Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

Unlike small business entrepreneurs, their interest is not in earning a living but rather in creating equity in a company that eventually will become publicly traded or acquired, generating a multi-million-dollar payoff. Their job is to search for a repeatable and scalable business model. They hire the best and the brightest.

Government 335

Government Silicon Valley Startup Venture Capital 335

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2014

Most large companies manage three types of innovation: process innovation (making existing products incrementally better), continuous innovation (building on the strength of the company’s current business model but creating new elements) and disruptive innovation (creating products or services that did not exist before.).

Acquisition 334

Acquisition Intellectual Property Silicon Valley Startup 334

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

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 14, 2022

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the business model.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 7, 2015

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Business Model 120

Business Model Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review 120

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 17, 2020

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Assume passion level defines business opportunity.

Intellectual Property 436

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Viral Distribution 436

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 25, 2021

In fact, I often have to tell aspiring entrepreneurs that their inventions have zero value, at least not until they are put in the context of a business plan, with qualified people committed to executing the plan. Of course it helps to have innovative technologies before you start building a business. Don’t get me wrong.

Technical Review 391

Technical Review Intellectual Property Early Stage Global 391

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 7, 2011

It’s hard enough to pick which existing companies with known business models to aid. Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Teaching , Technology , Venture Capital. Yet Tekes does that and is trying to act like a government-run Venture Capital firm.

Finland 329

Finland Venture Capital Government Russia 329

Steve Blank

JANUARY 30, 2013

With hindsight we should have had “proof of concepts” tested in a corporate center (think ‘pop-up incubator’) where they would do extensive Customer Discovery. We should had done this before assigning the teams to a particular business unit (or had the ability to create a new business unit, or spin the team out of the company).

Programming 273

Programming Technical Review Incubator Intellectual Property 273

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 20, 2012

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the business model.

Startup 296

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 296

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 10, 2011

Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Teaching , Venture Capital. The country needs to figure out a long term privatization strategy for Venture investing. Finnish culture makes risk-taking and sharing hard.

Finland 332

Finland Naming Russia Government 332

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 18, 2014

I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point. Nail the business model.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor Technical Review 283

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 9, 2023

Most technical entrepreneurs focus hard on building an innovative product, but forget that an elegant solution doesn’t automatically translate into a successful business. Businesses require an equally elegant business model, with the right price, messaging and delivery channel to the right target customers to keep the dream alive and growing.

Technical Review 220

Technical Review Advisory Board Software Review Business Model 220

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet. Attached is a copy of my full business plan for your review.” I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.”

Entrepreneur 299

Entrepreneur Technical Review Business Plan Angel Investor 299

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

Berkeley Haas Business School is a leader in entrepreneurship education. It has replaced how to write a business plan with hands-on Lean Startup methods. The final deliverable for that class was a 30-page business plan. We had multiple business plan competitions. Today the U.C. And there it was.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

A version of this article first appeared in the Harvard Business Review. Given the stock market was buying “the story and vision” of anything internet, inflated expectations were more important than traditional metrics like customers, growth, revenue, or heaven forbid, profits. ” Fire, Ready, Aim.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Some really great stuff in 2010 that aims to help startups around product, technology, business models, etc.

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

Steve Blank

JANUARY 28, 2013

In hindsight we were having our employees get out of the building to talk to customers, build prototypes and generate partner interest – essentially doing Customer Discovery years before Steve Blank taught his Lean LaunchPad class at Stanford and the National Science Foundation!).

Programming 301

Programming Design Lean Seed Money 301

Hearpreneur

OCTOBER 10, 2023

In the realm of great business ideas, a well-crafted business plan takes center stage. Beyond that, it acts as your business's guiding roadmap, ensuring you stay aligned with your goals as your operations adapt to evolving circumstances. Thanks to Evan Tunis, Florida Healthcare Insurance ! #2-

Business Plan 143

Business Plan Jordan Entrepreneur Florida 143

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 21, 2020

Others will work hard on a business plan, and then mail it indiscriminately to every potential investor they can find on the Internet. Attached is a copy of my full business plan for your review.” I don’t have a business plan, but the technology is disruptive.”

Technical Review 310

Technical Review Angel Investor Business Plan Social Media 310

Steve Blank

JANUARY 28, 2013

In hindsight we were having our employees get out of the building to talk to customers, build prototypes and generate partner interest – essentially doing Customer Discovery years before Steve Blank taught his Lean LaunchPad class at Stanford and the National Science Foundation!).

