Steve Blank

JANUARY 5, 2023

We just wrapped up the second year of our Technology, Innovation, and Great Power Competition class – now part of our Stanford Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation. government agencies, our federal research labs, and government contractors no longer have exclusive access to these advanced technologies.

Technical Review 376

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Technology China 376

Steve Blank

OCTOBER 22, 2024

In March 2022 I wrote a description of the Quantum Technology Ecosystem. Just as a reminder, Quantum technologies are used in three very different and distinct markets: Quantum Computing , Quantum Communications and Quantum Sensing and Metrology. Shor’s factorization algorithm can crack these codes if run on a Quantum Computer.

Technical Review 267

Technical Review Illinois Algorithm Software Review 267

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

The previous post described how China built its science and technology infrastructure. This post is about the how the Chinese government engineered technology clusters. Of all the Chinese government programs, the Torch Program is the one program that kick-started Chinese high-tech innovation and startups. Innovation Clusters.

Programming 287

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 287

The Startup Magazine

JULY 7, 2022

The world relies on technology more and more every day. As a result, we utilize technology in practically everything we do. When considering gaining technological skills, it’s a good idea to think about which ones will be in high demand in the future. Technology is a broad profession with several fascinating career paths.

Technical Review 158

Technical Review Artificial Inteligence Cloud Software Review 158

View from Seed

JULY 31, 2014

And since we will continue to look proactively at new seed-stage tech startups over the next few years, the question becomes: What, then, will these companies look like? More interesting, however, is reflecting on what “rhymes” across multiple investments within our portfolio. Step-Function Ad Tech. Recent Investment Themes.

Seed Stage 272

Seed Stage B2C Technical Review Disintermediation 272

The Startup Magazine

FEBRUARY 11, 2022

On the other side of the spectrum, the idea of finding a unicorn has attracted many investors toward the much riskier venture capital and emerging technologies. Over the past decade, advancing technologies and social consciousness have been causing unprecedented and exciting shifts in every sector of the economy, not just the tertiary.

Private Equity 164

Private Equity Equity Technical Review Software Review 164

Gust

OCTOBER 19, 2014

I always advise software startups to file patents to protect their “secret sauce” from competitors, and to increase their valuation. Yes, the software patent process is a mess. I say this with conviction even after I survived the process, and have a software patent pending. Software technology changes rapidly.

Software Review 173

Software Review Software Technical Review Intellectual Property 173

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 13, 2011

My initial desire to blog came from something that’s always been my approach to investing – I’m a nerd and I love to play with the technology and part of my approach has really been to understand things both at a user level and at a reasonably deep tentacle level. If you are outside internet software we are not going to invest.

Technical Review 288

Technical Review Venture Capital Silicon Valley Software Review 288

Both Sides of the Table

JULY 16, 2010

But VC is an “illiquid asset&# so funds didn’t disappear quickly - In 2000/01 the stock market quickly adjusted punishing investors in the NASDAQ and in individual public technology stocks. You’ll notice that Harvard lost 30% of the entire value of its portfolio. Team must be purely technical.

LP 311

LP Technical Review Early Stage Silicon Valley 311

Steve Blank

SEPTEMBER 26, 2018

But as impressive as its technology is, the Apple’s smartwatch has been a product looking for a solution. Large tech companies like Google, Amazon, Apple recognize that the multi- trillion dollar health care market is ripe for disruption and have poured billions of dollars into the space. Healthcare on Your Wrist.

China 67

China Technical Review Software Review Algorithm 67

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 3, 2009

portfolios. That died with waterfall software development. Ditto for enterprise software companies. Usually in a tech / software startup 70-80% of your costs will be people. Each quarter you should review your model. Tags: Startup Advice startup technology vc venture capital. Do so at your peril.

Business Plan 334

Business Plan AJAX Venture Capital Technical Review 334

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system. I’m not looking to invest there – I’m looking to understand the trends, the people, the innovation, the regions and how China can become an integral part of any of my portfolio companies as they scale. we would support 6.0

China 333

China Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review 333

Both Sides of the Table

NOVEMBER 25, 2010

China is indelibly an important part of the future of the global technology system. I’m not looking to invest there – I’m looking to understand the trends, the people, the innovation, the regions and how China can become an integral part of any of my portfolio companies as they scale. we would support 6.0

China 328

China Silicon Valley Software Review Technical Review 328

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 23, 2012

I have been close to the tech & startup sectors for more than 20 years and I can’t think of a period in which I felt more optimistic about the innovation and value creation I see in front of us. If you want to understand the details of why this is, I covered it in detail in this post, Understanding Changes in the Software Industry.

