Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2014

A startup is not just about the idea, it’s about testing and then implementing the idea. As the farm fields flew by on the interstate I listened as Dave described how he translated his vision into a series of hypotheses and mapped them onto a business model canvas. This startup was broken at multiple levels. The Problem.

Cofounder 336

Cofounder Founder Technical Cofounder Coder 336

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

How do you figure out what’s the right mix of skills for the co-founders of your startup? Surprisingly if you’ve filled out the business model canvas you already know who you need. She started by sketching her business model canvas on a napkin, but somehow the conversation quickly shifted to what was really on her mind.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Steve Blank

MAY 17, 2010

I suggested that they first might want to read my post on why business plans are a poor planning and execution tool for startups. At best I think business plan competitions are a waste of time. Business Plan Versus Business Models. A startup is not executing a series of knowns.

Business Plan 320

Business Plan Business Model Customer Development Deal Flow 320

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2011

Over the last decade we assumed that once we found repeatable methodologies (Agile and Customer Development , Business Model Design) to build early stage ventures, entrepreneurship would become a “science,” and anyone could do it. Some men see things as they are and ask why. Others dream things that never were and ask why not.

Agile 334

Agile Customer Development Early Stage Business Model 334

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

63 scientists and engineers in 21 teams made 2,000 customer calls in 8 weeks , turning laboratory ideas into formidable startups. The Innovation Corps Startup Team. We taught them the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. This week we saw the results. Your Country Needs You.

Incubator 310

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 310

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 8, 2008 The lean startup Ive been thinking for some time about a term that could encapsulate trends that are changing the startup landscape. After some trial and error, Ive settled on the Lean Startup. Of course, many startups are capital efficient and generally frugal.

Lean 168

Lean San Francisco Startup Continuous Deployment 168

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2013

Over the last three years our Lean LaunchPad / NSF Innovation Corps classes have been teaching hundreds of entrepreneurial teams a year how to build their startups by getting out of the building and testing their hypotheses behind their business model. The next customer segment we tried was startup founders.

Lean 322

Lean Customer Development Sales Cycle Business Model 322

Steve Blank

MARCH 8, 2011

It was designed to bring together many of the new approaches to building a successful startup – customer development, agile development, business model generation and pivots. We were positing that 20 years of teaching “how to write a business plan” might be obsolete. – not just web-based startups.

Lean 307

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 307

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2014

We’re changing the order in which we teach the business model canvas and customer development to better-fit therapeutics, diagnostics and medical devices. The Lean LaunchPad class uses the three “ Lean Startup ” principles: Alexander Osterwalders “ business model canvas ” to frame hypotheses.

Intellectual Property 290

Intellectual Property Lean IP Open Source 290

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 13, 2010

Then we saw the great alignment between the Customer Development Model and the Agile software development methodologies so we decided to create the course IIC3515 “Workshop of Entrepreneurship with Software” that applies both models to develop real software products with customers from the startup ideas of the students.

Chile 241

Chile Silicon Valley Lean Agile 241

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

In my 21 years as an entrepreneur, I would come up for air once a month to religiously read the Harvard Business Review. It was not only my secret weapon in thinking about new startup strategies, it also gave me a view of the management issues my customers were dealing with.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 223

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2010

They start with an innovation, search for a repeatable business model, build the infrastructure for a company, then grow by efficiently executing the model. outpace an existing company’s business model. You want to start executing the business model. Just like a startup. Creative Destruction.

Search 251

Search Agile Customer Development Technical Review 251

Steve Blank

MARCH 2, 2011

The Energy Storage division is acting like a startup, and Prescott Logan its General Manager, has lived up to the charter. He’s as good as any startup CEO in Silicon Valley. They’ve gained as good of an insight into customer needs and product feature set than any startup I’ve seen. You couldn’t be more wrong.

Silicon Valley 239

Silicon Valley Agile Customer Development Early Stage 239

Steve Blank

JANUARY 30, 2013

Entrenched Innovation Model Issues : Qualcomm’s existing innovation model – wireless products were created in the R&D lab and then handed over to existing business units for commercialization – was wildly successful in the existing wireless and mobile space. Venture Fest was not integral to their success.

Programming 273

Programming Technical Review Incubator Intellectual Property 273

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 23, 2018

Startups often have a hard time finding their footing in the global marketplace. With so many established brands and enterprises all around us, covering a vast network of niche industries, how can a small startup compete? Benefits startups have against industry giants. Ways for Startups to Compete. Less Bureaucracy.

Technical Review 124

Technical Review Agile Startup Software Review 124

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 30, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, September 30, 2008 What does a startup CTO actually do? But I dont think most startups really have a need for someone to do that on a full time basis. If youre trying to design an architecture to maximize agility, how can that work if some people are working in TDD and others not?

CTO 168

CTO Fractional CTO CTO Hire Technical Review 168

Steve Blank

MARCH 31, 2014

Just look at the disruptive challenges that businesses face today– globalization, China as a manufacturer, China as a consumer, the Internet, and a steady stream of new startups. Perhaps that’s because where established companies might see risks or threats, startups see opportunity. Innovation.

Private Equity 330

Private Equity Metrics China Intellectual Property 330

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

. — Unremarked and unheralded, the balance of power between startup CEOs and their investors has radically changed: IPOs/M&A without a profit (or at times revenue) have become the norm. The startup process has become demystified – information is everywhere. Not every startup ended up this way. Board Control.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Unfortunately in early stage startups the drive for financing hijacks the corporate DNA and becomes the raison d’etre of the company. Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. The goal of their startup in this stage becomes “getting funded.”

