Steve Blank

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

In it, I got asked a question I often hear: “What if we have a web-based business that doesn’t have revenue or paying customers? And without revenue how do we know if we achieved product/market fit to exit Customer Validation?” However the Customer Development Model and the Lean Startup work equally well for startups on the web.

Customer Development 228

Customer Development Web Developer Customer 228

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 4, 2011

It’s a very important concept for me because in a startup you are constantly under pressure and have way too many distractions. Commitment & urgency are key drivers of success in startup businesses. I was recently talking with a startup company who wanted me to try their product. Revenue Metrics. On measurement.

Metrics 346

Metrics Startup Acquisition SEM 346

Startup Professionals Musings

AUGUST 27, 2014

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. business calculated risks entrepreneur smart risks startup'

Startup 283

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 283

TechEmpower

JULY 31, 2023

When talking to startup founders or other innovators, we always ask questions to better understand their business as a core. R : Revenue - Can you monetize any of this behavior? channels (search, social, viral, new media), cost-efficient distribution We often reference Dave’s work when talking to innovators.

Metrics 260

Metrics Startup Retention Acquisition 260

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 26, 2020

The most common business entity used for startups is a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), which is the cheapest and simplest to manage. All startups, including non-profits, need revenue to thrive, such as such as from subscriptions, retail, online, licensing, or services. They want to see revenue to share in the return.

Business Plan 423

Business Plan Product Intellectual Property Elevator Pitch 423

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 27, 2011

If you have heard the lingo, but most of these are not in your startup business plan, you are already in jeopardy as an entrepreneur: Blogging. Viral marketing. Viral marketing costs real money, but is often worth it. Rates per click are very low, so don’t try to live on ad revenues until visit rates are very high.

Internet 239

Internet SEM Wiki Viral 239

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. The number of startups being created has increased by an order of magnitude. Thank you, Aaron Sorkin!

Venture Capital 347

Venture Capital Technical Review LP Mobile 347

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 17, 2013

The main thrust of the post is that with YouTube taking a 45% of revenue and talent taking 70% of the remaining revenue, YouTube Networks didn’t have sustainable businesses unless they invested heavily in technology as a tool to increase margin and provide defensibility. As I point out frequently, people want to consume video.

Video 339

Video Technical Review Distribution Aggregator 339

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 20, 2017

So how did a company that provides storage grow so fast (we’ll exit 2017 with 10’s of millions in recurring revenue), why is it so defensible and is it really a tech startup? If you buy that Amazon is a tech startup then essentially you’ve already answered the question. In short — how the hell did we raise $30 million?

Technical Review 268

Technical Review Los Angeles Software Review Artificial Inteligence 268

Startup Professionals Musings

OCTOBER 30, 2010

Rates per click are very low, so don’t try to live on ad revenues until visit rates are very high. Viral marketing. Viral marketing costs real money, but is often worth it. As entrepreneurs and business people, it behooves us all find and adopt changes which can improve our startup. Marty Zwilling.

Internet 224

Internet SEM Wiki Entrepreneur 224

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 8, 2020

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Management 322

Management Entrepreneur Forecast Stock Options 322

VC Cafe

SEPTEMBER 5, 2012

Paul Graham’s Startup Curve – avoid the “through of sorrow”! Growth Hacking isn’t viral marketing (although viral marketing is part of it). Growth Hacking isn’t viral marketing (although viral marketing is part of it). First Steps in Growth Hacking for Startups.

Viral 167

Viral API Startup Retention 167

VC Cafe

NOVEMBER 2, 2019

Top-line metrics are indicators of success, not the one bar to clear to raise funding for your startup. In SaaS the main benchmarks being measured are revenue growth, sales efficiency (unit economics), churn and burn rate. Example of Baremetrics revenue per user benchmarks. Benchmarks for deep tech startups.

