd better.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 3, 2009

The same has been true of an unfortunate number of startups, they manage to generate a lot of hype, raise a lot of money, and sometimes make some of their investors, employees, or founders rich. Ive been there: is it me or my cofounder thats crazy? Yet, I think this definition is too important to leave out.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 17, 2009

Although Im not a developer, I am captivated by the lean and agile start-up model that you write about. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Tried it with multiple browsers.

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

It should be even more important to the founders themselves, because it demonstrates that their business hypothesis is grounded in reality. These founders have not managed, to borrow a phrase from Steve Blank , to create a scalable and repeatable sales process. Go on an agile diet quickly. More on that in a moment.

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YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 31, 2016

by Brent Freeman , co-founder and president of Stealth Venture Labs. This was an obstacle I encountered while at Roozt.com, the Etsy-style platform for social entrepreneurs we launched in 2008. So we continued to hire more full-time salaried employees to help ease the pain.

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Hearpreneur

DECEMBER 9, 2020

The defining moment for VisionSpring was when Founder Jordan Kassalow went on a volunteer mission to Mexico at age 23. Originally named the Scojo Foundation in 2001 and re-named VisionSpring in 2008, Scojo Foundation was named for co-founders Jordan and Scott (ScoJo). billion people worldwide who need them.

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Jordan Bangladesh India Mexico 62

YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 2, 2020

As a result, entrepreneurs, founders, CEOs, marketers, and anyone in between can take advantage. Copywriters, designers, marketers, and employees from any other department can work alongside each other to create something together — and with a minimal learning curve. The point of no-code tools is to empower non-engineers to create.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 26, 2009

They had their own private forum, and a company founder (aka me) personally ran the group in its early days. Every two months, the company would have a big end-of-milestone meeting, with our Board of Directors, Business Advisory Board, and all employees present. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R.

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

Why do these founders get to stay around? Because the balance of power has dramatically shifted from investors to founders. VCs competing for unicorn investments have given founders control of the board. For three decades (1978-2008), investors controlled the board. This seems to be occurring more and more. Board Control.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 17, 2010

They are leaders, visionaries, founders and managers having tremendous success. Not to be outdone, the technologists on the team had also brought their big guns, and the meeting was packed with employees of every level – from VP’s all the way down to me. Yet talent organized improperly can lead to failure. Expo SF (May.

Technical Review 164

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

Its an amazing thing when you can hire an employee who knows more about your code base than you do, and this turned out to be a big source of advantage. In the end, I believe they co-created our product with us. Personally, the framework Ive found most helpful is MTVs "create, share, validate" feedback loop. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Thanks to those of you who were willing to fill out the survey, I learned my net promoter score (about 25) as well as some clear other segmentation insights: about 80% of you are founders of or work at a startup, you read many of the same other blogs, and many of you would like to engage with Lessons Learned in formats and venues beyond this blog.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 30, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, October 30, 2008 John Doerrs 10 lean startup tips I just saw video of John Doerrs talk yesterday at VentureBeat’s “How to manage your start-up in the downturn&# roundtable event. Over-communicate with employees, investors, customers. Pay attention to where your cash is. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 7, 2010

Whether youre a US citizen or an immigrant, entrepreneur or investor, founder or employee, theres something you can do. If you are an immigrant founder who has helped build a company that has created jobs in the US, we need you to tell your story. This is especially true if you live outside the echo chamber of Silicon Valley.

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Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 29, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, November 29, 2008 The ABCDEFs of conducting a technical interview I am incredibly proud of the people I have hired over the course of my career. On the one hand, it gives you insight into what kind of employee the candidate might be. The six key attributes spell ABCDEF: Agility.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 23, 2009

► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th. Combining agile development with customer developm. No departments The Five Whys for Startups (for Harvard Business R. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, September 19, 2009 Support the Startup Founders Visa with a tweet Its been an exhilarating first day here in Washington DC for the Geeks on a Plane tour. We can remedy it by creating a special visa for startup founders. I think the benefits are a no-brainer. 2gov.org will take care of the rest.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 31, 2009

Do you know when will the final price be determined as I am really hoping i can bring my co-founders to the event as well. ► August (2) SXSW Case Study: SlideShare goes freemium ► July (4) Case Study: kaChing, Anatomy of a Pivot Some IPO speculation Founder personalities and the “first-class man&# th.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 3, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, March 3, 2009 Employees should be masters of their own time Every startup should have a culture of learning. The rule is simple: every employee is 100% responsible for how they spend their time. The suggestion is that you implement one single company-wide rule. I asked why.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 23, 2009

Priority will be given to employees of companies participating in the fbFund REV program, but I am confident that there will be room for members of the general public who want to attend. I just got word that this is going to be happening this coming Thursday, June 25 in Palo Alto (in the former Facebook HQ). Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 21, 2010

Yet, the real stories of successful startups are full of activities that can rightly be called institution-building: hiring creative employees, coordinating their activities, and creating a company culture that delivers results. The word institution connotes bureaucracy, process, even lethargy. How can that be part of a startup? Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 13, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, November 13, 2008 Five Whys Taiichi Ohno was one of the inventors of the Toyota Production System. Hes a new employee, and he was not properly trained in TDD So far, this isnt much different from the kind of analysis any competent operations team would conduct for a site outage. Good stuff.

Software Review 167

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 19, 2009

We do not develop a product until we get a paying customer," says Orit Pennington , who co-founded the six-employee company with her husband in 2002. We do not develop a product until we get a paying customer," says Orit Pennington , who co-founded the six-employee company with her husband in 2002. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 6, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 6, 2008 When NOT to listen to your users; when NOT to rely on split-tests There are three legs to the lean startup concept: agile product development , low-cost (fast to market) platforms , and rapid-iteration customer development. October 6, 2008 9:41 PM Eric said. Any thoughts?

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 20, 2009

Because this radical notion of progress is located firmly in the heads of its employees, and not in any artifacts they produce, the lean startup is employee-centric and knowledge-obsessed. Its unit of progress is that of validated learning about its customers. It is a truly fun place to work. Read the rest of the article here.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

I believe this is one reason why the myth of the dictatorial startup founder has such enduring appeal. Lean manufacturing , agile software development , and Theory of Constraints are all examples of this idea in action. I believe this is one reason why the myth of the dictatorial startup founder has such enduring appeal.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Software Review 167

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, December 7, 2008 The hackers lament One of the thrilling parts of working and writing in Silicon Valley is the incredible variety of people Ive had the chance to meet. December 8, 2008 7:40 PM Allen Rohner said. Ill be mindful of your advice. :-) Allen December 8, 2008 9:30 PM Amy said.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 27, 2009

The full formula works like this: runway = cash on hand / burn rate # iterations = runway / speed of each iteration Very few successful companies ended up in the same exact business that the founders thought theyd be in (see Founders at Work for dozens of examples). Combining agile development with customer developm.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2009

For example, I often cite a real example of a problem that has as its root cause a new employee who was not properly trained. I pick that example on purpose, for two reasons: 1) most of the companies I work with deal with this problem and yet 2) almost none of them have any kind of training program in place for new employees.

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