Steve Blank

APRIL 16, 2013

To fill this gap I wrote The Four Steps to the Epiphany , a book about the Customer Development process and how it changes the way startups are built. Eric Ries, who took my first Customer Development class at Berkeley, had the insight that Customer Development should be paired with Agile Development.

Technical Review 223

Technical Review Lean Venture Capital Customer Development 223

View from Seed

OCTOBER 22, 2015

Customer development” has become its own skill and body of knowledge, and there are some crucial nuances to understand up front before beginning your customer dev discussions. As I said, just investing time to talk in depth with customers and potential customers can get you a long way.

Customer Development 120

Customer Development Developer Customer Seed Stage 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 4, 2013

The framework of the class looks like this: Life Science/Health Care is not a single Category. Filed under: Customer Development , Life Sciences , Teaching. Customer Development Life Sciences Teaching' We’ve recorded these panels for each part of the business model canvas. This can be taught.

Lean 266

Lean Customer Business Model Customer Development 266

Steve Blank

JANUARY 30, 2013

I earnestly believe that large corporations should emulate Lean Startups (Business model design, Customer Development and Agile Engineering.) If I were starting a corporate innovation program today, I’d use the Lean LaunchPad classes as the starting framework. Developing a program to generate new ideas is the easy part.

Programming 273

Programming Technical Review Incubator Intellectual Property 273

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 10, 2014

We didn’t know it at the time, but with that investment we had paid for front-row VIP seats to witness the origins of Customer Development and the Lean Startup. Twenty years and 100,000’s of copies of those books later, my life has fortuitously intersected with Steve Blank once again now that we’ve both become educators.

Maryland 280

Maryland Lean DC Virginia 280

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2021

Whether academic-based like our Hacking for Defense teams or internal organizational Integrated Product or Cross-Functional Teams (IPTs/CFTs), accelerator teams perform best when supported by: Teachers – who can ground teams in a common framework and language for the discipline of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Curation 353

Curation Technical Review Lean Australia 353

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2021

This was followed by an 8-minute slide presentation describing their customer discovery journey over the 10 weeks. While all the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ), Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, each of their journeys was unique.

Lean 417

Lean Security Asia SBIR 417

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

And I got to experience a type of customer buying behavior I had never seen before – the Novelty Effect. Present at the Creation It was early 1991 and Apple’s software development team was hard at work on QuickTime , the first multimedia framework for a computer. It was fun watching it happen.

Video 190

Video Silicon Valley RSS California 190

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

Best practices in software development started to move to agile development in the early 2000’s. This methodology improved on waterfall by building software iteratively and involving the customer. But it lacked a framework for testing all commercialization hypotheses outside of the building. Lessons Learned.

Lean 120

Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. This post describes how the traditional product development model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development.

Customer Development 229

Customer Development Developer Silicon Valley Customer 229

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 16, 2013

More important, the iteration framework gave us something like a meta-process: we could try new ideas about how to manage development process and measure them against historical data to see what could further optimize the process. At 65 mph, it''s like having a large animal sitting on your chest.

Lean 167

Lean Startup Software Engineering Agile 167

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2017

The framework has the team talking not just to potential customers but also with regulators, and people responsible for legal, policy, finance, support. The company has adopted Lean language and process: curation, prioritization, three horizons, I-Corps – business/ mission model canvas, customer development and agile engineering.

Incubator 319

Incubator Curation Engineer Government 319

SoCal CTO

JUNE 9, 2010

They’re deep into Customer Development ,” he said. &# The classic framework for analyzing a firm’s strategic position is Michael Porter’s Five Forces. But startups can shoot themselves in the foot when founders use consultants at the wrong time or in the wrong way. Here’s why. Your Process Doesn’t Work.

Fractional CTO 248

Fractional CTO Startup Venture Capital Cofounder 248

Steve Blank

MARCH 3, 2015

To create great entrepreneurs, we had to give our students the experience of navigating the chaos and uncertainty of running a lean startup while providing the same kind of rigorous framework the business plan did in its day. It taught lean theory ( business model design , customer development and agile engineering) and practice.

Business Plan 120

Business Plan Silicon Valley Saudi Arabia Lean 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 12, 2020

This was followed by an 8-minute slide presentation describing their customer discovery journey over the 10-weeks. All the teams used the Mission Model Canvas , (videos here ) Customer Development and Agile Engineering to build Minimal Viable Products, but all of their journeys were unique.

Oakland 315

Oakland Asia Lean Video 315

Steve Blank

JULY 1, 2014

moment for me was the realization that I could apply the IRL framework to dramatically improve the guidance and mentorship I was providing to startup company founders. Prior to having the Investment Readiness Level framework, this “how to get ready for an investor” discussion had been a “soft” conceptual discussion.

Sacramento 314

Sacramento Framework Lean Customer Development 314

ConversionXL

SEPTEMBER 19, 2013

There are several frameworks for heuristic analysis that I’ve covered in this post - they structure and focus the process. Gather your team (include some customers and experts, if you can), and tear your website apart. Talk to your customers or prospects. You have only 10 customers? No customers at all?

Conversion 124

Conversion Framework Technical Review Analytics 124

David Teten

MARCH 28, 2012

The company teams they work with are usually highly motivated entrepreneurs trying to engage in extensive product and customer development efforts for a product they don’t typically have a full vision of, for a customer whose needs are opaque, and for a use case which is ambiguous.

Portfolio 144

Portfolio Private Equity Venture Capital Early Stage 144

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

To move innovation faster, we now have 21 st century tools — Business Model Canvas , Customer Development , Agile Engineering – all adding up to a Lean Startup. When combined with the business model canvas, the Three Horizons of Innovation provide a framework for corporate innovation. Fast forward to today.

