YoungUpstarts

OCTOBER 19, 2017

The lean start-up movement has been based on a single insight – which the purpose of a start-up is to discover a business model that works. The objective of a start-up is to discover a business model that works. This process continues until a viable product (and business model) can be discovered.

Product Development 153

Product Development Lean Developer Product 153

The Next Web

SEPTEMBER 22, 2013

But have you ever had the opportunity to pick the brains of founders who created amazingly successful startups and companies like Envato , Backblaze , Simple , or Treehouse ? If you pick one vertical and do it well, other folks will find you. Find your niche. Don’t try to be everything to everyone right away. Nothing is impossible.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Founder Startup Bootstrapping 164

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

ReadWriteStart

JUNE 19, 2021

Also, it can open up numerous business models and revenue channels that were earlier inaccessible for want of a suitable hardware and software solution. IoT will also enable businesses to get a fresh pair of eyes to look into data to derive insightful business insights. . Source: Mckinsey. IoT’s impact on healthcare.

Technical Review 215

Technical Review Software Review Cloud Vertical 215

VC Cafe

JUNE 26, 2023

Watch this short clip (mixed with the normal banter between the hosts): The Race to Intimacy (credit: All In podcast) The new gen AI search companies A number of new startups are trying jump on the generative AI search wagon. We’re moving away from the 10 blue links (and sometimes 10 blue ads) and moving into something different.

Generative AI 174

Generative AI Search ChatGPT Technical Review 174

Steve Blank

APRIL 23, 2018

A version of this article appeared in the Harvard Business Review. The entrepreneur who founded and grew the largest startup in the world to $10 billion in revenue and got fired is someone you have probably never heard of. Durant took his money from his carriage company and bought a struggling automobile startup called Buick.

Michigan 301

Michigan Cofounder Stock Forecast 301

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Five Quarters of Profitability During the 1980’s and through the mid 1990’s startups going public had to do something that most companies today never heard of – they had to show a track record of increasing revenue and consistent profitability. They taught you about customers, markets and profits.

Silicon Valley 237

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 237

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

The Founder’s New Insight Smart founders are never satisfied with simply executing their current business model, they are constantly observing, orienting and deciding whether their current business model can be made better.

Customer 218

Customer Silicon Valley RSS California 218

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? When things go wrong, try to make up for them.

Startup 127

Startup Retention Acquisition Agile 127

VC Cafe

JANUARY 27, 2021

–JJ Oslund, The Startup. Bizzabo is on fire these days, though it could have been easy to predict a downfall for the events-tech startup when the coronavirus froze an industry worth 500 billion dollars. Next47 and American Insight Partners VC, demonstrates growing trust in its current and future business model.

Vertical 148

Vertical Video Technical Review Europe 148

David Cohen

AUGUST 22, 2012

As an example, one of the areas that I like to invest in is vertical search. With vertical search, it’s all about the crack. Vertical search is one of those areas where I think freemium can still make a ton of sense. I had a meeting today with the vertical search company that I recently funded.

Vertical 110

Vertical Search Business Model Software Development 110

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 31, 2023

At the time Melania was in discussions with Ethena about joining the startup as VP People, happily employed at a larger company but knowing she wanted new challenges. Hunter Walk: One of my favorite things to do for founders is speaking with people who are considering joining their startup. In my opinion, this is a hugely risky move.

Employee 119

Employee Startup Vertical Leadership 119

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

Gathering feature requests from customers is not what marketing should be doing in a startup. In a startup the role of Customer Development is to: test the founders hypothesis about the customer problem test if the product concept and minimum feature set solve that problem This is a big idea and worth repeating.

Customer Development 287

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 287

Hunter Walker

DECEMBER 24, 2016

When we started Homebrew in 2013 our industry was, in retrospect, probably midway through a cycle where innovations were in business model rather than underlying technology. Observing a handful of companies, such as Uber, Airbnb, Warby Parker, founders were taking those models and trying to apply them to other verticals.

Technical Review 48

Technical Review Business Model Technology Software Review 48

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

It’s why all of you operated so well in the unpredictable environment that all startups face.” What makes an individual a great startup founder (versus an employee) has been something I had been thinking about since I retired. I couldn’t figure out if I was more perturbed about how casual the comment was or how insightful it was.

Founder 312

Founder Silicon Valley RSS China 312

Hunter Walker

JUNE 6, 2014

Giving creative tools to people; creating products and services within communities that serve as both consumers and collaborators; and providing a business model so the creators can realize economic value. Don’t start a tech company just because you “want to do a startup.” Startups are hard! You have to be mission-driven.

Technology 93

Technology Vertical Software Development Software Developers 93

View from Seed

JUNE 23, 2022

Long-term: Influencers across the world with 10K+ followers and across all major verticals (e.g. legal, bank accounts, government filings, etc) behind setting up a startup. Great documentary with so many parallels to high-growth startups and founders. RH: Close your eyes and imagine where your business will be in five years.

DC 156

DC Cambodia eCommerce Social Media 156

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Startups and Sales If you read this post you can come away with the impression that every startup with a direct salesforce needs a consultative sales team. what Market Type is your startup? Hiring a VP of Sales in customer discovery typically sets a startup back.

Technology 145

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 145

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 31, 2014

Scalable startups are on a trajectory for a billion dollar market cap. Not all start ups want to go in that direction – some will opt instead to become a small business. There’s nothing wrong with a business that supports you and perhaps an extended family. What’s the playbook for your region or country to make it so?

