Steve Blank

DECEMBER 7, 2009

I was out and about in Silicon Valley doing what I would now call Customer Discovery trying to understand how marketing departments in large corporations worked. I remember presenting our ideas for Marketing Automation to one VP of Marketing in a large Silicon Valley company. He was now CEO of a new company in our market.

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Silicon Valley Non-disclosure Agreement NDA Startup 261

Up and Running

OCTOBER 13, 2022

It isn’t unusual to act as CEO while also tackling marketing tasks and coordinating operations. That often involves working long hours and keeping your costs lean. But there comes a time when bringing on executive leadership is the reasonable and right next step. When starting a new business , you’ll likely wear many hats.

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CTO Hire Fractional CTO CTO Hiring 163

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 9, 2012

TLDR: Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits , authors of The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development are back with a new book called The Lean Entrepreneur. Since then, Brant and Patrick have been tireless advocates for the whole Lean Startup movement. Market segments drive your business model. Illustrations by FAKEGRIMLOCK.

Entrepreneur 167

Entrepreneur Lean Southern California San Diego 167

crowdSPRING Blog

FEBRUARY 1, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Lean Business Tips: Hiring Contractors for Fun and Profit(ability) – [link]. The 7 Worst Marketing Blunders Small Businesses Make | Forbes – [link].

Social Media 109

Social Media Small Business North America Design 109

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

To do this they have to accomplish five things; 1) get deal flow – via networking and legwork, they identify likely industries, companies and teams with the potential for rapid growth (less than 10 years), 2) evaluate those companies and teams on the basis of technology, market opportunity, and team.

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Silicon Valley IPO Technical Review Venture Capital 237

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 30, 2009

Little Indians and Big Indians At MIPS Computers , my second semiconductor company, I was the VP of Marketing and defacto head of Sales. I was just in marketing. Gathering feature requests from customers is not what marketing should be doing in a startup. No, not really. All I had done was proudly go out and get customer input.

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Customer Development Developer Customer Silicon Valley 287

crowdSPRING Blog

MARCH 28, 2013

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Empower Your Small Business – NEW edition: marketing, lean business, paid search, #1 mistake – [link]. Lean Business: Freelancers for ALL My Friends!

Social Media 107

Social Media Small Business Design Media 107

Steve Blank

APRIL 10, 2009

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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Silicon Valley RSS Startup Agile 309

Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

At the same time we were educating the press , we began to educate our own marketing department about what exactly we were supposed to be doing inside the company. During the first few weeks I asked each of my department heads what they did for marketing and the company. Titles are not the same as what your job is. This is a big idea.

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Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 271

Steve Blank

AUGUST 13, 2009

Customer Development/Lean Startups In hindsight startups and the venture capital community left out the most important first step any startup ought to be doing – hypothesis testing in front of customers- from day one. Since I wasn’t an engineer, my contribution was around the team-building and fund raising. I was an idiot.

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Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review Lean 208

ReadWriteStart

DECEMBER 15, 2022

Being able to hire talented professionals remains a difficult proposition in the current job market, especially when sourcing experienced developers, designers, and project managers. For example, Lean Startup offers many benefits to emerging organizations, especially considering its focus on crafting a minimum viable product (MVP).

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Incubator Startup Software Developers Software Development 188

crowdSPRING Blog

MAY 30, 2014

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! Why is 37 Signals’s Marketing so Captivating? Some marketers just don’t get it … crowdspring.co/1jOdkm0. Agile UX vs Lean UX, which should you choose?

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Social Media Small Business Design Media 93

Steve Blank

JUNE 11, 2009

» Dig for Leadership - Stories that try to make the world a better place. , AKPC_IDS += "499,"; (No Ratings Yet) Loading … Posted in Leadership | Tagged [.] But make sure it fits who you are. The rest is worth reading as well. steve Am I a Founder? The Adventure of a Lifetime. carry on reading.

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Cofounder Founder Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder 230

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

Rob Sobers said about the marketing growth strategy, “It’s not about tactics—it’s about people and process.”. When it comes to process, growth marketers must learn to fail. A marketing growth strategy is about small and incremental wins that build up over time. Growth marketing is about process over tactics.

