Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 5, 2009

Your presentation doesn’t have a single word about Lean Startups or Customer Development. We also talk about cash flow management rather than fund-raising though – watch and justifying expenses by cash coming in that matches or exceeds. They will realize that you have built a startup that’s agile, resilient and customer-centric.

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Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

The first step was to recruit a new management team. Now with a new infusion of $8 million dollars of venture capital, SuperMac had been resurrected from the dead and was attempting to restart. Why they were looking to me to run marketing wasn’t clear. They sold to a set of customers I knew nothing about.

Silicon Valley 170

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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. It fine-tunes the processes needed to properly manage these teams and execute projects. Manage Agency Growth to Expand at a Proper Rate.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Managing these situations is hard for any company, but potentially lethal for a startup. The theory is that there is some truth in both camps, and the right way to manage the disagreement is to sprinkle a little bit of both into our plans. To the people being managed that way, it feels like the boss is being capricious or arbitrary.

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web. The first question to ask is: “Does your startup have market risk or is it dominated by technical risk?” Lean Startup /Customer Development is used to find answers to the unknowns about customers and markets.

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Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Hunter Walker

AUGUST 31, 2021

Early adopter verticals — such as software development and tech sales — is mostly in Gen 3. But I also wanted to suggest there’s a coming Gen 4 of SaaS leaning heavily into EQ instead of IQ because I truly believe the Future of Work involves understanding emotions not just data.

Software 141

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Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 4, 2009

For example, Friendster was famously vertically partitioned at one time in its growth curve. I normally recommend you just store this directory on your master database, but you could use a standalone vertical shard (or even a key-based partition!) This type of vertical partitioning sharding scheme wont work in most cases.

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Steve Blank

JUNE 29, 2009

I was met by a very apologetic manager who said, “We’ve been trying to get a hold of you for the last week. The manager of the training department who hired you wasn’t authorized to do so – and he’s been fired. With my offer letter in-hand I reported to ESL’s Human Resources (HR) department.

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YoungUpstarts

MAY 14, 2018

by Cooper Hollmaier, technical SEO manager at Visiture. More users than ever are leaning on their mobile devices for research before engaging a brand. Cooper Hollmaier is technical SEO manager at Visiture. We all know that marketing is essential for a small business, especially as you’re just starting 8out.

Small Business 173

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Steve Blank

JULY 16, 2009

However the VC’s are managing a portfolio while you, the entrepreneur are managing one company – yours. Or investing in 10 companies and having 8 fail - but the remaining two companies returning 20x their money for $40 million. His point was that it was in the VC’s interest in having entrepreneurs swing for the fences.

Silicon Valley 223

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Steve Blank

APRIL 9, 2009

When I asked our trade show manager she looked at me like I was the house idiot and said, “Steve, don’t you know that my job is to set up our trade show booth?” But my favorite was when the public relations manager said, “we’re here to write press releases and answer the phone in case the press calls.” This is a big idea.

Silicon Valley 271

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS PR 271

Steve Blank

JUNE 25, 2009

Twenty eight years ago I was the bright, young, eager product marketing manager called out to the field to support sales by explaining the technical details of Convergent Technologies products to potential customers. So their management teams were insisting that they OEM (buy from someone else) these products. Help them?!!

Technology 145

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Steve Blank

JULY 20, 2009

Just as I was getting settled into Zilog, the manager of the training department got fired. (I I was beginning to think that my hiring managers were related to red-shirted guys on Star Trek.) I quit a job as road manager, because it had meant that I was gone 9 months out of the year and my job was any waking minute.

Silicon Valley 206

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Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Let’s Fire Our Customers « Steve Blank (tags: product-management startup business) [.] 3) Managing the relationship is more consumptive than the rewards. I’ll add I’m particularly curious about how founders recognize that point at which they need to exit / fire the old customers.

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Up and Running

MAY 3, 2021

You might want to be an all-rounder SEO agency or, as we discuss later in this piece, you may want to specialize your verticals. Expertise in a specific industry vertical or process? Due to this relative lack of speed on SEO’s part, it can be difficult to make the case for it, but leaning on data can help.

SEO 147

SEO Vertical Metadata Forecast 147

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 14, 2009

They built airplanes out of palm trees thinking if they did manna would come in airplanes again.

Silicon Valley 237

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

In the old days, the brand manager of a consumer packaged goods product had to spend energy inferring the effectiveness of their television ads through a combination of trailing indicators (like market share) or time-consuming market research. Each new campaign is a startup where Lean principals can be applied to maximum effect.

San Francisco 113

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Steve Blank

MARCH 19, 2009

Instead they managed rep firms (independent sales companies that carried multiple, non-competing products) that called on computer resellers that sold to the customers. For the next three weeks I spent 8 hours a day calling customers and another 6 hours a day managing my new department. I’m sure the CEO thought I was crazy.

Silicon Valley 213

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Steve Blank

JUNE 15, 2009

I learned a lot at Convergent, going from product marketing manager in a small startup to VP of Marketing of the Unix Division as it became a public company. emotional rather than technical) and a lot harder to manage than a startup. emotional rather than technical) and a lot harder to manage than a startup.&#

Entrepreneur 295

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Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 26, 2009

So no post today on entrepreneurship, Secret History of Silicon Valley, Customer Development, Lean Startups, etc. I hope we managed to teach our children compassion and charity for others. Our friends who run the state park surrounding our ranch will join all of us for Thanksgiving dinner.

Silicon Valley 156

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Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2009

The same issues arose time and again: big company management styles versus entrepreneurs wanting to shoot from the hip, founders versus professional managers, engineering versus marketing, marketing versus sales, missed schedule issues, sales missing the plan, running out of money, raising new money.

