Customer Development SEM Viral 
Steve Blank
DECEMBER 7, 2010
We’ll build the class around the business model / customer development / agile development solution stack. Instead you will be getting your hands dirty talking to customers, partners, competitors, as you encounter the chaos and uncertainty of how a startup actually works. What are the 9 parts of a business model?
Startup Lessons Learned
SEPTEMBER 22, 2008
I break the answer to that question down into three engines: Viral - this is the business model identified in the presentation as "Get Users." Here, the key metrics are Acquisition and Referral, combined into the now-famous viral coefficient. If the coefficient is > 1.0 , you generally have a viral hit on your hands.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Startup Lessons Learned
NOVEMBER 7, 2008
Dont worry about selecting particularly good keywords, if youre new to SEM. If you cant find any , maybe that means you havent figured out who your customer is yet. And if you dont know who your customer is, perhaps some customer development is in order? What is customer development? I used to use $.05,
Startup Lessons Learned
SEPTEMBER 15, 2008
That green button was part of a customer flow, a series of actions you want customers to complete for some business reason. If its part of a viral loop, its probably trying to get them to invite more friends (on average). Why did customers like your change so much that they didnt change their behavior one iota ?
Startup Lessons Learned
MARCH 13, 2009
Do some Customer Development instead. If the product needs to be tweaked just a little bit in order to convert users into customers, you want to figure that out before the launch. If the viral coefficient is 0.9, And if your product doesnt retain customers, whats the point of driving a bunch of them to use it?
Startup Lessons Learned
SEPTEMBER 18, 2008
On Facebook, viral distribution has proved decisive. Those companies who have learned to build apps that optimize the viral loop dominate in every category where they compete. Not many customers ever browse the app directory or search for specific apps - they dont have to, they find out about apps by being invited by a friend.
Startup Lessons Learned
SEPTEMBER 12, 2008
vs. sustainable: Compare this to the renewable strategies, like viral marketing, SEO, widgets, and ads, which can scale into 10s of millions of users but are primarily centered around tough, non-user centric work. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
318 
Let's personalize your content