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The Secret History of Silicon Valley Part V: Happy 100th Birthday.

Steve Blank

And throughout my career as an entrepreneur I kept asking questions of my VC investors and friends; Where did entrepreneurship come from? Berkeley Haas Business School was courageous enough to give me a forum teach the Customer Development Methodology. How did Silicon Valley start?

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Love/Hate Business Plan Competitions

Steve Blank

I Love Business Plan Competitions I had a breakfast with a friend who has founded a few companies in Thailand and started the New Ventures Program at one of their universities. In exchange, these VCs/companies get early looks at new deal flow and offer aspiring entrepreneurs feedback and advice on their business plan.

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Philadelphia University Commencement Speech – May 15th 2011

Steve Blank

My first week on the base… our shop chief announced: “We’re looking for some volunteers to go to Thailand.” Two weeks later I was lugging heavy boxes across the runway under the broiling Thailand sun. Eighteen months after arriving in Thailand, I was managing a group of 15 electronics technicians. You get to make your own luck.

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Thirty-Six Years Later

Steve Blank

Home Books for Startups Secret History-Bibliography Steve Blank Startup Resources Steve Blank Entries RSS | Comments RSS Categories Air Force (9) Ardent (9) Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan (29) California Coastal Commission (3) Conservation (2) Convergent Technologies (1) Customer Development (98) Customer Development Manifesto (..)

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The Secret History of Silicon Valley Part VI: Every World War II.

Steve Blank

Finally, I had an answer to the question I had asked 35 years earlier when I was in Thailand: “How did electronic warfare get started?&# Apparently, the Office of Scientific Research thought that Stanford’s engineering department was second rate.)

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The Story Behind the Secret History Part II. Getting B-52s through.

Steve Blank

After been stationed at three fighter bases in Thailand ( Ubon , Udorn and Korat ) and working on Electronic Warfare suites on F-4’s, A-7’s, F-105’s and AC-130’s, I got orders to report to a Strategic Air Command (SAC) B-52 bomber base in Alpena Michigan. Imagine how hot, humid and unbearable the weather was in Thailand.

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If I Told You I'd Have to Kill You: The Story Behind “The Secret.

Steve Blank

And you’d like me to do my talk on Customer Development and startups?” “No, we’re the other CIA.” Thailand: Bats, Moths and John Scoggins I was 19 in 1973 and in Thailand in the Air Force working on electronic warfare equipment on fighter planes, gunships and Wild Weasels, at the tail end of the Vietnam War.