Silicon Valley 133

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Steve Blank

OCTOBER 5, 2009

I would learn a ton from Gordon for over a decade, not only about practical heuristics for managing complex engineering projects (i.e. Reply Karma in the Lean Startup Era , on January 28, 2010 at 5:26 pm Said: [.] to move their applications to our unique machine architecture.

North Carolina 133

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YoungUpstarts

DECEMBER 7, 2017

Instead, use an existing user manual template that’s appropriate for your process and vertical. If you’re not using an automated solution to manage revision control, put appropriate policies in writing to ensure that no work is lost. Stay Lean and Low. Stay Lean and Low. Implement Standardized Development Processes.

Cost 100

Cost Developer Small Business Administration Marketing 100

Steve Blank

MAY 18, 2009

It’s our hood alignment station,” the plant manager said proudly. One day, I was at the Ford Wixom auto assembly plant training my replacement and I was at met at the door by an irate plant manager. the manager followed us still yelling. These damn models weren’t designed right so we’re fixing them on the line.”

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The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 29, 2024

Adult Pull-on Diapers Pull-on diapers are a must-have product for managing incontinence as a senior living alone. Install horizontal and vertical grab bars near the toilet, tub, or shower for maximum safety. Test the bars by leaning or pulling with total body weight to ensure stability. Senior couple hugging in a nursing home.

Product 146

Product Security Technical Review Mobile 146

Steve Blank

MAY 11, 2009

But the rest of the management team really skeptical. When we saw our salespeople actually trying to steal the early boards to take home and show their kids, we knew we had a winner. All we had to do was tell customers they could get video into their computer – and not promise anything else. Little did we know.

Video 190

Video Silicon Valley RSS California 190

Steve Blank

APRIL 6, 2009

In 1964, Bill Perry, the head of the lab, frustrated with GTE’s management, quit (GTE, a phone company had bought Sylvania in 1959.) And in the tradition of great startups, on the way out Perry took 6 of his best managers with him. I can say that the management and staff at ESL was the absolute best.

Silicon Valley 201

Silicon Valley Stealth RSS California 201

Steve Blank

JULY 30, 2009

As the (very junior) product marketing manager I got a call from our local salesman that someone at Apple wanted more technical information than just the spec sheets about our new (not yet shipping) chip. Reply 4 Anti-Lean Startup Archetypes at Market By Numbers , on August 4, 2009 at 11:30 am Said: [.]

Silicon Valley 146

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 146

ConversionXL

NOVEMBER 5, 2020

These days, many agencies start as a lean operation. Inversely, if you’re using the agency model to fund another startup or product, you should probably keep things lean. Choose to expand vertically or horizontally. This approach takes a lot of work, so it’s worth taking a lean approach when starting. Image source ).

PR 120

PR B2B Lean Audience 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 2, 2009

When the panicked manager of the magazine test lab would call under a last minute deadline, we would apologize profusely as we sent the cables over – with beer, pizza, and our product manager to help them through any testing “issues”. What did I learn so far?

Silicon Valley 128

Silicon Valley Technical Review RSS Software Review 128

Steve Blank

AUGUST 24, 2009

Somewhere in the midst of total chaos, human-kind managed to layer enough integrity into a system that had built a rather wonderful world. Yet in spite of this, it is amazing the planes stay in the air, medicines work, and we can have orderly revolutions. I think it is because in the end, customers count.

Silicon Valley 215

Silicon Valley PR Technical Review RSS 215

Steve Blank

JULY 27, 2009

Our small training department had been without a manager for months and finding a replacement didn’t seem to be high on the VP of Sales list. Then it hit me – no one else wanted to be manager – what was the worst that could happen? What’s the Worst that Can Happen? All I had to do was ask.

Silicon Valley 120

Silicon Valley RSS Technical Review California 120

Steve Blank

MAY 22, 2009

And that most of the post on trade shows was describing how to prepare and manage a physical presence in a trade show booth. These two posts were amazing. Anyways, here’s one question I have. You are correct all channels, web or otherwise, need to generate awareness and leads.

Silicon Valley 139

Silicon Valley RSS California Customer Development 139

ConversionXL

FEBRUARY 3, 2022

When WordStream began receiving complaints that the seven-day free trial of their PPC management software wasn’t long enough, the brand decided to A/B test 14-day and 30-day trials. Growth marketing borrows a concept from the lean startup methodology. Take Qless , a SaaS platform for queue management and appointment scheduling.

Framework 102

Framework Marketing Acquisition Retention 102

ConversionXL

OCTOBER 14, 2014

Here’s the problem: Every other poor schmuck in every other vertical has used the Exact. Considering that nearly 2 million Americans fall victim to online scams a year, and many scam sites lean heavily on low priced stock photography… the odds are not in your favor. Image Source: Getty Images Rights Managed Collection .

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crowdSPRING Blog

DECEMBER 13, 2018

Horizontal vs vertical vs diagonal lines. Unlike vertical or diagonal lines, they look as though gravity has already acted upon them and there is nowhere for them to fall. Vertical lines run perpendicular to the horizon. Vertical lines draw the eye upward. Management. Softer curves are more calming to look at.

Marketing 162

Marketing Charlotte Naming Design 162

Steve Blank

JULY 13, 2009

Which at this stage of the company was marketing and financing. Our “Hollywood meets Silicon Valley” story played great in Silicon Valley, they ate it up in Hollywood, and the business press tripped over themselves to talk to us.

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