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. Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Angel Investor 359

Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator Business Model 359

Up and Running

MAY 1, 2014

You’ve reviewed what a business plan is , and why you need one to start and grow your business. It’s time to dig into the process of actually writing a business plan. In this step-by-step guide, I’ll take you through every stage of writing a business plan that will actually help you achieve your goals.

Business Plan 163

Business Plan Forecast Balance Sheet Distribution 163

Steve Blank

AUGUST 29, 2011

93% of startups that scale prematurely never break the $100k revenue per month threshold. Filed under: Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan , Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Market Types. Turns out his birthday is in a week, September 7th. Happy birthday Max.

Software Review 300

Software Review Early Stage Technical Review Startup 300

Up and Running

OCTOBER 11, 2017

Airbnb is a well-known example of the marketplace business model. Understanding the problem you are solving for your customers is undoubtedly the biggest challenge you’ll face when you’re starting a business. But, ensuring that your product fits the needs of the market is only one part of starting a successful business.

Business Model 137

Business Model Disintermediation Affiliate Advertising 137

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. This post is part one.

Lean 307

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 307

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. Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Startup 296

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 296

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 19, 2011

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. Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Startup 286

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 286

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. Nail the business model. Leverage your customer conversations to predict and validate your business model.

Entrepreneur 283

Entrepreneur Startup Angel Investor Technical Review 283

Growthink Blog

DECEMBER 27, 2017

You need a good idea – and an excellent business plan. Business planning and raising venture capital go hand-in-hand. A business plan is required for attracting venture capital. But how exactly will your business plan persuade investors to sign a check? Hook them on the first page.

Venture Capital 129

Venture Capital Business Plan Technical Review Private Placement 129

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2013

First, he says, the focus of an established firm is to execute an existing business model — to make sure it operates efficiently and satisfies customers. In contrast, the main job of a start-up is to search for a workable business model, to find the right match between customer needs and what the company can profitably offer.

Business Model 226

Business Model Business Plan Technical Review Search 226

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

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. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there.

Intellectual Property 281

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Sweat Equity CTO Hire 281

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Tech IPO prices exploded and subsequent trading prices rose to dizzying heights as the stock prices became disconnected from the traditional metrics of revenue and profits. Startups wrote business plans, generated expansive 5-year forecasts and executed (hired, spent and built) to the plan.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

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

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. Nail the business model. These areas include market, process, and team transitions.

Startup 245

Startup Angel Investor Technical Review Incubator 245

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 7, 2013

The market and venture capitalists are looking for business, but with a continuing focus on proven business models. Your friends and family are really the only answer until you have a significant revenue stream. Follow with a killer executive summary, investor presentation, and financial model.

Venture Capital 252

Venture Capital IPO Elevator Pitch Initial Public Offering 252

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. Typically, this caliber of bankers wouldn’t talk to you unless your company had five profitable quarters of increasing revenue. Board Control.

Founder 281

Founder Technical Review CTO Hire IPO 281

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 31, 2012

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. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there.

Intellectual Property 260

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 17, 2011

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. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there.

Intellectual Property 253

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 253

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 8, 2016

Serious investors, on the other hand, look for a professional business plan or summary first, and hardly ever look at the product plan. Just for clarification, I characterize a product plan as a formal description of your product or service, with a quick business description at the end for effect.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Product Architecture Startup 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MARCH 21, 2017

Revenue multiples, profit multiples, premium over the previous financing — these are metrics used by sellers to help determine a minimum acceptable price. Even for startups, it takes years for a new product to become good enough to demand many millions of dollars in revenue.). Yet mobile advertising revenues were paltry.

Balance Sheet 242

Balance Sheet Vertical Acquisition Revenue 242

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2012

In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable. The holy grail is break-even, when revenues first catch up with the outflow. For even more value, you should develop a financial model.

Forecast 238

Forecast Burn Rate .Net Business Model 238

Steve Blank

APRIL 4, 2011

This week they were testing who the customer, user, payer for the product will be (and discovering if they have a multi-sided business model , one with both buyers and sellers.) The Business Model Canvas is a great way to diagram it out. as well as channel partners and cloud industry technology consultants.