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 270

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

Once upon a time every great organization was a scrappy startup willing to take risks – new ideas, new methods, new customers, targets, and mission. They’ll use government regulation and lawsuits to keep out new entrants with more innovative business models. Companies Run on Process. Process Versus Product.

Government 322

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 322

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 27, 2019

Every new business dreams of growing from a startup to a global market leader in a few years, like Amazon.com, but that goal is elusive. In my view, every startup in today’s world would do well to adopt a management system with the same key objectives: Start with a customer-obsessed business model.

Global 308

Global Marketing Technical Review Algorithm 308

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2017

Guest Post by Misti Yang, Writer for Lean Startup Co. Editor’s Note: We wrapped up the 2017 Lean Startup Week in San Francisco just a few weeks ago, and we’re excited to share with you some of the best lessons learned in entrepreneurship and corporate innovation. Because these Lean Startup people, they do crazy stuff,” Alex joked. “So

Lean 245

Lean Startup CTO Hire Cofounder 245

Steve Blank

APRIL 21, 2011

The Stanford Lean LaunchPad class was an experiment with a new model of teaching startup entrepreneurship. All the teams were showing us what agile looked like, but this week several would remind us what focused and relentless really meant. Their week 6 business model now looked like this: .

Channel 234

Channel Artificial Inteligence San Francisco Business Model 234

SoCal CTO

MAY 4, 2010

Some great posts from April 2010 that talk to me in terms of being a CTO at a Startup. Ben Casnocha: The Blog , April 15, 2010 Everyone I spoke with loved the idea. Let me know.

CTO Hire 150

CTO Hire Vesting Venture Capital Startup 150

Steve Blank

MARCH 29, 2010

The key things I want students to take from the class are: Understand that a startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a profitable business model. Learn how to put together a business model , not a business plan. Class Logistics. Teaching Assistants. Guest Speakers.

Business Model 236

Business Model Silicon Valley California Engineer 236

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

Steve Blank

AUGUST 23, 2010

It reminded me of the differences in Customer Discovery between a scalable startup and a big company. The bad news is that the meetings become far more formal and more crowded, than one that a startup would have. Rather, it is a organization searching for a business model (inside a company that’s executing an existing one.)

Customer Development 239

Customer Development Developer Customer South America 239

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 22, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 22, 2008 The three drivers of growth for your business model. Master of 500 Hats: Startup Metrics for Pirates (SeedCamp 2008, London) This presentation should be required reading for anyone creating a startup with an online service component. Choose one. One last thought.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco CPA SEM CTO Hire 167

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

It’s time to update Build, Measure, Learn to what we now know is the best way to build Lean startups. Only after shipping and attempting to sell the product would a startup hear any substantive feedback from customers. Best practices in software development started to move to agile development in the early 2000’s.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

JULY 19, 2010

This is Part 2 of the series: 5 lessons from 150 startup pitches.??? What if someone copies your awesome business idea? No, wait, the real question is: What are you going to do when another smart, scrappy startup copies it, and gets $10m in funding, and is thrice featured on TechCrunch? The Dream Team.

Software Review 325

Software Review Technical Review Development Team Review Bolivia 325

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

Posted on June 11, 2009 by steveblank When my students ask me about whether they should be a founder or cofounder of a startup I ask them to take a walk around the block and ask themselves: Are you comfortable with: Chaos – startups are disorganized Uncertainty – startups never go per plan Are you: Resilient – at times you will fail – badly.

Cofounder 230

Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 230

Steve Blank

JANUARY 4, 2011

I did a keynote on innovation hubs at the newly created DoFuture program , spoke at Santiago’s Startup Weekend on Customer and Agile Development, and at a Conference in Patagonia supported by the Ministry of Economy’s Innovation Division. Chile has decided that it wants to be an innovation hub in South America.

Silicon Valley 335

Silicon Valley Chile South America Venture Capital 335

ReadWriteStart

MARCH 8, 2021

Every startup entrepreneur wants to see their company grow. But none of that can happen if you have an impediment to growth – an invisible (or perhaps visible) force keeping your startup from creating the momentum it needs to keep growing. . What is this business’s course of growth? Adaptability/Agility .

Startup 127

Startup Retention Acquisition Agile 127

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2015

But for startups with limited resources and experience, I always recommend a soft launch or toe-in-the-water approach in a local market -- and scale up later. In fact, for startups, it usually makes sense to announce your solution on social media and blogs even before you have built the first one. Maximum agility for required pivots.

Hockey Stick 120

Hockey Stick Startup Stealth Agile 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2023

Choose a business model that will win in the market. You need a business model that provides a good return for you and your team, long-term growth, value to your customer, and differentiates you from competitors. Many startups I know fail by simply giving up too soon.

Technical Review 201

Technical Review Government Agile Differentiation 201

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

Pete Newell and I were working with a company that was getting its butt kicked from near-peer competitors as well as from a wave of well-funded insurgent startups. One of the quickest ways to sort innovation ideas is to use the McKinsey Three Horizons Model. Most have concluded that “business as usual” can’t go on.

Incubator 319

Incubator Curation Engineer Government 319

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 8, 2021

After launching a new startup, you’ll be interested in growing the business as quickly as possible, thus generating more revenue, securing more stability, and improving your reputation as well. What Makes Employees Productive in a New Startup? So what is it that makes employees productive in a new startup? Uncertainty.

Employee 127

Employee Product Startup Software Review 127