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

MARCH 31, 2011

Over the last decade we assumed that once we found repeatable methodologies (Agile and Customer Development , Business Model Design) to build early stage ventures, entrepreneurship would become a “science,” and anyone could do it. It is a very different skill than science, engineering, or management. Where Did We Go Wrong?

Agile 334

Agile Customer Development Early Stage Business Model 334

Steve Blank

JANUARY 2, 2014

Jason Crane - PhD UCSF Manager Scientific Software Development. Raphaelle Loren - Managing Director – Health Practice at the Innovation Management Institute. MS disease management decisions are complex and requires a patients neurologist to figure out what drugs to use. Mira Medicine and Multiple Sclerosis.

Lean 250

Lean Algorithm Customer Development IP 250

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. Even if they did, what if the assumption – that we had developed a better approach to teaching entrepreneurship – was simply mistaken?

Lean 307

Lean Business Model Customer Development Guinea 307

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

In the last decade Torch managed to break free of China’s state central planning bureaucracies. In recent years Business Incubators have developed into diverse models. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital'

Programming 287

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 287

Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

It was not only my secret weapon in thinking about new startup strategies, it also gave me a view of the management issues my customers were dealing with. Through HBR I discovered the work of Peter Drucker and first read about management by objective. I learned about Michael Porter s’s five forces.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 223

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

63 scientists and engineers in 21 teams made 2,000 customer calls in 8 weeks , turning laboratory ideas into formidable startups. In July I got a call from Errol Arkilic , a program manager at the National Science Foundation (NSF), the $6.8-billion Some had their own labs managing large groups of researchers. billion U.S.

Incubator 310

Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 310

Steve Blank

JANUARY 27, 2011

student of our MS&E department at Stanford ,) where they are set on being a leader in developing the management science of entrepreneurship. This startup search process is the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. The 47th (-46) Annual Business Model Competition.

Business Model 285

Business Model Utah Intellectual Property Agile 285

Steve Blank

JUNE 3, 2010

If we use our “startup to large company,” diagram, we can see that sustaining innovations occur within a large company’s existing management structures. If you’ve been reading my book on Customer Development and follow my work on Market Type , this type of innovation is best for adding new products to existing markets.

Search 251

Search Agile Customer Development Technical Review 251

SoCal CTO

JANUARY 5, 2011

First Principles. Steve Blank , January 25, 2010 10 Tips for Adding Game Mechanics to a Non-Gaming Service - ReadWriteStart , September 21, 2010 Startups & VCs: Learn How to Design, Market, & Eat Your Own. -

Silicon Valley 378

Silicon Valley Startup Term Sheet Venture Capital 378

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

I returned to the Air Force Academy as an instructor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, intent on spreading the gospel of Customer Development and Lean. I saw this as counter to the joint, iterative discovery process between entrepreneurs and customers I had experienced on my Lean Launchpad team.

Lean 271

Lean Technical Review Acquisition Software Review 271

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2016

For manufacturing startups, here are several ways to achieve effective supply chain management: Understand Your Supply Chain Elements. Transportation partners play an enormous role in the supply chain as they bring products into distribution centers and sometimes directly to customers. Develop Relationships with Supply Chain Partners.

Management 145

Management Los Angeles Forecast San Francisco 145

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 29, 2018

If you want to take your business to the next level, you should consider app development. Either way, custom software development is an effective way to build brand awareness and give your business a competitive edge. While app development can be very beneficial, that’s only true if it’s done the right way.

Developer 105

Developer Offshore Software Developers Software Development 105

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

Customer Development ) to help you quickly recognize and reverse any incorrect decisions. Customer Development) to help you quickly recognize and reverse any incorrect decisions.&# Too often, CEOs and small business managers suffer from analysis paralysis. That’s why startups are agile.

Silicon Valley 309

Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 309

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 1, 2009

They communicated this to product management who looked at all of the internal requirements we had generated (e.g. some came from our customer service, some were to improve performance / scalability from tech ops, some were bug fixes, etc.) and product management worked with me to decide what to build & when.

Customer 280

Customer Technical Review Software Review Mexico 280

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 10, 2011

50% the fault of a Nokia management that didn’t see it coming, while 50% was due to brilliant Apple execution.) Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan , Customer Development , Teaching , Venture Capital. Most Finns take their failure as a personal embarrassment. Note to Finland – lighten up.

Finland 332

Finland Naming Russia Government 332

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 19, 2009

I think it’s something our business people realize, as they are actively reaching out to the web development community and attending meetups and conferences in things they don’t have any knowledge of, but give them a taste of what our job is like every day.

Engineer 224

Engineer Silicon Valley Part-Time VPE Advisory Board 224

Steve Blank

MARCH 2, 2011

The Energy Storage division is acting like a startup, and Prescott Logan its General Manager, has lived up to the charter. Working with him, I’ve been impressed to watch his small team embrace Customer Development (and Business Model Generation ) and search the world for the right product/market fit. You couldn’t be more wrong.