Customer 241

Customer Business Model Nebraska Cloud 241

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Chasing funding versus chasing customers and a repeatable and scalable business model, is one reason startups fail. Entrepreneurs put together their funding presentation by extracting the key ideas from their business plan, putting them on PowerPoint/Keynote and pitching the company – until they get funded or exhausted.

Customer Development 270

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 270

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2011

They must amplify your “elevator pitch” to investors, as well as key points from the business plan and the financial model. Prepare an investment-grade business plan. Every entrepreneur needs a professional business plan for their own use, whether they intend to seek investor funding or not.

Intellectual Property 249

Intellectual Property Angel Investor Technical Review Elevator Pitch 249

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 22, 2010

Here are some tips which will signal traction to investors, as well as 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. A great business often starts with one person, but it doesn’t end there. Only real results count.

Intellectual Property 222

Intellectual Property Sweat Equity CTO Hire Fractional CTO 222

Steve Blank

APRIL 8, 2010

He said, “After we graduated we took our great idea, holed up in my apartment and spent months researching and writing a business plan. We even entered it in the business plan competition. It was an exquisitely crafted plan. Why a business plan is different than a business model.

Business Model 332

Business Model Business Plan Customer Cap Table 332

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 24, 2017

Subscription business models have been around for a pretty long time, but thanks to modern technology, this model has evolved from milk or newspapers delivery to a versatile eCommerce experience. As a starting entrepreneur, you might wonder: why on earth would I want to start a subscription (box) business? Conclusion.

Churn Rate 149

Churn Rate eCommerce Business Model Bootstrapping 149

Up and Running

OCTOBER 16, 2019

Do you really need a business plan? Can’t you just wing it and skip the whole planning process? If you’re asking a bank, angel investor, or venture capitalist for funding, they’re going to want to know that you have a good handle on your small business’s trajectory. . The process of writing your plan is what’s important.

Business Plan 108

Business Plan Small Business Forecast Balance Sheet 108

Up and Running

OCTOBER 16, 2019

Do you really need a business plan? Can’t you just wing it and skip the whole planning process? If you’re asking a bank, angel investor, or venture capitalist for funding, they’re going to want to know that you have a good handle on your small business’s trajectory. . The process of writing your plan is what’s important.

Business Plan 108

Business Plan Small Business Forecast Balance Sheet 108

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 19, 2018

Write your business plan and develop your business model with this in mind so you can avoid these issues. . You can choose from a few different types of business plans depending on your needs. If you’re seeking investment, you need a traditional business plan. Executive summary. Be specific.

Business Plan 154

Business Plan Technical Review Forecast Software Review 154

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Use a simple accounting tool like QuickBooks, get away from co-mingled funds, and you have the first business process you need. Develop your business plan. Write down the key elements of your business plan very early, and keep it current as things evolve. Billing and revenue collection.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 22, 2011

In reality, you need to set these projections as goals for your own use, to convince employees as well as investors that you have a business which is challenging, but achievable. The holy grail is break-even, when revenues first catch up with the outflow. For even more value, you should develop a financial model.

Forecast 230

Forecast Burn Rate Startup .Net 230

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2017

Working out a business plan for your daycare center can be a challenge. As someone who owns eight successful daycares in the Chicago area, I know the strategies and approaches that work when it comes to developing a sound business plan for a daycare center. What is your business model? How will you grow?

Business Plan 93

Business Plan SBA Software Review Advisory Board 93

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

Today, I want to introduce you to a new concept for starting and growing successful companies: Lean Planning™. It starts with “Plan-As-You-Go” instead of detailed, formal business plans. Build an action plan: How are you going to validate your assumptions and measure progress? Do startups have a manual?

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Up and Running

JULY 22, 2014

Financial experts will have different opinions about what should be included in a financial plan, depending on the type of business you have and what you’re trying to accomplish with your business plan. A typical profit and loss statement should include: your revenue (also called sales), followed by.

Balance Sheet 148

Balance Sheet Forecast Equity .Net 148

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. Elements of the business model canvas and/or discovery-based interviews of stakeholders have already been incorporated into 44 other classes at UMD.

Maryland 280

Maryland Lean DC Virginia 280