B2C 141

B2C Technical Review Startup Retention 141

Startup Professionals Musings

NOVEMBER 2, 2022

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 304

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 304

Both Sides of the Table

SEPTEMBER 2, 2009

We should end the year with a few million in fully recurring revenue and we’re projected to double next year. But more spend = more viral opps = more revenue down the road. >50% of our revenue in now viral. Probably revenue based. Founders need to have been in the company for a few years.

Founder 329

Founder Liquidation Preference Term Sheet Participating Preferred 329

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 25, 2017

Every time I challenge a business plan with little or no budget for marketing, I get the answer that they will be using “viral” marketing, which costs nothing. First of all, Seth Godin pointed out a long time ago that viral marketing does not equal word-of-mouth. Develop viral content. Seed viral activity.

Campaign 167

Campaign Cost Viral Marketing 167

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2012

Dell announced years ago that it had earned $3 million in revenue from using Twitter, and other businesses report daily on increases in web traffic up to 800%. I suspect that a good part of the problem is that startup and small business owners still don’t know where or how to start. Read everything you can about viral marketing.

Social Media 289

Social Media Small Business Media Technical Review 289

Both Sides of the Table

JANUARY 11, 2014

The father of “Growth Hacking” appears to be Sean Ellis who wrote this widely read post, “ Find a Growth Hacker for your Startup. For starters it brings a mindset to startups that not all of them have innately. If your startup isn’t committed to growth hacking you’ll never find extra-ordinary growth.

Technical Review 384

Technical Review Hockey Stick SEM Channel 384

VC Cafe

MARCH 16, 2025

Mention that you do “Consumer tech” as a startup founder and you’d be limiting your funding options to one third of the venture capital funds (in Israel that figure is probably closer to 10%). Despite the renewed potential offered by AI, consumer startups still need to overcome significant challenges.

Technical Review 78

Technical Review B2C Generative AI IPO 78

SoCal CTO

OCTOBER 5, 2010

Great content again in September that meets at the intersection of startups, technology, product and being a Startup CTO. Chris Dixon , September 12, 2010 My most useful career experience was about eight years ago when I was trying to break into the world of VC-backed startups. Why You Should Write. Your service: the game.

Technology 191

Technology Product San Francisco CTO Hire 191

Both Sides of the Table

JUNE 28, 2018

While this reaction to such a valuation is understandable, to anybody who has seen the meteoric rise in consumer demand and actual revenue the valuation is much less surprising and may turn out to be quite conservative. I think it’s quite possible that Bird could be the fastest growing company to reach a billion dollars in run rate revenue.

San Francisco 256

San Francisco Valuation Los Angeles Technical Review 256

Both Sides of the Table

MAY 19, 2010

Another topic we debated early in the program was “lean startup” vs. “ fat startup ” where we both took the obvious hedge and said “it depends.” But truthfully both Dana and I are more aligned with the lean startup principles and believe you only go FAT when you’ve really proved out your product / market fit.

Partner 240

Partner New York City Cofounder Syndication 240

Startup Professionals Musings

JUNE 21, 2020

Some analysts argue that revenue drives growth, while others say user growth drives revenue. Google reached $1B in revenue within five years of incorporation, and now has a market capitalization of over $1 trillion. Long-term stability requires revenue growth and profit. Both have worked. Traditionally, it was simple.

Revenue 434

Revenue Valuation Viral Retention 434

YoungUpstarts

AUGUST 6, 2012

Only 15 technology startups are accepted at a time, but what the program lacks in quantity, it makes up for in quality. The Sandbox is designed to accelerate the process of business creation through a 12-week experiential-based program, producing either investment-ready firms or ready-to-go, revenue-generating entities.

Incubator 202

Incubator New York City Boston Intellectual Property 202

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.

Intellectual Property 120

Intellectual Property Startup Forecast Angel Investor 120

www.forentrepreneurs.com

FEBRUARY 2, 2010

Blog About Log in Register Startup Killer: the Cost of Customer Acquisition In the many thousands of articles advising entrepreneurs on what they have to focus on to build successful startups, much has been written about three key factors: team, product and market, with particular focus on the importance of product/market fit.

