
Put to a vote, I might have been chosen “least likely to succeed” in my New York City high school class. My path has taken me from repairing fighter planes in Thailand during the Vietnam War, to spook stuff in undisclosed location(s), and I was lucky enough to arrive at the beginning of the boom times of Silicon Valley in 1978. After 21 years in 8 high technology companies, I retired in 1999. I started my last company, E.piphany, in my living room in 1996. My other startups include two semiconductor companies, Zilog and MIPS Computers, a workstation company Convergent Technologies, a consulting stint for a graphics hardware/software spinout Pixar, a supercomputer firm, Ardent, a computer peripheral supplier, SuperMac, a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL and a video game company, Rocket Science Games. Total score: two large craters (Rocket Science and Ardent), one dot.com bubble home run (E.piphany) and several base hits. After I retired, I took some time to reflect on my experience and wrote a book (actually my class text) about building early stage companies called Four Steps to the Epiphany. I moved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA program. The “Customer Development” model that I developed in my book is one of the core themes in these classes. In 2009, I was awarded the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in the department of Management Science and Engineering. The same year, the San Jose Mercury News listed me as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley. I also followed my curiosity about why entrepreneurship blossomed in Silicon Valley and was stillborn elsewhere. It has led to several talks on The Secret History of Silicon Valley. In 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed me to serve on the California Coastal Commission, the public body which regulates land use and public access on the California coast. I am on the board of Audubon California (and its past chair) and spent several years on the Audubon National Board. I’m also a board member of Peninsula Open Space Land Trust (POST). In 2009 I became a trustee of U.C. Santa Cruz and joined the board of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV).
by Steve Blank
Rating: 3.9 ⭐
• 4 recommendations ❤️
The bestselling classic that launched 10,000 startups and new corporate ventures - The Four Steps to the Epiphany is one of the most influential and practical business books of all time. The Four Steps to the Epiphany launched the Lean Startup approach to new ventures. It was the first book to offer that startups are not smaller versions of large companies and that new ventures are different than existing ones. Startups search for business models while existing companies execute them. The book offers the practical and proven four-step Customer Development process for search and offers insight into what makes some startups successful and leaves others selling off their furniture. Rather than blindly execute a plan, The Four Steps helps uncover flaws in product and business plans and correct them before they become costly. Rapid iteration, customer feedback, testing your assumptions are all explained in this book. Packed with concrete examples of what to do, how to do it and when to do it, the book will leave you with new skills to organize sales, marketing and your business for success. If your organization is starting a new venture, and you're thinking how to successfully organize sales, marketing and business development you need The Four Steps to the Epiphany. Essential reading for anyone starting something new.3,000 fixed sentences, 10,000 new commas. Same revolutionary ideas. New edition at amzn.to/1aQaf1M
by Steve Blank
Rating: 4.1 ⭐
Now a decade after the Four Steps to the Epiphany sparked the Lean Startup revolution, comes its sequel…The Startup Owner's ManualThe Manual incorporates 10 years of learning and best practicesthat have swept the startup world. It:Incorporates the "Business Model Canvas" as the organizing principle for startup hypothesesProvides separate paths and advice for web/mobile products versus physical productsOffers a wealth of detailed instruction on how to get, keep, and grow customers recognizing the different techniques for web and physical channelsAnd teaches a "new math" for startups: "metrics that matter for fueling growth"The Startup Owner's Manual is a step-by-step, near-encyclopedic reference manual or "how to" for building a successful, scalable startup. Want to know what to do the first, week, month or year?What's the right distribution channel for your product?How to get traffic to your web site? …and how to activate customers or users on arrival?Who are the right "first customers," and why? …plus many more great tips in nearly 500 pages, complete with index, glossary, and Customer Development ChecklistsIt's the indispensible reference guide for any startup founder, entrepreneur, investor or educator.
Welcome to the first ebook in The Startup Owner’s Manual series.This Strategy e-book provides an overview of why startups are not smaller versions of large companies. It explains how startups search for a business model using Customer Development, and explains the overall customer development methodology, and key implementation steps. It is designed for founders, advisors, entrepreneurs and others curious about how the Customer Development process works. Many readers prefer to use the Strategy Guide along with either The Startup Owner’s Manual for Physical Channel Startups or The Startup Owner’s Manual for Web/Mobile Startups as they work to build a successful startup.