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Marketing Framework Metrics Channel 115

ConversionXL

MARCH 19, 2020

An article on growth and marketing in the middle of a crisis—the current one or any other—can seem tone deaf. This post surveys what people have done in the past—and what marketing leaders are doing now—to make it through tough times and thrive in the post-crisis era. Tim Stewart, trsdigital. But nothing gets better if we stand still.

Marketing 121

Marketing Campaign Non-Compete Lean 121

SoCal CTO

JULY 13, 2010

Just because a product has a patent, deep complexity and an obvious competitive advantage does not mean that it can fly by itself into the market. had two occasions recently to review products which had clear market leadership. Yes, even bootstrappers. liquidation preference. This pitcher has retired 5 of the last 7 batters."

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Cofounder Technical Cofounder Term Sheet Startup 175

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 3, 2014

These posts and videos are about logo design , web design , startups, entrepreneurship, small business, leadership, social media, marketing, and more! David vs. Goliath: Lean Startup Advantages | OpenView Blog – crowdspring.co/1x2JFtG. Lookalike audiences: the next big thing in marketing?

Social Media 94

Social Media Small Business Design Media 94

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 11, 2019

Nowadays, businesses of all sizes need to adapt to new marketing channels, invest in the best technologies, and attempt to compete on a global stage. Evolving market trends, a shift in consumer expectation, and a changing economic climate can be daunting for many business owners. Increased Competition in the Market.

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Reputation Technical Review Global Leadership 127

Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

While I was waiting in the lobby to pick up my offer letter, the head of marketing communications (who was to be one of my direct reports) came up to me as I held my just signed employment agreement. OK, let’s start with the basics, who does marketing think our customers are?” The obvious one’s were who were they?

Silicon Valley 213

Silicon Valley RSS Software Review Technical Review 213

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 16, 2015

At times I wanted the engineering team to produce features to support our sales efforts to I occasionally leaned on them a bit. So he would allocate say – 20% to sales, 15% to marketing, 20% to eng priorities, 10% to customer support, 10% to ops, 20% to ‘platinum customers’ and maybe 5% directly to me as the CEO.

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Startup CTO Hire Sales PR 150

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

Lean Six Sigma. Whereas Six Sigma is focused on achieving consistent results, Lean Six Sigma aims to increase flow by reducing wastage and shortening cycle times. Training is typically based on Lean Six Sigma and uses a system of belts based on Karate colours. Project Management Professional (PMP).

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Management Lean Green Agile 113

Up and Running

AUGUST 30, 2021

We also usually don’t know all the ins and outs of the market we want to get into. For Alex at Origin , a scheduling and booking platform for outdoor guiding companies, he soon realized that for the company to grow exponentially, they’d need thousands of customers because of how fragmented the market is. Go lean with your planning.

Entrepreneur 132

Entrepreneur Lean Colorado Engineer 132

ConversionXL

AUGUST 8, 2018

Does investing in employees marketing skills pay off? Within marketing departments, an estimated 4.2% of the total marketing budget now goes to training programs, up from 2.7% Within marketing departments, an estimated 4.2% of the total marketing budget now goes to training programs, up from 2.7% Too little?

Marketing 106

Marketing Metrics Programming Leadership 106

ReadWriteStart

NOVEMBER 16, 2020

For example, they can create a clear understanding of what the brand is and what it isn’t, and steer operational models and marketing strategies to adhere to those principles. Leadership Experience. You can get leadership experience in any context where you’re in charge of other people. Reliance on Other Experts.

Technical Review 156

Technical Review Startup Disintermediation Leadership 156

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

Today, Grizzle is a full-service content marketing and SEO agency that provides B2B and SaaS companies end-to-end services. Here, I’ll show you the journey we took to finding our place in the market by testing, pivoting, and re-pivoting our serving offerings and value propositions so you can grow your agency faster, without fewer wrong turns.