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

View from Seed

JANUARY 27, 2021

You are a “digital native” with a strong interest in new technology and have hands-on proficiency with many online tools for managing social media interactions, event production, and project management. You are actively engaged in the NYC or Boston tech ecosystem. All applications will be reviewed confidentially. How To Apply .

Operations 227

Operations Hiring Seed Stage Boston 227

VC Cafe

JANUARY 24, 2021

Covid-19 accelerated the adoption of entertainment tech, gaming and commerce. The move to remote work forced quick adoption of cloud technology and tools that were once having difficulties selling to large corporates, saw explosive growth – from Zoom to Hopin, new unicorns were born in record time. 2020… where to start?

Technical Review 207

Technical Review Audio Forecast Social Media 207

Up and Running

SEPTEMBER 10, 2014

Angels invest in one out of every forty deals they review (2.5%) versus the one out of 400 by VC’s (0.25%). They are professionals with full-time jobs, who often don’t have time for due diligence (and may not even know how to do it) and often make decisions through trusted referrals or based on gut feelings (more on gut feelings later).

Angel Investor 159

Angel Investor Technical Review Software Review Accredited Investor 159

Both Sides of the Table

AUGUST 8, 2009

It is code word for “I’m not ready to invest for whatever reason … I need more proof.&#. But many Series A firms tell people they have a “revenue rule&# and then you look at their portfolio and see many exceptions. They get positive product reviews on TechCrunch, GigaOm or Paidcontent.org.

Technical Review 309

Technical Review Term Sheet Venture Capital Revenue 309

Steve Blank

JANUARY 22, 2014

Dino Vendetti a VC at Bay Partners, moved up to Bend, Oregon on a mission to engineer Bend into a regional technology cluster. Today with every city, state and country trying to build out a technology cluster, following Dino’s progress can provide others with a roadmap of what’s worked and what has not. Tech investing is risky.

Early Stage 295

Early Stage Silicon Valley Oregon Technical Review 295

VC Cafe

JULY 5, 2010

The workshop participants, of which there were about 30, brought diverse experience and expertise to the table – from young entrepreneurs with just a few years of experience in the consumer web, to seasoned executives with decades of experience in semiconductors, telecommunications and enterprise software.

Software Review 116

Software Review Technical Review Community Due Diligence 116

View from Seed

DECEMBER 17, 2015

Editor’s Note: NextView recently kicked off a Boston-based workshop series on technical interviewing with Google. Portfolio companies can contact us to learn more.) Saurya Velagapudi is a senior software engineer at Google, based in their Cambridge, Mass., office, right in the heart of MIT.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Engineer Software Review Founder 120

VC Cafe

MARCH 1, 2024

In addition, founders thinking about starting a company can be overwhelmed by choice, as there are so many problems to tackle with technology, but it could be comforting to know that investors are interested in those areas in the first place. Looking for startups solving practical use cases that go beyond gaming.

Artificial Inteligence 176

Artificial Inteligence Technical Review Software Review Generative AI 176

Version One Ventures

APRIL 11, 2019

This time, I am very excited to introduce Sin-Mei Tsai , VP of Engineering at Shippo , a Version One portfolio company. Instead of asking three questions as we did with Bala, we’re going to take a very deep dive into a critical topic: code quality. What follows below are Sin-Mei’s words on how she (and Shippo) define code quality.

Part-Time VPE 99

Part-Time VPE Software Review Engineer Technical Review 99

David Teten

DECEMBER 3, 2019

When I met my now-wife, I realized that any technology that can find me a spouse is a killer app. I’d argue that the same type of technologies that have revolutionized dating can revolutionize our industry. . I walk through below how progressive investors are using technology and analytics throughout all of their operations.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review Software Review Analytics Private Equity 78

NZ Entrepreneur

MAY 31, 2021

Andrew Chen shares his takeaways from the second instalment on Portfolio Management, held in Wellington on 13 May 2021. Participants heard about both the theory and reality of portfolio management from three different experiences: Marcel van den Assum provided the angel investor perspective, having invested in over 50 companies over 15 years.

