Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

I was having breakfast with Radhika, an ex-grad student of mine who wanted to share her Customer Discovery progress for her consumer hardware startup. She started by sketching her business model canvas on a napkin, but somehow the conversation quickly shifted to what was really on her mind. Filed under: Customer Development.

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 6, 2011

I’ve spoken to dozens of customers, I have a validated customer persona, built an MVP to test key behavioral hypotheses, and the data doesn’t back what you’re saying." " Today I had two conversations with early stage startups (see Free CTO Consulting ). Customer Validation 101. billion dollar mistake.

Customer 227

Customer Fractional CTO Viral Lean 227

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 2, 2009

For those of you who have been following the discussion, a Lean Startup is Eric Ries ’s description of the intersection of Customer Development , Agile Development and if available, open platforms and open source. The Customer Development process (and the Lean Startup) is one way to do that.

Lean 263

Lean Silicon Valley Startup RSS 263

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

No, the conversation was about to get more interesting. We taught them the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. This methodology forces rapid hypothesis testing and Customer Development by getting out of the building while building the product. billion U.S.

Incubator 310

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 310

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. The first class was an introduction to the concepts of business model design and customer development. The Adventure Begins.

Lean 307

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 307

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. How Microcopy Can Improve UX & Conversions.

Conversion 112

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Green 112

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

Grade A Entrepreneurs , September 5, 2010 Why Krispy Kreme failed in Australia - Start Up Blog , November 3, 2010 Mellow Johnny’s: Retail Stores as Community Hubs - IDDICTIVE.COM , July 14, 2010 Is crowdfunding an option for my business?

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. How Microcopy Can Improve UX & Conversions.

Conversion 105

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Green 105

Steve Blank

APRIL 19, 2010

One of the best ways to get a debate going into the entrepreneurial world is to throw the “Nature versus Nurture” hand-grenade into a conversation. The conversation then goes into making the case whether these can be taught or you’re born with them. Filed under: Customer Development , Venture Capital. Taking Sides.

Silicon Valley 235

Silicon Valley Venture Capital China New York 235

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action article, a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. Headlines – 20%. Copy – 8%.

Conversion 101

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Green 101

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 17, 2010

Of the 3,204,523 pub conversations where someone said "Have you heard him speak ?" Or do you think I'm wrong and it really is better to have $1/hour people protect you from those inane customers? Leave a comment and join the conversation. It's like Kermit the Frog got kicked in the balls. (Oh,

Technical Review 245

Technical Review Sales Turkey Software Review 245

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

He’ll talk about making a profit and making a difference in a conversation with New Media Ventures’ Christie George. Ben Horowitz ’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things is driving the conversation around startup management this year. For example: Mitch Kapor was a founder of Lotus. Todd Park convened the team that saved Obamacare.

Lean 165

Lean Fractional CTO Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE 165

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

Our goal is to find out whether customers are interested in your product by offering to give (or even sell) it to them, and then failing to deliver on that promise. If youre worried about disappointing some potential customers - dont be. Measure conversion rates. What is customer development?

Demand 167

Demand San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 167

ConversionXL

JUNE 12, 2014

When you think about optimizing your website to increase conversions, what are some of the first things that come to mind? Like Ott had mentioned in the Mastering The Call To Action a study of Visual Website Optimizer’s customers shows most people are testing: CTA Buttons – 30%. How Microcopy Can Improve UX & Conversions.

Conversion 84

Conversion eCommerce Software Review Green 84

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

(There is a huge difference between the Chinese who have never left and those who went to school abroad, even for a few months – at least a difference in their ability to relate to me and have a conversation on the same wavelength. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital.

China 328

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 328

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 15, 2010

In previous posts I’ve talked about what the combination of Business Model Design, Customer Development and Agile Methodologies mean to startups and intrapreneurs in large companies; it’s the beginning of entrepreneurship as a science with its own rules and methodologies. She posted her notes from the talk here.)

Customer Development 278

Customer Development Business Model Developer Design 278

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

Customer Development/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. It’s what my textbook on Customer Development describes. I was an idiot. Berkeley and at Stanford.

Silicon Valley 208

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 208

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019

As the conversation progressed, we agreed about the ways to manage projects using a few operating principles of Lean/Agile project management (without ever mentioning the words Lean or Agile.). More importantly we decided that he would focus these conversations on outcomes rather than reports. They just want to see the paperwork.).

Agile 65

Agile Lean Leadership Conversion 65

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

The Customer is a Genius Then instead of talking about our products he segued the conversation into their products. And soon the conversation were about architectural tradeoffs and then how customers didn’t appreciate the elegant designs and how the world was going to hell in a handbasket because of these commodity microprocessors.

Technology 145

Technology Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 145

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

When growing your online presence, be sure to join in on the conversations that those in your industry are having. Reach out to your loyal customers and offer incentives for them to write reviews and rank services. Professionalisms business financing business growth customer development Jake Dacillo sales'

Customer 168

Customer PPC Software Review Finance 168

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 16, 2013

On Customer Development in a growing company, Wyatt offered the following advice: Wyatt: We''ve employed a number of systems in the organization that keep all of us close to the customer. There are 5-10 customers in our office (or remote) per week for developers, product owners and marketers to speak to and validate learning.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Software Engineering Agile 167

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2021

The key to understanding value propositions is in building interviews that are based on a set of hypotheses (about the problem, the stakeholder and potential solutions to be explored) and data to be captured while using minimum viable products (just enough “product” to increase the efficacy of a conversation and increase the speed of learning).