Welcome to The Startup Owner’s Manual family of books that will help you power your way to startup success. This book has three ebook companions: The Startup Owner’s Manual Strategy Guide (http://amzn.to/OijMDb), The Startup Owner’s Manual for Physical Channel Startups (http://amzn.to/QZvorJ) and The Startup Owner’s Manual Founder’s Workbook (http://bit.ly/SlPQqc). Together, these books will tell you:•How to incorporate the Business Model Canvas as the organizing principle for startup hypotheses•How to find Product-Market fit•How to get, keep and grow customers •How to fuel growth with metrics that matterThe Startup Owner’s Manual series walks you, step-by-step, through the tested and proven Customer Development process created by startup expert Steve Blank, unlocking the secrets to building a successful, scalable company. The series lays out the best practices, lessons and tips that have swept the startup world, offering a wealth of proven advice and information for entrepreneurs of all stripes.It is used by thousands of startups, leading universities (including Stanford, U.C. Berkeley and Columbia) and the U.S. National Science Foundation, among many others.
Volume One of Steve Blank s collected blog posts, featuring war stories and lessons from 20 years in Silicon Valley startups, how to build a successful Customer Development model, and real world advice on creating a successful venture capital pitch. Includes thoughtful ideas on balancing family and career, and finishes up with a rare look into the deep and often secret past of Silicon Valley and its role in both wartime and peacetime high tech. A personal look at the life and times of a Silicon Valley veteran.
"A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way"-Mark TwainThe collective wisdom of Steve Blank now in one comprehensive volume, by Silicon Valley's leading startup expert. In this collection, you'll find war stories, lessons, and big ideas covering everything from customer development to pitching venture capitalists.TABLE OF CONTENTSChapter 1: Entrepreneurship Is An ArtChapter 2: Startups Are Not Small Versions Of Large CompaniesChapter 3: The Customer Development Manifesto--A Startup's Guiding LightChapter 4: Corporate Innovation--Making Elephants DanceChapter 5: Startup CultureChapter 6: On-The-Job Training--The Best Way To LearnChapter 7: An Entrepreneur In The FamilyChapter 8: VC ConfidentialChapter 9: Steve's Favorite Posts
Welcome to The Startup Owner’s Manual family of books that will help you power your way to startup success. This book has three ebook companions: The Startup Owner’s Manual Strategy Guide (http://amzn.to/OijMDb), The Startup Owner’s Manual for Web/Mobile Channel Startups (http://amzn.to/TlJQj4) and The Startup Owner’s Manual Founder’s Workbook (http://bit.ly/SlPQqc). Together, these books will tell you:•How to incorporate the Business Model Canvas as the organizing principle for startup hypotheses•How to find Product-Market fit•How to get, keep and grow customers •How to fuel growth with metrics that matterThe Startup Owner’s Manual series walks you, step-by-step, through the tested and proven Customer Development process created by startup expert Steve Blank, unlocking the secrets to building a successful, scalable company. The series lays out the best practices, lessons and tips that have swept the startup world, offering a wealth of proven advice and information for entrepreneurs of all stripes.It is used by thousands of startups, leading universities (including Stanford, U.C. Berkeley and Columbia) and the U.S. National Science Foundation, among many others.
