Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 20, 2020

I’ve long been an advocate of using Lean Startup principles to advance non-profits and philanthropic organizations, whose work is so urgently needed at this moment in history. In this blog post, I want to share the story of a lean pop-up organization called HelpKitchen. SF New Deal and Frontline Foods were early leaders.

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Lean San Francisco Technical Review Software Review 128

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 1, 2017

In his Harvard Business Review article summing up his tenure, Immelt recalls that the two things that influenced him most were Marc Andreessen’s 2011 Wall Street Journal article “ Why Software Is Eating the World, ” and Eric Ries’s book The Lean Startup. Are lean innovation and the Startup Way a failure in large companies?

Institutional Investors 271

Institutional Investors Dividend Stock Technical Review 271

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 9, 2013

As our Lean LaunchPad for Life Sciences class winds down, a good number of the 26 teams are trying to figure out whether they should go forward to turn their class project into a business. I pointed out that the “data” you gather in 10 weeks (talking to 100+ customers, partners, payers, etc.,) see 0:30 in the video below).

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Cofounder Technical Cofounder Liquidity Event Lean 330

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 16, 2014

” She looked at bit puzzled, so I continued to explain… One of the virtues of using the Business Model Canvas as part of a Lean Startup is that it helps you frame each one of your nine critical hypotheses. Or can we outsource these activities to Partners?” i.e. what resources do I need to make the activities happen?

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Cofounder Founder Intellectual Property Business Model 335

Steve Blank

DECEMBER 20, 2011

“We’ve been reading your blog about your Lean Launchpad class.” We want to make a bet that your Lean Launchpad class can apply the scientific method to market-opportunity identification. The Innovation Corps – Using the Lean LaunchPad as an Incubator for Scientists and Engineers. Filed under: Lean LaunchPad , Teaching.

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Incubator Government Silicon Valley Lean 310

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 28, 2020

He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map. Investors and partners now look only for a framework of your business essentials, within the context of your opportunity, solution, and financials. Incorporating a business entity early through online services.

Intellectual Property 404

Intellectual Property Startup Angel Groups Social Media 404

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2012

To celebrate the debut of the Japan edition of “The Startup Owner’s Manual” and to express great thanks to Steve and his co-author Bob Dorf, I would like to reflect back what first drew me to this book and offer Steve’s worldwide readers a look at the progress of Customer Development and the Lean LaunchPad class in Japan. Takashi Tsutsumi.

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Japan Customer Development Developer Customer 305

Up and Running

AUGUST 21, 2018

Today, I want to introduce a new approach to business planning: Lean Planning. Lean Planning replaces lengthy business plans with a 20-minute planning process that focuses on increasing your chances of success in business. Lean Planning is simpler and faster than writing a traditional business plan. Step 1: Create a Lean Plan.

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Lean Forecast Software Review Business Plan 134

Steve Blank

JANUARY 2, 2014

This post is part of our series on the National Science Foundation I-Corps Lean LaunchPad class in Life Science and Health Care at UCSF. Over the course of the class Mira Medicine team spoke to over 80 customers, partners and payers. Filed under: Customer Development , Lean LaunchPad , Life Sciences , Teaching.

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Lean Algorithm Customer Development IP 250

Steve Blank

JUNE 8, 2021

Although the class was run completely online, and even though they were suffering from Zoom fatigue, the 10 teams of 42 students collectively interviewed 1,142 beneficiaries, stakeholders, requirements writers, program managers, industry partners, etc. – while simultaneously building a series of minimal viable products.

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Lean Security Asia SBIR 417

Steve Blank

MAY 19, 2021

To help a large Defense organization wrestle with how to increase the velocity of innovation in their ranks Steve Blank and I spent the better part of last week with our heads together reviewing everything we learned in the five years since we merged the concepts of problem curation and Lean while launching the innovation pipeline.

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Curation Technical Review Lean Australia 353

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 9, 2013

I strongly recommend a dramatic departure from this model, called “planned iteration” or Lean Startup methodology, where you assume you won’t get it right the first time, so you launch with a minimum viable product (MVP). Find customers, partners and channels early. Get out there personally and find that first customer.