Curation 353

Curation Technical Review Lean Australia 353

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

NOVEMBER 5, 2014

It’s often said that you shouldn’t talk about price during customer development interviews. You need to be a part of that conversation which means a real sales force, sales materials, impressive logos, case studies, and referenceable customers. You will be compared to alternatives and weighed.

Bootstrapping 294

Bootstrapping Technical Review B2C Sales Cycle 294

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 24, 2022

Either way, social media provides you with an opportunity to build a rapport with your target audience, which can eventually lead to conversions. You should also consider running social media ads, as they can be very effective in reaching out to potential customers. Develop a Strong Online Presence.

Social Media 157

Social Media Startup Audience Web Development 157

ConversionXL

JANUARY 24, 2014

Today, I was fortunate enough to get Hunter Boyle – Senior Business Development Director of AWeber to talk with us about what exactly business development is, and the role it can play on conversions. In my interview with Hunter, we discuss: The key responsibilities of a business development professional.

Developer 104

Developer Cofounder API New Jersey 104

Up and Running

MARCH 21, 2018

He has been an entrepreneur since he was young, founding top conversion and marketing companies like Crazy Egg, Kissmetrics, Quick Sprout, and more. These don’t require coding skills—they’re usually visual templates that are easy to use but don’t allow for great customization (that would require technical skills). Custom development.

Entrepreneur 107

Entrepreneur Technical Review Hosting SEO 107

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

(There is a huge difference between the Chinese who have never left and those who went to school abroad, even for a few months – at least a difference in their ability to relate to me and have a conversation on the same wavelength. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital.

China 220

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 220

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

I had the opportunity to pioneer this approach to funnel analysis at IMVU, where it became a core part of our customer development process. To promote this metrics discipline, we would present the full funnel to our board (and advisers) at the end of every development cycle. But where do those ideas come from in the first place?

San Francisco 166

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Continuous Deployment 166

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

As the conversation began to get down to how much stock and salary we could offer van Dam, we left the barber to finish his work and went to a payphone to call our CEO to confirm the deal. We were painting a picture of hypertext on every desktop computer. The response from across the country?

North Carolina 133

North Carolina Silicon Valley Fractional VPE Part-Time VPE 133

ConversionXL

JULY 3, 2014

The Case For Building Customer Personas Out Of Data-Driven Research. Patching together actionable information about your customers with gut feelings, good intentions and some duct tape is not a recipe for conversion success. New versus repeat customers. Frequent customers. Real World Conversion Stories.

Customer 133

Customer Analytics Conversion Lead Generation 133

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 11, 2013

To answer that question, we hosted a webcast conversation earlier this week with Eric Ries, Brant Cooper, and Patrick Vlaskovits. We’d like to share a few highlights and invite you to join the ongoing conversation by posing questions for Eric, Patrick, and Brant in the comments to this post. But you’re not going to your core business.

Lean 167

Lean Silicon Valley Agile Cofounder 167

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 29, 2019

Then follow up the Petal Diagram with another slide that says, here’s our unique insight that’s been validated by customer discovery. If you’re talking to the right investors, this approach can generate a high-bandwidth conversation because you’ve given them an opportunity to critique your analysis of failure, risk, insight and opportunity.

Bandwidth 302

Bandwidth Database Venture Capital Demand 302

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 25, 2010

This is the first post that moves into making specific process recommendations for product development. Heres an excerpt: The Startups Rules of Speed - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review Every startup that achieves success eventually faces a critical moment — whether to speed up or slow down.

Software Review 141

Software Review San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 141

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 15, 2013

Bad Customer Development Questions and How to Avoid My Mistakes – [link]. Bad Customer Development Questions and How to Avoid My Mistakes – [link]. Google Study Says Mobile Searchers Act Quickly, With 55 Percent Of Conversions In The First Hour | TechCrunch – [link]. ” [link].

Social Media 105

Social Media Small Business Design Media 105

ConversionXL

MAY 22, 2014

“Conversion Rate Optimization” principles don’t just apply to landing pages or capturing emails. In a big picture, can’t “Conversion” really be boiled down to getting more of the right people clicking on the things you want them to click ? So Where Exactly Does “Conversion” Happen? image source.

Software Review 116

Software Review PPC Analytics Search 116

ConversionXL

JUNE 14, 2021

Your product or service is likely built of many features or components, but which of those do your customers truly value? Asking your most loyal customers why they keep coming back can put your marketing biases to the test. Use these conversations to understand the needs and desires your customers are struggling to fulfil.

Software Review 158

Software Review Audience Differentiation Framework 158

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

In the big picture, “conversion optimization” boils down to getting more of the right people clicking on the things you want them to click. Dave McClure’s conversion metrics visualize where different conversion optimization opportunities lie—including those for acquisition. Image source ).

Acquisition 111

Acquisition Software Review PPC Analytics 111