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Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Product Development – Getting Funded as The Goal In a traditional product development model, entrepreneurs come up with an idea or concept, write a business plan and try to get funding to bring that idea to fruition.
In the next few posts that follow, I’ll describe more specifically how this model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. —– Part 2 of the CustomerDevelopment Manifesto to follow. When cash is tight, they go out of business – or they adopt a more efficient model.
I was in New York last week with my class at Columbia University and several events made me realize that the CustomerDevelopment model needs to better describe its fit with web-based businesses. And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?” It’s an impressive portfolio.
CustomerDevelopment is all about gathering a list of what features customers want by talking to them, surveying them, or running “focus groups.” Gathering feature requests from customers is not what marketing should be doing in a startup. And it’s certainly not CustomerDevelopment.
This post describes how following the traditional product development can lead to a “startup death spiral.&# In the next posts that follow, I’ll describe how this model’s failures led to the CustomerDevelopment Model – offering a new way to approach startup sales and marketing activities.
The relevant part starts about 4:30 into the video (wait for it to download.) luck… and as one of Steve Blank’s posts today mentioned, you can’t test hypotheses from within your building. luck… and as one of Steve Blank’s posts today mentioned, you can’t test hypotheses from within your building.
Berkeley Haas Business School was courageous enough to give me a forum teach the CustomerDevelopment Methodology. These were inspiring stories, but I realized that, no surprise, the popular press were writing books that had mass appeal. Where were the books explaining why were all these chip and computer companies started here?
For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of CustomerDevelopment , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. The CustomerDevelopment process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.
PS1- I run a small software startup in Brazil and just found out about CustomerDevelopment and your blog (I’ve been reading and listening to everything I can get my hands on online, like Venturehacks and Ries’ blog). PS2- Is there any way I can buy your book in PDF format? It is essential to attain this.
Filed under: CustomerDevelopment , Venture Capital | Tagged: Entrepreneurs « CustomerDevelopment Manifesto: Market Type (part 4) CustomerDevelopment Manifesto: The Path of Warriors and Winners (part 5) » 16 Responses Jon Ziskind , on September 14, 2009 at 9:19 am Said: Steve – Great post and really great advice.
CustomerDevelopment ) to help you quickly recognize and reverse any incorrect decisions. CustomerDevelopment) to help you quickly recognize and reverse any incorrect decisions.&# My advice was to start a policy of making reversible decisions before anyone left his office or before a meeting ended.
CustomerDevelopment We were starting Epiphany, my last company. I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. But one thing just occurred to me, it has been 5 years since you last wrote your book.
Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) CustomerDevelopment (98) CustomerDevelopment Manifesto (..)
The presentation didn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or CustomerDevelopment. Reply Dan Hodgins , on November 13, 2009 at 1:12 am Said: Hi Steve, Just listened to your “Retooling Early Stage Development&# for about the 10th time tonight as I was cleaning my room. Your results may vary.
I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. Their leadership has shown incredible foresight in engineering an amazing economic engine and formidable military. They are the signs of a leadership frightened not by external enemies but by their own people.
However, you will be dealing with almost daily change, (new customer feedback/insights from a CustomerDevelopment process and technical roadblocks ,) as the company searches for a repeatable and scalable business model. » Dig for Leadership - Stories that try to make the world a better place. , carry on reading.
Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) CustomerDevelopment (98) CustomerDevelopment Manifesto (..)
Filed under: CustomerDevelopment , Family/Career , Technology | Tagged: Steve Blank , Entrepreneurs , Tips for Startups « Am I a Founder? I have been swinging for the fences for several years as a young entrepreneur at the executive leadership level for several start-ups and most recently starting my own.
his next article on SuperMac, “Building the Killer Team – Mission, Intent, and Values&# , Steve further pounds the table on some principles of leadership that I think are [.] I feel that I’ve derived as much value from this post as I would from reading 2 or 3 lengthy books on the topic. Order Here. Now In Print!
I found the tradeoffs associated with improving both the customer experience and employee experience detailed well in a new book, “ The Experience Mindset ,” by Tiffani Bova. Flexible – listen to allow flex hours and customization. More and more business leaders, including Richard Branson, use this style to great advantage.
CustomerDevelopment There was nothing wrong about Rocket Science having a vision radically different than the conventional wisdom. CustomerDevelopment says having a vision, faith and a set of hypotheses are a normal part of the startup experience. The mistake isn’t having a vision and taking risks.
New strategic direction in companies with loyal customers have different consequences then when you had no customers Acquiring new customers are a lot more expensive that converting existing ones. I wonder if the greater challenge for many CEOs is recognizing that customers need to be fired at all.