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Agile Startup Social Network Software Developers 263

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 17, 2014

I strongly recommend a dramatic departure from this model, called “planned iteration” or Lean Startup methodology, where you assume you won’t get it right the first time, so you launch with a minimum viable product (MVP). Find customers, partners and channels early. Get out there personally and find that first customer.

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Agile Startup Social Network Software Developers 253

TechEmpower

DECEMBER 11, 2023

Given this diversity, it's important to be selective in the development services company with whom you choose to partner. However, an overly attractive site could indicate a leaning towards design over development. This vast pool of talent showcases a wide range of experience and portfolios, quality of work, and inquisitiveness.

Software Developers 297

Software Developers Software Development Software Review Software 297

Steve Blank

JUNE 26, 2015

—– Lean Innovation Management. In the last five years “ Lean Startup ” methodologies have enabled entrepreneurs to efficiently build a startup by searching for product/market fit rather than blindly trying to execute. Companies pursuing innovation can Buy, Build, Partner or use Open Innovation. Here’s how.

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Lean Management Business Model Incubator 120

Steve Blank

JULY 7, 2015

My guests on Bay Area Ventures on Wharton Business Radio on Sirius XM Channel 111 were: Eric Ries , entrepreneur and author of the New York Times bestseller, The Lean Startup. Eric was the very first practitioner of my Customer Development methodology which became the core of the the Lean methodology. Origins of the Lean Startup.

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Lean Silicon Valley Technical Cofounder Channel 120

VC Cafe

MARCH 31, 2025

Michael later served as a group partner, managing director, and CEO of YC. Michael Seibel first joined YC as a founder (twice: w07, w12) once with the live streaming service Justin.TV (which morphed into Twitch) and later on Socialcam, another streaming app. The YC companies Michael has worked with are worth a combined $192 billion.

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Cofounder Silicon Valley Technical Review PR 88

Steve Blank

FEBRUARY 23, 2013

Ron is a managing partner of Schaffer Consulting , and is currently serving as an Executive-in-Residence at the Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. My friend Ron Ashkenas interviewed me for his blog on the Harvard Business Review. He is a co-author of The GE Work-Out and The Boundaryless Organization.

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Business Model Technical Review Business Plan Search 334

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 4, 2022

Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners.

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Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 309

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 9, 2020

Thus I was happily surprised when I found the classic book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners.

Technical Cofounder 308

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Stock Options 308

Startup Professionals Musings

APRIL 28, 2014

It’s your startup, so you can give early partners any title you want, but be aware of potential investor and peer implications. VCs and Angel investors like to see a startup that is running lean and mean, with no more than three or four of the conventional C-level or VP titles.

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CTO Hire Fractional CTO Angel Investor Public Relations 252

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 23, 2021

and its partners to mitigate that threat? Raymond said a focus for the Space Force is being lean and fast, innovative and unified. Space Force continues to develop, what changes in strategy and/or addition to its portfolio of responsibilities would you recommend? What is the greatest current threat to U.S. interests in space?

Technical Review 373

Technical Review Technology Russia United States 373

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 16, 2023

He nails the current key startup parameters, including the following: Crafting a lean business plan as your road map. Investors and partners now look only for a framework of your business essentials, within the context of your opportunity, solution, and financials. Incorporating a business entity early through online services.

Intellectual Property 261

Intellectual Property Entrepreneur Angel Groups Social Media 261

Up and Running

MAY 21, 2020

You either partner with somebody, or take a job in that industry, or let it go. Do a lean business plan. Develop a lean business plan. Use the lean business plan to test whether you know enough to go further. Don’t just hire a consultant; you need to do this first basic lean business plan by yourself.

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Lean Business Plan Software Review Angel Investor 186

Both Sides of the Table

FEBRUARY 12, 2019

You might like to think that a bunch of savvy venture capitalists saw a market niche for raising smaller funds or perhaps there was a generational shift where disgruntled junior partners spun out of bigger firms to start their own gigs. This is why many VCs are waiting and letting deals mature a bit before leaning into rounds.

