Steve Blank

MAY 28, 2009

Market Risk vs. Invention Risk - Click to Enlarge For companies building web-based products, product development may be difficult, but with enough time and iteration engineering will eventually converge on a solution and ship a functional product - i t’s engineering, not invention.

Vertical 167

Vertical Silicon Valley Marketing Customer 167

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

As with sales, these core reasons need to be compelling to candidates, while being as unique to you (competitive differentiation) as possible. Not sales, product development, or fundraising. An actionable tip is to prepare 3 clear reasons why a candidate should choose your company. cutting edge technology (WebRTC), 2.

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 20, 2019

They want to see that you have some unique advantage that differentiates your company from others in your industry, and they’d prefer that you have some experience in that industry, which gives you legitimate insight into the problem you’re attempting to solve. As you develop it, consider it from the VC’s perspective.

Technical Review 140

Technical Review Due Diligence Early Stage Differentiation 140

Up and Running

JANUARY 3, 2019

Buyer” and “user” personas are very similar, but the labels do help to differentiate the kind of persona you are creating. Buyers” are the people who make the spending decisions while “users” are the people who actually use your product. For many businesses, buyers and users are the same person. Common mistakes to avoid.

Software Review 130

Software Review Product Development Portland Software 130

View from Seed

DECEMBER 6, 2018

As a seed stage VC, I have a unique privilege of confidentially spending time with a number of entrepreneurs throughout their company formation and initial product development process. independently come to launch very similar products/services. without any knowledge of the other’s activities?—?independently

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage Startup Cofounder Stealth 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 do they differentiate from other competitors (including yourself) and handle objections? A common USP formula is: “We help [AUDIENCE] achieve [TRANSFORMATION] with [PRODUCT/SERVICE].”.

Software Review 158

Software Review Audience Differentiation Framework 158

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 7, 2021

These are the four stages of a product we’ll be focusing on. . However, on a more granular graph, the introduction phase would be preceded by a product development stage. This stage is used to determine the viability of your product and confirm when it should go to market. Establishing strong brand identity.

Product 142

Product Marketing Software Review Social Media 142

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 4, 2014

Through differentiated sourcing, companies can better hedge their risks in the event that the Chinese economy implodes. To market to Muslims, companies could take note of the holy month of the Ramadan, offer halal products, develop shariah-compliant Islamic financial services, or create mobile apps.

Technical Review 171

Technical Review United Arab Emirates Saudi Arabia China 171

The Startup Magazine

OCTOBER 19, 2020

In a conventional business perspective, there are significantly lesser areas to differentiate yourself from the competition. Most industries have touched their peak, matured, and there is little room to improve in the world of homogenous products, similar marketing, and standardized, efficient processes.

Technical Review 158

Technical Review Forecast Analytics Social Media 158

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

We had that luxury—we had three other profitable companies (focused on web design and development) when we decided to launch Chanty. We wanted to spend money on product development, not market research. Instead, we saved most of that money for product development. Differentiating our product.

Differentiation 108

Differentiation Non-Compete Audio Algorithm 108

Up and Running

JULY 6, 2016

Establish technology as a differentiator, when it is. Even if technology isn’t the driving force of your business or your main differentiator, these days, almost all businesses have to manage technology as part of branding, marketing, and communications. Does your technology differentiate your business from all others?

Technical Review 72

Technical Review Software Review Business Plan Development Team Review 72

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

To truly differentiate your brand, center your growth strategy around creating unique and personalized customer experiences. It outlines four major growth strategies: market penetration , market development , product development , and diversification. Product development. New channels. Acquisitions.

Marketing 115

Marketing Framework Metrics Channel 115

YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 18, 2014

One of its primary goals was to galvanize product development by discovering often-unstated customer needs and creating solutions for them. About eight years ago, after becoming concerned that it was losing its edge, Intuit proactively created a new culture and installed new processes, all designed to create an idea meritocracy.