No internet, no blogs, no books on startups, no entrepreneurship departments in universities, etc. CustomerDevelopment/Lean Startups In hindsight startups and the venture capital community left out the most important first step any startup ought to be doing – hypothesis testing in front of customers- from day one.
TLDR: Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits , authors of The Entrepreneur's Guide to CustomerDevelopment are back with a new book called The Lean Entrepreneur. It took the idea of CustomerDevelopment and made it accessible to a whole new audience. Illustrations by FAKEGRIMLOCK. You can pre-order it starting today.
Filed under: CustomerDevelopment , ESL , Technology | Tagged: Steve Blank , Entrepreneurs , ESL « Convergent Technologies: War Story 1 – Selling with Sports Scores A Wilderness of Mirrors » 17 Responses Michael F. No internet, no blogs, no books [.] Thanks Steve, Great insight. Great read.
Lessons Learned No one will tell you to work fewer hours You need to be responsible for your own health and happiness Burnout sneaks up on you Burnout is self-induced. You created it and own it.
The answer depends on your answer to two questions: which step in the CustomerDevelopment process are you on? CustomerDevelopment and Selling Strategy If you’ve just started your company you are in customer discovery. Hiring a VP of Sales in customer discovery typically sets a startup back.
Filed under: CustomerDevelopment , Marketing , SuperMac , Technology | Tagged: Steve Blank , SuperMac « Love/Hate Business Plan Competitions Gravity Will be Turned Off » 17 Responses EricS , on May 11, 2009 at 11:05 am Said: I loved my Spigot. It was fun watching it happen.
Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) CustomerDevelopment (98) CustomerDevelopment Manifesto (..)
Yet when I talked to my venture capital friends, they said, “Well, that’s just how startups work. We’ve managed startups like this forever; there is no other way to manage them.”
Filed under: CustomerDevelopment , Family/Career , Technology | Tagged: Steve Blank , Entrepreneurs , Startups , Early Stage Startup , Tips for Startups « The Curse of a New Building Going to Trade Shows Like it Matters – Part 1 » 33 Responses William , on May 18, 2009 at 5:44 am Said: Heh.
So no post today on entrepreneurship, Secret History of Silicon Valley, CustomerDevelopment, Lean Startups, etc. Our friends who run the state park surrounding our ranch will join all of us for Thanksgiving dinner. Just a reflection on my family and hopes for our children.
I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. Their leadership has shown incredible foresight in engineering an amazing economic engine and formidable military. They are the signs of a leadership frightened not by external enemies but by their own people.
If you are a practitioner of CustomerDevelopment, ESL was doing it before most us were born. Two years out of the Air Force, serendipity (which would be my lifelong form of career planning) found me in Silicon Valley working for my first company: ESL. If you’re an entrepreneur, ESL is the most important company you’ve never heard of.
It was always a welcome change of pace to leave the brown of the unchanging desert and travel into town and have dinner with them and have a non-technical conversation about books, theater, politics, travel, etc. But it was a bit incongruous to hear her get wound up and rail against our government and the very people we were all working for.
The Times Square Strategy discussion I had with Eric Ries , was still top of mind, so instead of my standard CustomerDevelopment lecture , I offered my thoughts on: the origin of CustomerDevelopment, where we are today, and where does CustomerDevelopment go, and how you can help get it there.
This post describes a solution – the CustomerDevelopment 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.
Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) CustomerDevelopment (98) CustomerDevelopment Manifesto (..)
But then, because there might be entrenched competitors and your concept is radically new, you still need to invest in the customerdevelopment process to learn how to get design wins from companies who may be happy with their existing vendors. For example, complex new semiconductor architectures, (i.e.
thanks Reply Denis , on March 27, 2009 at 7:05 pm Said: Steve, is this blog in addition to the book or instead of it? What part of this blog should I read if I am also reading the book? mahmoud , on March 28, 2009 at 1:53 am Said: Steve, I want to buy your book but its not available on amazon.ca
It is pity that I can’t get hold of your book because it’s not available in a local bookstore (in the Philippines). Reply steveblank , on March 23, 2009 at 12:11 am Said: Alvin, you can buy the book online at [link] They ship to the Philippines. i have your book, but stopped at the 4th chapter.
We four instructors would grumble and complain to one another about our lack of leadership. I’ve built my company using the CustomerDevelopment Model from Day One. I recently completed the Validation step (less the industry analyst presentations) and am ready to move on to Customer Creation.
This lack of information meant that every World War II movie or book that had airplanes on bombing missions in it was wrong. I just put Guerlac’s and Eckert/Schubert’s books in my “to read&# pile. Every one of them. (To To someone who had grown up with reruns of WWII war movies on TV, this was a shock.)
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