Portfolio 97

Portfolio New Zealand Management Technical Review 97

Both Sides of the Table

OCTOBER 1, 2009

Consumer spending is 70% of the economy and will continue to be stretched – We can look all we want at tech innovation, VC funding cycles and hot M&A deals, but ultimately growth and therefore investment must be underpinned by revenue. Tags: Pitching VCs Start-up Advice VC Industry startup technology vc venture capital.

Technical Review 269

Technical Review Stock Hawaii Early Stage 269

Startup Professionals Musings

JANUARY 27, 2016

For a software startup, a patent can be the intellectual property providing the key competitive advantage, or it can be an expensive non-defensible bureaucratic nightmare -- or both. Some argue to simply eliminate software patents, while others put their hopes in U.S. That’s more than a lifetime in today’s technology.

Software Review 120

Software Review Intellectual Property Software Technical Review 120

Steve Blank

APRIL 11, 2013

The previous post described how China built its science and technology infrastructure. This post is about the how the Chinese government engineered technology clusters. Of all the Chinese government programs, the Torch Program is the one program that kick-started Chinese high-tech innovation and startups. Innovation Clusters.

Programming 179

Programming Technical Review SBIR China 179

View from Seed

FEBRUARY 10, 2015

When Rob, David, and I started NextView nearly five years ago we thought it was important to enlist a small group of talented entrepreneurs as we built and helped our portfolio over time. So if they’re not just names on a page, how are these entrepreneur advisors involved with us at NextView and our portfolio companies? Portfolio'

Software Review 120

Software Review Technical Review Entrepreneur Due Diligence 120

The Equity Kicker

SEPTEMBER 24, 2014

Both of these schemes use the tax code to make it more attractive for high-net-worth individuals to invest in startups. We recently published a case study of how that played out for our portfolio company Snaptrip. I could give lots of examples but perhaps the best is the way we work with solo-founders.

Early Stage 119

Early Stage Development Team Review Technical Review Software Review 119

David Teten

FEBRUARY 2, 2012

By contrast, as a venture capitalist, I can report that almost all of our portfolio companies are desperate to hire talented software engineers, and eager to hire in a range of other roles. Just like me, they’re distressed about the poor economy and jobs situation.

Government 146

Government Technical Review New York Offshore 146

VC Cafe

JULY 5, 2010

investors the opportunity to participate in the Israeli high-tech market. based Angel capital with early stage technology companies in Israel, and do so in a way that substantially mitigates the risk of seed stage investing. But we do tell them that we are aiming for a 3X-5X return on each portfolio company.

Israel 106

Israel Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage 106

David Teten

JULY 25, 2011

The opportunity in NY is clearly heating up, both literally and figuratively, as investors turned out in 100+ degree weather to hear about emerging technologies in the financial sector. Each of the startups made a solid case for the unique value proposition their technology would provide to the financial sector.

Software Review 114

Software Review New York City Technical Review Due Diligence 114

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 13, 2011

This is perhaps the most reliable source of information on angel investor groups across the world, and the software is used by most of the other angel organizations mentioned below for deal flow. With today’s access to the Internet, and Google searches, it really isn’t that hard. Here are the largest flocks: Angelsoft. Keiretsu Forum.

Angel Investor 255

Angel Investor North America South America Accredited Investor 255

YoungUpstarts

MARCH 26, 2014

For project management to be an asset in critical time to market projects, it needs to be flexible and very agile to borrow a term from our software development friends. These need to be spelled out so the team will not be punished and/or blamed for project issues due to the business’ decision to streamline the normal project processes.

Management 223

Management Software Review Technical Review Agile 223

Version One Ventures

OCTOBER 1, 2024

Leadership Changes Manny Medina is stepping down as CEO of Outreach , the sales automation software company he helped start a decade ago. Abhijit Mitra , who joined Outreach last year as president of product and technology, will become the new CEO and Manny will step into a new role as Executive Chairman of Outreach’s board.

Portfolio 72

Portfolio Software Review Technical Review Incubator 72

View from Seed

MAY 24, 2021

You are a native of NYC tech with a strong network. You have 4-6 years of professional experience as a technology operator, founder, or investor in New York. You have unbounded curiosity for emerging trends, a love for experimentation, and you’re always eager to dive into new products and technologies before others do.

Technical Review 120

Technical Review Software Review Seed Stage Cofounder 120