Employee 162

Employee Operations Global Dilution 162

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

People had a terrible experience using their product. After turning their attention toward feedback and testing, letting the voice of their customers fuel their content strategy and product development, they took off. At launch, marketing is based on customer behavior related to the problem your product solves.

Product 102

Product Marketing Social Media Channel 102

Hearpreneur

JANUARY 28, 2022

Enventys Partners was born when my company Command Partners, a digital marketing firm, vertically merged with Enventys, a product development firm. We thought about what makes our business differentiated and unique from existing companies in the space. #9- A merger of two companies. Photo Credit: Roy Morejon.

Naming 161

Naming Entrepreneur Jordan Merger 161

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 24, 2020

Optimize product development and marketing process. Understand how to monetize a product based on actual user needs. It is a good way to justify market demand for a product and then get support from investors or partners. The practice of building a minimum viable product is a long-standing one on the tech market.

San Francisco 106

San Francisco Audience SMS Demand 106

The Equity Kicker

MARCH 26, 2018

Let me use the Jobs To Be Done (JTBD) framework for product development to explain why. I will give you a high-level summary here, but if you are building products then I recommend spending some time with Google to find out a bit more. So lots of entrepreneurs skimp on this vital piece of work. That’s a bad decision.

Customer 75

Customer Framework Differentiation Customer Development 75

Duct Tape Marketing

NOVEMBER 9, 2022

3:43] How do you differentiate between a tactic and what you’re calling strategy? [4:41] 10:20] How do you differentiate between execution and planning? [12:00] 12:52] How do you help somebody understand the importance of brand development? [15:17] How do you differentiate between execution and say planning?

Marketing 93

Marketing Differentiation Sacramento Small Business 93

Software By Rob

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Geoffrey Moore Author of Crossing the Chasm and four other books, Geoffrey Moore has been thinking about high-tech product development longer than most of have been doing anything on a computer. Geoffrey also talked through the product adoption cycle, but this was less applicable to the products I deal with as a Micropreneur.

Software Review 47

Software Review Software San Francisco RSS 47

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 17, 2010

This drives our own product development strategy, and we constantly ask for feedback and suggestions to help us understand how we can do better. But critical to consider are whether your product offers enough variation (is there something for (almost) everyone?); differentiation (can people tell it apart from other offerings?)

Marketing 84

Marketing Startup Small Business Viral 84

Steve Blank

JANUARY 6, 2014

In the last few years Agile and “Continuous Deployment” has replaced Waterfall and transformed how companies big and small build products. Agile is a tremendous advance in reducing time, money and wasted product development effort – and in having products better match customer needs.

Continuous Deployment 332

Continuous Deployment Customer Agile Cloud 332

Steve Blank

JULY 29, 2013

It’s important to differentiate between ideas that have been or can be patented and ideas thought up late night in a dorm-room. They deal with the daily crisis of product development and acquiring early customers. A couple of caveats about founders with “ideas.”

Cofounder 335

Cofounder Advisory Board Customer Development Leadership 335

Up and Running

DECEMBER 22, 2015

Professional services such as attorneys, accountants, consultants, and design or product development companies are classic body shop businesses that can’t scale. Trade secrets, effective branding, differentiation, and first-mover advantage can help. They will ask “do the assets walk out the door at the end of the working day?”

Angel Investor 60

Angel Investor IRR Software Review Startup 60

Women Entrepreneurs Can

AUGUST 4, 2020

People on the front lines of the business often have the best perspective on better ways to do things or new products that customers need or want. Product development presents opportunities for success and failure that occur between the initial idea and its execution. The leader’s job is to provide context.

Differentiation 52

Differentiation Employee Product Development Developer 52

ConversionXL

JUNE 25, 2021

Develop a sales messaging guide to create consistency around how your team describes the product, showcases its benefits, and differentiates it from competitors. Explain how your product solves real and imminent challenges your customers face. Explain how the product delivers specific benefits or results.