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Venture Capital Technical Review Seed Stage IPO 328

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 6, 2012

You may have read my previous posts about the Lean LaunchPad class taught at Stanford , Berkeley, Columbia , Caltech and for the National Science Foundation. He called it the “Lean Startup.”. Then in the fall of 2011, the National Science Foundation read my blog posts on the Stanford version of the Lean LaunchPad class.

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Lean Georgia Michigan Business Model 324

YoungUpstarts

JANUARY 28, 2020

If your community attracts top talent and businesses, then your company’s resources, networking opportunities, and growth partners all improve. By forming partnerships with other organizations or community groups, you’ll have accountability partners.

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Los Angeles Green San Francisco Community 218

Steve Blank

MAY 6, 2015

I am always surprised when critics complain that the Lean Startup’s Build, Measure, Learn approach is nothing more than “throwing incomplete products out of the building to see if they work.”. It’s time to update Build, Measure, Learn to what we now know is the best way to build Lean startups. Here’s how. Build-Measure-Learn.

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Lean Agile Business Model Customer Development 120

Steve Blank

JUNE 18, 2013

The Lean LaunchPad entrepreneurship curriculum has caught fire. It’s called the Lean Startup. So my book and Berkeley class turned into the Lean LaunchPad class in the Stanford Engineering school. Then in July 2011, the National Science Foundation read my blog posts on the Lean LaunchPad class. Victor Hugo.

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Lean Agile Customer Development Business Model 295

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 11, 2014

Thus I was happy to see a new book, “ The Tech Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide ,” by Bernd Schoner, PhD, and cofounder of ThingMagic, which leans heavily on the people side of the equation. The rest can come from early hires (with stock options to assure commitment), equity investors, or even strategic partners.

Technical Cofounder 245

Technical Cofounder Cofounder Advisory Board Startup 245

Steve Blank

JANUARY 11, 2022

We were integrating a lecture class with a heavy reading list with the best practices of hypothesis testing from Lean Launchpad/Hacking for Defense/I-Corps. must analyze which key Australian industries are most threatened and determine viable alternative trading partners. If you can’t see the presentation click here. .

Technical Review 330

Technical Review Technology Taiwan Venture Capital 330

Steve Blank

MARCH 2, 2013

While the Lean LaunchPad class has been adopted by Universities and the National Science Foundation , the question we get is, “Can students in K-12 handle an experiential entrepreneurship class?” They both attended our latest Lean LaunchPad Educators Class. Summary for the Lean LaunchPad in K-12 Education.

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Lean SCRUM Ohio Cleveland 312

Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 13, 2020

There are several lines of effort that we’re focusing on: We’re working to build the Space Force as a very Lean and Agile service. What is the Space Force Doing Differently in Innovation- With Commercial Partners and Internally? I’m not saying that the partners that we have aren’t good.

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Technology United States Iraq Operations 333

Steve Blank

JANUARY 21, 2015

I was in New York last week teaching my annual 5-day version of the Lean LaunchPad class at the Columbia Business School. While some venture firms have been around for awhile, perhaps the newer partners have a different model of what a successful founder looks like than their west coast peers.

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Silicon Valley New York City New York Venture Capital 120

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 20, 2014

You travel across the country to attract investors, reach out to new clients, or meet with possible partners. He’s been solely dedicated to Enterprise Content Management space for over six years, and is passionate about lean, startup marketing. Software such as this allows for remote transfer and access of documents.

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Management Software Review Startup Canada 223

YoungUpstarts

NOVEMBER 6, 2019

I was an early adopter in financial operations and software of lean operational and product development techniques that originated at Toyota, and then of agile as it was promulgated in the Manifesto. My team had already successfully adopted lean operational processes in a very large manufacturing-like process, as well as early agile ideas.

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Agile Leadership SCRUM Lean 113

Both Sides of the Table

MARCH 11, 2011

Secondly, they had an owned & operated (O&O) website – Google.com – and Overture had shut down GoTo.com at the request of their very profitable and large distribution partners. When he tells his stories from the 1990′s your realize that he was probably the original “lean startup.&#

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