Lean 120

Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

ConversionXL

JUNE 14, 2021

In this guide, you’ll learn how to differentiate your business and attract your ideal customers by creating a unique selling proposition. How a unique selling proposition (USP) attracts better customers and builds your brand (and where marketers get it wrong). Write your USP with these frameworks.

Software Review 158

Software Review Audience Differentiation Framework 158

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2009

Reply Alan Urech , on May 13, 2009 at 7:03 am Said: As a Moot Bowl Judge who just returned from that competition (May 7-10, 2009), I think that Business Plans provide a framework for the judges and founders to understand the entire business. It provides a guideline for a methodical growth path for the company.

Business Plan 160

Business Plan Silicon Valley RSS Venture Capital 160

Steve Blank

JUNE 23, 2020

While there’s agreement that companies need to adapt to changing markets, rapidly find new markets, new customers and new revenue models, the question is how ? This is the first step before you zoom in and design the business model, engage in focused customer development or test your minimal viable products. Here’s how.

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Customer Marketing Customer Development Lean 436

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 26, 2018

In our experience, structured customer development work is right up there amongst the most valuable things a founder can do in the early days of their startup. Once you have an idea that feels strong, it’s imperative to speak with customers about it. But good customer development is tough to do.

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Customer Framework Differentiation Customer Development 75

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Customer Development Labs recently shared a great experiment on using mTurk to interview 100 customers in 4 hours for less than $200. Dave McClure’s presentation on startup metrics start here: A framework for thinking about stats. KISS Metrics – How to Run A/B Tests that Get REAL Results. Distribution Hacks.

API 167

API Viral Startup Retention 167

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 9, 2014

This framework allows us to parse the pathway, describing the actions and attitudes required at each step along the way. While developing the first product, Kate has had additional insights, which have stimulated new ideas for treating other diseases with a similar approach, coming full circle to imagination! Lessons Learned.

Entrepreneur 335

Entrepreneur Framework Lean Customer Development 335

Steve Blank

MAY 7, 2019

Lean Methodology consists of three tools designed for entrepreneurs building new ventures: The Business Model Canvas – to write down all the hypotheses about a new business; Customer Development – a process for testing those hypotheses outside the building; Agile Engineering – to rapidly build minimal viable products to test product/market fit.

Lean 334

Lean Marketing Agile Customer Development 334

Up and Running

DECEMBER 6, 2012

In 2010, Alex Osterwalder published his book, Business Model Generation , where he created a framework for what Tim called “business identity.” ” Blank’s main innovation here is what he calls Customer Development, which is a methodology for learning and validating market needs through detailed customer communication and follow up.

Lean 147

Lean Silicon Valley Forecast Technical Review 147

Steve Blank

MAY 30, 2016

The teams capture their work in the mission model canvas a framework for each week’s activities. Each week the teams marched through another box of the canvas, testing their hypotheses in front of beneficiaries using the customer development methodology, all while building and updating their minimal viable product.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley San Diego Technical Review Incubator 120

Steve Blank

MARCH 5, 2012

One of the confusing things to entrepreneurs, investors and educators is the relationship between customer development and business model design and business planning and execution. When does a new venture focus on customer development and business models ? And when do business planning and execution come into play?

Search 326

Search Business Model Customer Development Agile 326

Steve Blank

MARCH 11, 2016

using the business model canvas as the framework. by having the students get out of the classroom and talk to 10-15 customers a week and build a new Minimum Viable Product weekly. The combination of the Business Model Canvas, Customer Development and Agile Engineering is an extremely efficient template for the students to follow.

Lean 120

Lean Incubator Business Model Channel 120

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 25, 2022

From where I sat, it seemed there was a lack of a common framework and process. . Give the Topic Areas a Common Framework. I asked John and Avika if they had considered offering the topic action team leaders and their team members a simple conceptual framework (one picture) and common language. See the diagram.

Framework 401

Framework Distribution Channel Leadership 401

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 25, 2013

A Lean Startup methodology offers entrepreneurs a framework to focus on what’s important: Business Model Discovery. Teams use the Lean Startup toolkit: the Business Model Canvas + Customer Development process + Agile Engineering. Filed under: Customer Development , Customer Development Manifesto , Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

Oakland 330

Oakland Incubator Lean Metrics 330

Steve Blank

AUGUST 31, 2009

In the next few posts that follow, I’ll describe more specifically how this model distorts startup sales, marketing and business development. —– Part 2 of the Customer Development Manifesto to follow. related recent reading: The Customer Development Manifesto: Reasons for the Revolution, The Customer Development [.]

Customer Development 245

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 245

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

The students “get out of the building” and test their hypotheses in front of potential beneficiaries using the Customer Development methodology, all while building and updating their Minimal Viable Products.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 21, 2016

The students “get out of the building” and test their hypotheses in front of potential beneficiaries using the Customer Development methodology, all while building and updating their Minimal Viable Products.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley Washington United Kingdom Lean 120

View from Seed

DECEMBER 8, 2015

But here’s how I tend to think about companies at this stage, which I think is broad enough to provide some guidance for founders at this early stage… Essentially, my pre-product framework is as follows: 1. Is there founder/market fit? How authentic is this idea to the founder’s experience?

Product 120

Product Startup Early Stage Seed Capital 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 20, 2021

Shawn immediately said the name I had given the four steps was confusing – I had called it market development – he suggested that I call it Customer Development – and the name stuck. Founders should understand what the customer hopes to accomplish , or what their job to be done is. Be patient.

Product 436

Product Viral Channel San Francisco 436