Silicon Valley 239

Silicon Valley Agile Customer Development Early Stage 239

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 8, 2010

We’re here for Greycroft’s CEO Summit – a gathering of the CEO’s of their portfolio companies with guest speakers covering topics including how to build your team, PR, customer development, etc. It is the key to “customer development” that Steve Blank talks about. I’m going to save that for a future blog post.

PR 279

PR Technical Review Portfolio Customer Development 279

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2019

AgileFall is an ironic term for program management where you try to be agile and lean, but you keep using waterfall development techniques. I just sat through my a project management meeting where I saw AgileFall happen first-hand. This product line has 15 project managers overseeing 60 projects. All good Lean basics.

Agile 65

Agile Lean Leadership Conversion 65

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. Affiliates.

Developer 104

Developer Cofounder API New Jersey 104

Steve Blank

AUGUST 17, 2012

Customer Validation. We had closed four $100,000 deals for our customer relationship management software. The CIO didn’t say much in the presentation (warning, warning) and he passed Joe on to his manager of data warehouse development. Filed under: Customer Development , E.piphany , Marketing.

Forecast 299

Forecast Sales Matching Customer Development 299

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

Venture Capitalists on your board developed the expertise to get your firm public as soon as possible using whatever it took including hype, spin, expand, and grab market share because the sooner you got your billion dollar market cap, the sooner the VC firm could sell their shares and distribute their profits.

Silicon Valley 237

Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 237

Steve Blank

APRIL 14, 2013

Management 101. But the differences are worth noting – it’s a young ecosystem, so startup management tools are nearly non-existent. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital' Perhaps it’s the weather.

China 328

China Silicon Valley Non-Compete Intellectual Property 328

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

—– Lean Innovation Management. Gore , I’ve found two corporate strategy tools developed by other smart people helpful in bridging Lean Startups with Corporate Innovation. Each horizon requires different focus, different management, different tools and different goals. A 50x speedup kind of fast. Here’s how.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. Unless your business is a religion, I don’t recommend it for a startup these days. Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales).

CTO Hire 252

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 252

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 1, 2014

Ben Horowitz ’s book The Hard Thing About Hard Things is driving the conversation around startup management this year. Bob Sutton is a Stanford professor and the author of several best-selling books on standout management, including Scaling Up Excellence , an investigation of high-growth companies. Eric Ries will interview him.

Lean 165

Lean Fractional CTO Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE 165

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

When I asked our trade show manager she looked at me like I was the house idiot and said, “Steve, don’t you know that my job is to set up our trade show booth?” But my favorite was when the public relations manager said, “we’re here to write press releases and answer the phone in case the press calls.” This is a big idea.

Silicon Valley 271

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 271

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 22, 2013

What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. Unless your business is a religion, I don’t recommend it for a startup these days. Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales).

CTO Hire 244

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Angel Investor 244

Steve Blank

JULY 24, 2012

In my first meeting with the Onyx I was a bit nonplussed when the management team started trickling into their boardroom. One of the Onyx product managers got engaged and became an enthusiastic earlyvanglist. Instead of being welcomed by the whole Onyx exec staff, this time a clearly uncomfortable product manager met me.

Seattle 265

Seattle Cofounder Engineer Sales 265

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

MAY 17, 2010

If this is your attitude, your conception of tech support is completely backwards and you're missing out on important channels for marketing, product development, and sales. Yes, I'm flagrantly paraphrasing the legendary Kathy Sierra , but the idea applies as much to tech support as to product development.). Is our terminology wrong??

Technical Review 245

Technical Review Sales Turkey Software Review 245

Startup Professionals Musings

DECEMBER 1, 2010

What you really need is a VP of Marketing and Customer Development, who can help with lead generation and honing the message, rather than an executive to manage a sales team and existing customers. Unless your business is a religion, I don’t recommend it for a startup these days. Chief Sales Officer (VP Sales).

CTO Hire 227

CTO Hire Fractional CTO Startup Angel Investor 227

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 17, 2009

This post describes a solution – the Customer Development 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.

Customer Development 255

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 255

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

In the last decade Torch managed to break free of China’s state central planning bureaucracies. In recent years Business Incubators have developed into diverse models. Filed under: China , Customer Development , Technology , Venture Capital. China Customer Development Technology Venture Capital'

Programming 179

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 179

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 16, 2013

We work in prototypically four-week iterations, with quality engineers and software developers working in close collaboration. During this period, the Palantir Gotham team grew from five developers to around 35. But we couldn''t have identified this without having clear metrics (that high bug count) to assess our development process.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Software Engineering Agile 167

Steve Blank

JULY 20, 2009

Just as I was getting settled into Zilog, the manager of the training department got fired. (I I was beginning to think that my hiring managers were related to red-shirted guys on Star Trek.) I quit a job as road manager, because it had meant that I was gone 9 months out of the year and my job was any waking minute.

Silicon Valley 206

Silicon Valley Chad RSS San Francisco 206

YoungUpstarts

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

If you run a business than offers higher priceditems, such as equipment vending, instead of requiring a 100% cash payment, leasing allows the customer to obtain the equipment they need for a manageable monthly payment. Professionalisms business financing business growth customer development Jake Dacillo sales'

Customer 168

Customer PPC Software Review Finance 168