PR 120

PR B2B Lean Audience 120

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 5, 2017

Solutions that imply a paradigm shift always take longer to sell, and more money for marketing and education than expected. Leadership with general and domain knowledge. Implement “lean startup” principles. Persistence and patience with timing mismatches. The grass always looks greener on the other side of the fence.

Technical Review 152

Technical Review Stealth Lean Social Media 152

Gregg Fraley, Author of Jack's Notebook

SEPTEMBER 15, 2014

It might remind you of Lean. It should, it borrows concepts from Lean, but it’s Not Lean. Lean is strategic and long term. Lean requires learning Lean. So, what is Quick & Dirty innovation? It’s doing something quickly with the least possible fuss and use of resources.

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Lean Leadership Programming Management 112

Steve Blank

JULY 20, 2009

No mainframe or minicomputer company saw any market for these small machines. And truth be told, these early systems were laughable, at first having no disk drives (you used tape cassettes,) no monitors (you used your TV set as a display,) and no high level programming languages.

Silicon Valley 206

Silicon Valley Chad RSS San Francisco 206

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

The biggest challenge for marketers is getting them. Account-based marketing (ABM) and lead generation both offer a way to do this. Account-based marketing is a team sport. It flips the traditional sales funnel on its head, ditching the one-size-fits-all approach to marketing in favor of a land-and-expand approach.

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Lead Generation Marketing Sales Cycle Campaign 94

ConversionXL

JANUARY 18, 2022

Learn how to identify what your customers want from your brand, how to build momentum with content, and then explore some brands that excel at brand marketing. For most of 2021, CXL didn’t have a marketing team. Lean into your strengths, and don’t try to appeal to everyone. Brand is your strongest asset.

Marketing 109

Marketing Social Media Non-Compete Audience 109

YoungUpstarts

APRIL 14, 2014

This is the magic number for leadership teams, product teams, research teams, design teams, and more. For example, FedEx — a giant, incredibly complex company — has streamlined its core leadership team to CEO Fred Smith and 10 direct reports. Remember, lean and hungry is always better than fat and comfortable.

Agile 196

Agile Leadership Architecture Product Development 196

ConversionXL

JUNE 2, 2022

Ask 10 people what account-based marketing (ABM) is and you’ll get 10 different answers. Some see it as a sales tactic, while others view it as a content marketing strategy. What is account-based marketing? In his account-based marketing course , Watt goes on to unpack each of the adjectives in his definition: Sustained.

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Customer Marketing Channel Acquisition 98

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 29, 2016

Guest post by Jennifer Maerz, contributing editor of Lean Startup Co. The Lean Startup team has been hard at work finalizing the details of this year’s Lean Startup Week. Welcome to Lean Startup Week 2016 TL;DR: Before you dive into the details, here’s a quick look at what you can expect during your week with us: On Oct.

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Lean Programming San Francisco Startup 60

Hearpreneur

JUNE 9, 2023

In a recession, advertising costs can go down as fewer companies invest in marketing. Allocate most of your marketing budget to SEO, Content Marketing, Social Media, and email marketing to retain and build brand loyalty. We also run a lean business, with regular budgets and reviews of expenses.

Entrepreneur 139

Entrepreneur North America Employee Retention 139

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Could allow the corporation to be disruptive by entering adjacent markets to the ones it currently serves. Could create and introduce new and disruptive products and/or services for new markets. Do we have a Lean Startup Methodology in place? Does your Stage 1 outpost have Technology Connectors as its key leadership/staff?

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Silicon Valley Incubator Acquisition Business Model 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

In five years, ESL went from a plucky startup to the market leader in Sigint and telemetry intercepts. And in the 1960s ESL’s customers asked the company to analyze and interpret telemetry data even though this was a traditional function of the “customer.&# Ah, ‘thems’ were the days.

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Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 201

crowdSPRING Blog

OCTOBER 5, 2014

“Leadership is a matter of having people look at you and gain confidence, seeing how you react. Sometimes this needs to happen with an employee, sometimes with a partner, sometimes with a certain customer, and sometimes with your overall marketing or business strategy. If you’re in control, they’re in control.”

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San Francisco Harvest Lean Small Business 87