Global 335

Global Australia Silicon Valley China 335

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2015

I first met Evangelos Simoudis when he ran IBM’s Business Intelligence Solutions Division and then as CEO of his first startup Customer Analytics. For example, US Steel had integrated vertically and was involved in the mining of the iron ore all the way to the production of various steel products, e.g., nails.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Venture Capital United States Technical Review 120

Steve Blank

JULY 2, 2009

Reply Mark Essel , on July 2, 2009 at 9:14 am Said: Reality distortion field isn’t the basic technique covered in startups 101? Reply Wyatt ODay , on July 2, 2009 at 8:18 am Said: Great post, Steve. I love all these war stories. If entrepreneurs can’t imagine and convince us that we can achieve the impossible, who will?

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 120

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

Almost every university, region and car wash now has a business plan competition; the rules, who can participate, how large the prizes and who are the judges vary by school. Over scrambled eggs and diet coke, I listened to this seasoned startup veteran describe the excitement of his students who came to the U.S. to compete.

Business Plan 160

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 160

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 30, 2013

While these may be necessary for funding, they may not be sufficient to make your startup the great success embodied in your vision. In the last couple of years, perhaps in reaction to some business atrocities leading to the recent Recession, I am seeing a renewed focus on other less tangible attributes which can set your startup apart.

Startup 293

Startup Early Stage Vertical Sales 293

VC Cafe

FEBRUARY 7, 2011

Today, eCommerce companies can scale up faster than almost any other consumer business model. This is due in part to the relatively simple and immediate validation of business models that are not fully dependent on advertising. Practically impossible for a startup. It would be competing against Coca Cola and Pepsi.

eCommerce 94

eCommerce Open Source SEM Technical Review 94

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Hype before shipping any product is an obvious flaw, but what about hyping products that have shipped but have zero business model? era&# , but really interested in your take on these “free&# models through the prism of Customer Development. Rocket Science seems to be a bit of an extreme case though.

Silicon Valley 122

Silicon Valley Product RSS California 122

Hunter Walker

OCTOBER 31, 2020

So I’ve found that when you’re not already ‘in the door’ at a firm (ie went to school with the senior GP’s kids, worked at a startup they backed) that there are four different types of “qualifications” they are seeking. Instead I’ve written some stuff down — take a look and if you have any follow-up maybe we can handle over email. Blockchain.

North Carolina 93

North Carolina Hiring Angel Investor Technical Review 93

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 23, 2021

While these may be necessary for funding, they may not be sufficient to make your startup the great success embodied in your vision. It also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy, by Mark Zawacki: A startup needs to be relevant and stay relevant.

Early Stage 379

Early Stage Vertical Sales Global 379

Hearpreneur

FEBRUARY 19, 2023

We will see startups from less-developed countries being given a chance to be more competitive and claim their spot on the international business map. Some areas that are likely to see significant growth in the coming years include e-commerce, digital technologies, and sustainable business practices.

Artificial Inteligence 113

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Entrepreneur Global 113

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 4, 2021

Modern entrepreneurship began at the turn of the 21 st century with the observation that startups aren’t smaller versions of large companies – large companies at their core execute known business models, while startups search for scalable business models. Here’s their description of why and how.

Customer 427

Customer Marketing Lean Vertical 427

Hearpreneur

AUGUST 10, 2022

JetBlue has had to recreate established models and vertically integrate where the adjacent experiences for the customer and courageous brand to reinvent an entire ecosystem in this way. They have a really cool business model where they summarize non-fiction books into 15-minute read or listen. 11- Blinkist. 18- Twelve.

Entrepreneur 126

Entrepreneur Technical Review Non-Compete Software Review 126

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 28, 2012

While these may be necessary for funding, they may not be sufficient to make your startup the great success embodied in your vision. A startup needs to find a voice relevant to its ecosystem. These days, you have to foster a community of support for your business. A startup must gain traction.

Startup 247

Startup Early Stage Vertical Sales 247

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 1, 2020

Sapient’s Sam Parks and Martin Koch have developed a smart outlet system for commercial deployment The Forrest Four-Cast: January 28, 2020 If Sam Parks , CEO and co-founder of Sapient Industries , weren’t working for his startup, he’d be working as a scientist, using his background in nanotechnology as an applied physicist. Who does it serve?

Philadelphia 62

Philadelphia Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Pennsylvania 62

Seeing Both Sides

AUGUST 16, 2012

TripAdvisor may be one of the most fascinating companies I know and so I was excited to dig into their business model as part of my series on scaling. TripAdvisor is more of a classic consumer Internet success story, but with even more powerful network effects and an amazing business model. Really hard. Magical, really.

Part-Time VPE 54

Part-Time VPE Software Review Costa Rica Technical Review 54

Austin Startup

FEBRUARY 15, 2020

If you are an entrepreneur, check out the SXSW 2020 Startups Track , which runs March 13–17. This track brings together founders and funders and showcases exciting new companies, products, services, and business models across different verticals and industries.

South Korea 89

South Korea Technical Review Open Source Vertical 89

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 6, 2019

While these may be necessary for funding, they may not be sufficient to make your startup the great success embodied in your vision. It also starts with a good summary of the intangibles, summarized as the five rules of relevancy, by Mark Zawacki: A startup needs to be relevant and stay relevant.

Startup 242

Startup Early Stage Vertical Sales 242

Hunter Walker

MAY 4, 2014

We think of Homebrew as our startup, just one which writes checks instead of code. Second, we did an investment where we actually decided to own more than 10% because of the nature of the business model. New VCs are vulnerable to fashionable verticals. The second counterbalance was our own partnership dynamics.

Software Review 103

Software Review Vertical Seed Stage Portfolio 103

David Teten

APRIL 1, 2021

This typically includes: Relationships with relevant service providers in your vertical, often with pre-negotiated discounts: coaches, lawyers, accountants, common software vendors, consultants. A well-organized library of best practices for founders in your vertical, which you can share as appropriate. AskAnything.VC

Private Equity 78

Private Equity Venture Capital Portfolio Equity 78