Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 7, 2009

This post describes how following the traditional product development can lead to a “startup death spiral.&# In the next posts that follow, I’ll describe how this model’s failures led to the Customer Development Model – offering a new way to approach startup sales and marketing activities.

Customer Development 233

Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 233

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 5, 2018

Reading the NY Times article “ Jeffrey Katzenberg Raises $1 Billion for Short-Form Video Venture, ” I realized it was time for a new startup heuristic: the amount of customer discovery and product-market fit you need to find is inversely proportional to the amount and availability of risk capital. He just hired Meg Whitman.

Lean 335

Lean Burn Rate Startup IPO 335

YoungUpstarts

JULY 16, 2019

In 2018, Canada had a record-low unemployment rate and as a result we are seeing more companies, startups and online-based businesses dedicated to serving the niche-jobs industry. Positions for software development and data science continue to expand throughout the industry. Hiring for tech jobs in Vancouver is all done online.

Canada 167

Canada Hiring Artificial Inteligence Software Developers 167

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

AUGUST 30, 2010

Rob Walling generously allowed me to reprint this excerpt from his new book, "Start Small, Stay Small: A Developer's Guide to Launching a Startup" available in paperback and Kindle from Amazon and in PDF and ePub from StartupBook.net. Why Should My Startup Use a Virtual Assistant? It's a mix of shock and excitement. The Lesson.

Software Review 284

Software Review Startup Technical Review Hosting 284

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 20, 2011

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Probably 80% of the startups I know have found human resource issues to be the most treacherous. Missed or no target expectations. Too slow or too fast to change.

Advisory Board 232

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 232

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 29, 2018

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 223

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 223

David Teten

JULY 9, 2012

We are thus more likely to befriend those people, we are more likely to develop strong ties to them, and even eventually to marry one of those people. [1] Often, when startup founders first assemble teams, they hire familiar people – either people they know, or people like them.

Hiring 138

Hiring Technical Review Affiliate Audience 138

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 2, 2021

There are several effective steps to launch a profitable custom software development startup. In today’s innovative digital ecosystem, you can establish a powerful software development company, even if you do not have a previous technical background. Hire A Team Of Software Developers. Conduct Market Research.

Software Development 158

Software Development Software Developers Software Developer 158

The Startup Magazine

JUNE 20, 2024

When it comes to B2B startups, effective marketing can make or break a company’s early growth trajectory. With limited resources and high stakes, startups must be strategic about every decision, particularly when it comes to marketing. One increasingly popular strategy is to hire a fractional chief marketing officer (CMO).

B2B 148

B2B Hiring Salary Early Stage 148

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 10, 2013

Assessing the upcoming expenditure and determining your startup budget will be essential for the smooth and problem-free start of business activities. To estimate the startup costs for a new business, you will have to take a look at several different categories of expenditure. Product Development and Marketing.

Cost 183

Cost Startup Web Development Finance 183

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 27, 2010

My original post was directed at hiring managers. It said that I didn’t believe it was a good idea to hire job hoppers. My view still stands – for many hiring managers a large factor in looking through resumes of somebody who is 30+ and has never worked somewhere for more than 18 months will be the job hopping element.

Venture Capital 285

Venture Capital Hiring Software Review Stock Options 285

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 19, 2020

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 310

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Salary Angel Investor 310

David Teten

JULY 9, 2012

We are thus more likely to befriend those people, we are more likely to develop strong ties to them, and even eventually to marry one of those people. [1] Often, when startup founders first assemble teams, they hire familiar people – either people they know, or people like them.

Hiring 128

Hiring Technical Review Affiliate Audience 128

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

This is not usual—startups that fail often have a lot of people milling around who don’t know what the goal is. It wasn’t always perfect, but it was way more right than wrong, It informed our product development to a great degree and kept us working on more or less the right stuff. Hired the Smartest People. What a gift!

Technical Review 335

Technical Review Venture Capital Software Review Database 335

Gust

APRIL 27, 2014

Software Development Process via Wikipedia. Even when your startup is a one-man show and lots of fun, a “business” needs some discipline and controls to keep it from being defined as a hobby by investors, and assure some financial return. Product development process. Manage human resources.

Startup 187

Startup Institutional Investors Angel Investor Bootstrapping 187

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 5, 2014

Cashflow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 262

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Entrepreneur Salary 262

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 14, 2023

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 258

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Management Salary 258

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 15, 2021

In the last decade, SaaS (Software as a Service) has become a very popular model for new software product development. The largest cost component of establishing a SaaS company is product development costs. This includes the design, development, launch, and enhancement of the SaaS application. .

Cost 158

Cost Developer Azure Churn Rate 158

Startup Professionals Musings

JULY 3, 2012

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Probably 80% of the startups I know have found human resource issues to be the most treacherous. Missed or no target expectations. Too slow or too fast to change.

Advisory Board 240

Advisory Board Forecast Early Stage Product Development 240

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 15, 2019

Once upon a time every great organization was a scrappy startup willing to take risks – new ideas, new methods, new customers, targets, and mission. If they were a commercial company, they figured out product/market fit; or if a government organization, it focused on solution/mission fit. Companies Run on Process.

Government 322

Government Technical Review Acquisition Metrics 322

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 24, 2014

Most of us would want to hire the most experienced, cutthroat lawyer specializing in multimillion-dollar mergers. Adam Root has worked in development and design for Fortune 500 companies, midsize agencies, and startups. Professionalisms Adam Root Hiplogiq product development startup' A DUI lawyer?