Product 96

Product Social Media Audience Software Review 96

Up and Running

MAY 23, 2016

Another great way to test your idea is to create a minimum viable product, or MVP. This is the simplest version of your product minus the frills and frosting. It’s a particularly popular strategy in the world of product development and is used to quickly and quantitatively test a product or a product feature.

Software Review 74

Software Review Software Delaware Forecast 74

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 19, 2019

We had that luxury—we had three other profitable companies (focused on web design and development) when we decided to launch Chanty. We wanted to spend money on product development, not market research. Instead, we saved most of that money for product development. Differentiating our product.

Differentiation 48

Differentiation Non-Compete Audio Algorithm 48

Duct Tape Marketing

APRIL 6, 2022

Or are you happy to run just the local restaurant that is differentiator. How do you differentiate yourself? But if you are going to have somebody who's developing a product, developing a new technology, designing, or going out into marketing and figuring out new ways to market, you really need a thinker.

San Francisco 101

San Francisco Technical Review Incubator Silicon Valley 101

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 17, 2010

Anyone who works in the venture business or frankly just lives in Silicon Valley will be used to hearing a buzz word rise up out of nowhere to capture the technology zeitgeist and find its way into every entrepreneur’s product development plan or every aspiring entrepreneur’s pitch deck.

Silicon Valley 296

Silicon Valley Warrant Flash Differentiation 296

abovethecrowd.com

OCTOBER 1, 2013

This is the art of conversion: improve your site’s conversion and you simultaneously increase operating leverage AND increase competitive differentiation – a truly powerful combination. Think of this as understanding how to optimize the performance of the customers you already have. Basic conversion is easy to understand.

Metrics 93

Metrics Conversion Internet Acquisition 93

Steve Blank

MARCH 1, 2010

Product development salutes and gets to work building the product. Only after the product ships does the company find out that customers couldn’t have cared less about most of the bells and whistles. The mandate becomes; “Our competitors have these features so our startup needs them too.

Customer Development 265

Customer Development Metrics Differentiation Engineer 265

Hippoland

OCTOBER 9, 2016

Demonstrate that you can pull the trigger on things quickly — whether it be getting customers, hiring / firing employees, or product development. And then after that, present a differentiated solution that doesn’t have these same nuanced issues. And convey this in your pitch.

Seed Stage 48

Seed Stage CTO Hire Email Later Stage 48

YoungUpstarts

JULY 2, 2020

A next positive step is to make sure the content you are sharing is memorable and differentiated from the others.” Today Boris has over 17 years of highly successful international leadership experience in sales, professional services, operations, product development and marketing in the Internet and software industry.

Marketing 262

Marketing Metrics Channel Differentiation 262

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 10, 2009

In future posts I’ll describe how Eric Ries and the Lean Startup concept provided the equivalent model for product development activities inside the building and neatly integrates customer and agile development. Market Type also affects the market size as well as how you launch the product into the market. End result?

Customer Development 222

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 222

The Startup Magazine

DECEMBER 13, 2023

What differentiates your card from other cards on the market is your niche. Analyze your competitors and identify opportunities for differentiation. This research is the basis for building your product development and marketing strategy. Are you drawn to quirky humor, elegant design, or eco-friendly materials?

Differentiation 148

Differentiation Audience Social Media Design 148

Up and Running

OCTOBER 8, 2015

Instead, we built a product first (that’s expensive!) and then started hunting around for the right target market (that’s usually the cheap part of product development). Do you have a plan for differentiating yourself from your competition? We neglected to do our market research. First, what’s market research?

Marketing 60

Marketing CTO Hire Forecast Finder 60

betashop.com

OCTOBER 8, 2012

I firmly believe that in this age where the product development life-cycle is so short and user feedback comes so quickly, you will know within a year whether you are focusing on a worthwhile one thing. Very hard to do, but it’s what differentiates great companies from good companies. You’re never as right as you think you are.

Technical Review 108

Technical Review Technology Software Review Valuation 108