Programming 293

Programming Design Lean Seed Money 293

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 15, 2019

Steve Blank via Flickr by jdlasica I see more and more entrepreneurs who seem to have everything going for them – vision, motivation, passion, even a good business plan, product, and money, and yet they can’t close customers. Great businesses begin with a customer problem that has a big and monetizable pain point.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 13, 2020

Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Intellectual Property 316

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 316

Steve Blank

JUNE 19, 2014

110 researchers and clinicians, and Principal Investigators got out of the lab and hospital, and talked to 2,355 customers, tested 947 hypotheses and invalidated 423 of them. clinical utility, customer, quality of data, reimbursement, what parts of the product are valuable, roles of CRO’s , and partners, etc.,)

Lean 277

Lean SBIR Intellectual Property Customer Development 277

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 12, 2023

In that spirit, I offer my perspective on ten common startup failure sources that rarely get admitted by entrepreneurs: Choose to skip the written business plan. A business plan is for you first, not investors. Offer free solutions to bring in more customers. Assume passion level defines business opportunity.

Intellectual Property 312

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Investor Viral 312

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 6, 2014

Our Lean LaunchPad class requires student teams to get out of the building and talk to 10-15 customers a week while they’re building the product. The class is designed for students who said they want a hands-on experience in what it takes to build a startup – not just writing a business plan or listening to lectures.

Lean 286

Lean Customer Development Business Model Email 286

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2019

You find that you need to be near major customers, or employee transportation hubs, where rents are higher than you ever anticipated. These days, computer hardware also extends to smartphone subscriptions, iPads, and laptops as your employees and customers expect mobile operation. Ramp-up facilities and utilities required.

Cost 264

Cost Founder Software Review Startup 264

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 1, 2013

Product development is stuck at that 90% mark, a key person leaves, and customers are talking but not buying. The team buys its own propaganda, and fully expects customers to be leaping tall buildings to get to your product. But all too soon, reality sets in. In his book Reality Check , Guy Kawasaki summarizes some of the key issues.

Founder 250

Founder Startup Software Development Software Developers 250

Up and Running

NOVEMBER 17, 2020

Today, the virtual business model has a radically new relationship with employees. As such, it’s key that your remote team and working environment are now included as part of your business plan. First, do you need a business plan? No business plan = no outside investment.

Business Plan 138

Business Plan Startup Cloud Framework 138

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 30, 2013

Here are some tips which will signal traction and fundability to investors, as well as to your team: Document your business plan. It’s hard to build a business without a plan, just like it’s hard to build a house without a blueprint. Get a real customer and real revenue. Letters of intent or endorsement.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 10, 2014

Over 44 classes have embedded the business model canvas and/or Customer Discovery including a year-long course taken by every single one of its bioengineering majors. We didn’t know it at the time, but with that investment we had paid for front-row VIP seats to witness the origins of Customer Development and the Lean Startup.

Maryland 280

Maryland Lean DC Virginia 280

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 15, 2022

Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Intellectual Property 278

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Early Stage Venture Capital 278

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 4, 2023

This will allow you to identify opportunities, challenges, customer preferences, and emerging trends. Market research involves gathering information about potential customers in your target area, competitor strategies, pricing scales, and demand patterns amongst other things.

Balance Sheet 145

Balance Sheet Technical Review Business Model Business Plan 145

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 6, 2014

Others send investors email and business plans in all uppercase or no punctuation. Message delivery must be customized for each investor. It takes more than one person to build a business, so the lone entrepreneur, without support from any visible team, advisors, partners, or potential customers, will not attract investors.

Angel Investor 268

Angel Investor Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Early Stage 268

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 24, 2017

None of this was law, and nothing in writing required this; this was just how these firms did business to protect their large institutional customers who would buy the stock. This required a repeatable and scalable sales process, which required a professional sales staff and a product stable enough that customers wouldn’t return it.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 14, 2014

If you can’t see the video click here Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development. Business Model versus Business Plan Customer Development'

Business Plan 324

Business Plan Customer Business Model Customer Development 324

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 18, 2014

In fact, I often have to tell aspiring entrepreneurs that their inventions have zero value, at least not until they are put in the context of a business plan, with qualified people committed to executing the plan. Of course, it helps to have innovative technologies before you start building a business.

Technical Review 266

Technical Review Intellectual Property Early Stage Global 266