Fractional CTO 228

Fractional CTO Product CTO Hire Merger 228

SoCal CTO

DECEMBER 1, 2010

I continue to collect great content that is the intersection of startups, products, online and technology. Equity-Only CTO and Equity-Only Developers - SoCal CTO , November 1, 2010 I had a recent email dialog with the founder of a company looking for a CTO for their startup. Was it a Startup Founder Developer Gap ?

Technical Review 175

Technical Review Technology Product CTO Hire 175

The Next Web

DECEMBER 2, 2013

We interviewed the heads of the top Web and mobile development companies, incubators, agencies and labs to understand what it takes to design and develop the most successful apps of our generation. Here are their breakdowns of the costs and time investments to create 10 of the world’s hottest startups. 1) Twitter. 4) WhatsApp.

Cost 168

Cost San Francisco New York City Ruby 168

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

Traction can simply mean showing that you’re making progress with customers, product development, channel partners, initial revenue as a proof point, attracting well-known angel investors, winning industry awards / recognition. They tell you they’re going to ship product and they do. They hire key staff.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 17, 2018

As a new entrepreneur or business owner, the most important thing you will do is hire talent. As a startup co-founder with a growing team, here are the recruiting tips I’ve learnt over the last couple of years. Hiring = Sales. You need to sell them on why your startup is the best. What does the right hire look like?

Cofounder 164

Cofounder Elevator Pitch Hiring Dividend 164

Startup Professionals Musings

MARCH 4, 2016

In fact, investors recognize that founders usually learn more from mistakes than from success, so a well-explained startup failure can improve their odds of funding the next time around. As an active angel investor and startup advisor, I’ve seen many of the same stumbling blocks repeated all too many times. Hire slow and fire fast.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Forecast Angel Investor 120

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 29, 2013

This post was written by Sarah Milstein, co-host of The Lean Startup Conference. We’re looking for speakers for the 2013 Lean Startup Conference. If you’re a Lean Startup veteran, feel free to skim the beginning, as this is mostly stuff you already know. Last week, we announced that our short application form was live.

Lean 165

Lean Technical Review Startup Software Review 165

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 16, 2009

Well obviously that’s meaningless if your startup idea sucks. He was at a startup that was in a super hot sector. They realized that they were selling a bunch of cool products but none that had enough economic value. They realized that they were selling a bunch of cool products but none that had enough economic value.

Entrepreneur 306

Entrepreneur Burn Rate Cofounder Sales 306

YoungUpstarts

JULY 30, 2019

Startups and SCRUM. Why SCRUM for startups? Employing SCRUM for startups. There are only three groups in the scrum team that includes the product owner, the scrum master, and the scrum team. Talking about the product owner, they are the link lines between the client’s visionary and the scrum team.

SCRUM 113

SCRUM Software Review Hiring Agile 113

Up and Running

JULY 5, 2021

Most small businesses, growing startups , and individual entrepreneurs do not have ready access to legal counsel. And hiring an intellectual property attorney may seem like a budget dealbreaker. Applying for a trademark — Do it yourself or hire an attorney? Hiring an attorney. The do-it-yourself approach.

Hiring 133

Hiring Intellectual Property United States Search 133

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 12, 2010

There are unknowns at every turn, leading product development, attracting customers, managing cash, and dealing with human resources and office politics. Probably 80% of the startups I know have found human resource issues to be the most treacherous. Missed or no target expectations. Too slow or too fast to change.

Advisory Board 125

Advisory Board Startup Forecast Early Stage 125

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 2, 2019

Most of you aspiring entrepreneurs have no idea how dramatically your own role has to evolve as you develop a solution, start a business, and expect it to scale into a successful self-managed company. Thus my job as a small business advisor really is really more about getting you developed than perfecting the business.

Leadership 248

Leadership Technical Review Cofounder Social Media 248

Business Plan Blog

OCTOBER 4, 2013

Aligning the Startup Team Strategy with the Capitalization Strategy. The single most important factor to raising capital for any tech startup is the management team. Furthermore, a startup works differently than a large corporation. Don’t hire people with skills and qualifications similar to yours. Early Stage.

Part-Time VPE 79

Part-Time VPE Fractional VPE Cofounder CTO Hire 79

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 14, 2016

Cash flow is a basic survival metric for every startup. Yet it always amazes me that I can find two different startups, seemingly working on the same problem, with one having a burn rate several times higher than the other. They understand startup realities. Desperate entrepreneurs lose their leverage and die young.

Burn Rate 120

Burn Rate Hockey Stick Startup Salary 120

Transformify

MARCH 14, 2020

Startup hubs like Berlin, London, New York, Los Angeles, Bangalore, Hong Kong and Singapore offered access to venture capital and vibrant start ecosystems thus attracting the brightest founders. Out of a sudden, both startup founders and investors started asking themselves ‘’ What is our remote strategy?

Hiring 75

Hiring Bulgaria Italy Spain 75

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2010

For startups (and other innovators ), that’s a decisive advantage. The work itself, especially in startups, depends primarily on intelligence, communication, creativity and empathy. Their recent article suggests that startups led by women are actually more successful, on average, than those led by men.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Sweden Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 4, 2010

In my experience, there are many considerations which are critical to the productivity and success of this effort. Even though it usually makes sense from a marketing perspective for a startup to stage software rollout to various locales, it makes no sense to design and implement your application that way. Prior experience is critical.

Software 200

Software Distribution Europe Database 200