Acquisition 103

Acquisition Cost Customer Entrepreneur 103

Both Sides of the Table

APRIL 12, 2018

Many people will write the history on why Ring became an enormously successful company and why it became a real-world unicorn in a world when many startups are anointed that merely on paper. We first met Jamie when had had a startup called Simulscribe, which transcribed voicemail so you could read your messages rather than listen to them.

Security 247

Security Los Angeles Silicon Valley Video 247

View from Seed

MARCH 22, 2016

However, as someone who’s spent the past several years covering startups, I can tell you absolutely what not to do. Even if you’re in the pre-revenue, pre-seed or seed stage, there are still ways to get on a reporter’s radar. That means avoiding a pitch to a software-centric publication about your biotech startup. Pitch late.

Seed Stage 120

Seed Stage San Francisco Startup CTO Hire 120

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Startup 120

Startup Forecast Stock Options Technical Review 120

Up and Running

JULY 10, 2017

You can have all traction in the world—acquire, activate, and retain users, but until your startup earns money, you are doing charity work, not running a business. Even if you are just starting to consider building a SaaS startup , you’ve probably used products with either freemium pricing or a free trial. Choose wisely.

Startup 110

Startup Non-Compete Viral Software Review 110

Startup Professionals Musings

FEBRUARY 17, 2018

As a long-time mentor to entrepreneurs, here is my collection of smart risks that investors and I look for in new startups: Focus on a tough customer problem rather than a fun technology. Even non-profits need revenue to cover their costs, and continue to provide services. Find a strategic partner to accelerate growth.

Forecast 161

Forecast Stock Options Technical Review Metrics 161

reidhoffman.org

NOVEMBER 12, 2013

It has many stylistic errors — and a few substantive ones, too — that I would now change having learned more, but I realized that it still provides useful insights for entrepreneurs and startup participants outside of the Greylock network, particularly across three areas of interest: how entrepreneurs should approach the pitch process.

Entrepreneur 111

Entrepreneur Viral Revenue Networking 111

YoungUpstarts

JUNE 18, 2020

Businesses and startups are looking for new ways to survive in this pandemic. They also have immense viral potential on social media. After all, marketers who are using video are seeing (on average) 49% faster growth in revenue. But social distancing comes at a price. When people can’t work together, everything falls apart.

Video 229

Video Advertising Technical Review Viral 229

Startup Professionals Musings

MAY 27, 2016

There is an old saying in the startup investor community, “Smart investors invest in the team, not the idea.” Beyond basic business and technical credentials, here are some of the key startup team attributes that every investor is looking for: Team shows an appreciation and plan for marketing. Focus on customer needs.

Technical Review 134

Technical Review Intellectual Property Due Diligence Angel Investor 134

Both Sides of the Table

DECEMBER 5, 2010

billion in annual subscription revenues not including advertising or eCommerce). It did not have the same success as Google’s acquisition and MySpace sold Photobucket 2 years later to a relatively unknown Seattle-based startup called Ontela for a reportedly $60 million. I’m going to write a whole post on BothSid.es

Social Network 318

Social Network Networking Internet Technical Review 318

Startup Professionals Musings

SEPTEMBER 28, 2015

Too many entrepreneurs look for that one magic bullet -- an exciting new technology, perhaps, or their own determination to make the world a better place -- to override any shortcomings in their startup model. Such failures ignore the essential business elements investors look for before committing to a startup.

Exit Strategy 120

Exit Strategy Technical Review Distribution Viral 120

A Smart Bear: Startups and Marketing for Geeks

FEBRUARY 26, 2019

Startup strategy is like Kung Fu. All startups are screwed up. HT Mike Maples Jr ) Corollary: A startup has to be so excellent at one or two key things, that they can screw up everything else up and not die. Fermi estimation is a good way to figure out whether a startup or product could even theoretically be viable.

Restful 202

Restful Founder Revenue Acquisition 202