起業家やビジネスマンは必読。リーン・スタートアップの祖であり、シリコン・バレーで8社の創業に関わった伝説のシリアル・アントレプレナーによる起業の箴言集。(上巻: ) 10億ドルのスタートアップ企業を構築する方法スタートアップ企業の致命的な9つの大罪6種類の起業スタイル「ライフスタイル型」「小企業型」「拡張可能型」「買収可能型」「大企業型」「ソーシャルアントレプレナー型」20の質問でスタートアップ企業のステージを評価する「スタートアップ・ゲノム・コンパス」アントレプレナーシップは、天性のもの? 育成可能なもの?「エピファニー」ビジネスを進展させるひらめきが起こる条件とはシリコン・バレーにはなぜハイテク企業が集積したのか? その知られざる歴史とは ■筆者:スティーブ・ブランク Steve Blank 1953年ニューヨーク生まれ。ミシガン州立大学を中退後、マイアミ国際空港の貨物担当者を経て、空軍に志願。退役後、カリフォルニア州パロアルトで、ハイテク企業8社の創業に関わる。最後に創業したソフトウェア会社のエピファニーは1999年の上場までに6600万ドルを調達し、2005年に3億2900万ドルでŨ
起業家やビジネスマンは必読。リーン・スタートアップの祖であり、シリコン・バレーで8社の創業に関わった伝説のシリアル・アントレプレナーによる起業の箴言集。 10億ドルのスタートアップ企業を構築する方法スタートアップ企業の致命的な9つの大罪6種類の起業スタイル「ライフスタイル型」「小企業型」「拡張可能型」「買収可能型」「大企業型」「ソーシャルアントレプレナー型」20の質問でスタートアップ企業のステージを評価する「スタートアップ・ゲノム・コンパス」アントレプレナーシップは、天性のもの? 育成可能なもの?「エピファニー」ビジネスを進展させるひらめきが起こる条件とはシリコン・バレーにはなぜハイテク企業が集積したのか? その知られざる歴史とは ■筆者:スティーブ・ブランク Steve Blank 1953年ニューヨーク生まれ。ミシガン州立大学を中退後、マイアミ国際空港の貨物担当者を経て、空軍に志願。退役後、カリフォルニア州パロアルトで、ハイテク企業8社の創業に関わる。最後に創業したソフトウェア会社のエピファニーは1999年の上場までに6600万ドルを調達し、2005年に3億2900万ドルで買収された。スタンフォード
by Steve Blank
Steve Blank's first bestseller, The Four Steps to the Epiphany launched the Lean Startup movement and outlined the Customer Development process at the heart of his The Lean Startup movement (Eric Ries was a student of Blank's at Stanford). Blank's next bestseller, The Startup Owner's Manual, created the step-by-step guide to disruptive innovation at startup companies. The Corporate Survival Manual explains how to apply these same Lean Startup concepts in existing companies, whether large or small.For over 100 years, companies typically have grown by writing business plans, trying to guesss what customers want, and executing business plans. But Blank's research proved that the business planning methods used by big companies were useless for innovators. After all how can a new division with no customers know and build what those customers want?The Corporate Survival Manual outlines a clear three-step process used by GE, Qualcomm, Intuit, and literally thousands of startups and existing big and small companies to drive disruptive innovation and deliver sustained revenue growth:Step one: search for a scalable, compelling business model. Existing companies focus on relentless execution based on "knowns" in existing markets including target customers and their preferences, as well as known competitors and channels. Innovators commit instead to a structured, aggressive non-linear search for scalable new business models that determine what their customers want and how they want to buy it.Step two: design a business model. The Customer Development process begins by crafting a business model for the new venture--a nine-box diagram outlining all key elements of the business, ranging from the product itself to its ideal target customers, and hypothesizing why, where, how and how profitably those customers will buy. The business model itself is merely a series of "best guesses" about the innovation. But the model drives the search to determine whether customers will enthusiastically support the new venture--all long before the product is built or even fully designed.Step Three use Customer Development to manage the search for the successful, scalable new business. The process tests and validates each business model component directly with customers, the only "votes" that matter. It deploys volumes of customer feedback to drive iterative product development in a flexible, agile way. The result: by the time the product is complete, the company has already tested and proven its business model, understands who its customers are, and why they'll buy, As a result, Customer Development "derisks" innovation by reducing upfront spending until the company is confident it's funding a new product or service customers clearly want.
by Steve Blank
Respond to security threats before they evolve, with Lean innovation for defense Hacking for Defense applies Lean innovation methodology to issues of national security, providing a more rapid, responsive model for addressing challenges in the military and intelligence committees. From understanding the full depth and breadth of the problem to quickly producing a minimum viable product, this book provides a framework for rapid-turnaround solutions based on Silicon Valley practices that bring new technology to market within weeks of conception. While fit is paramount for national security solutions, speed is not far behind--allowing months to pass in development and production allows the threat to evolve beyond the capabilities of the product; the discussion here merges speed with innovation to help you address threats with timely precision, while developing a model of innovation that extends beyond the security realm.Traditional military approaches to technology and defense are too slow for today's world, where new challenges arise and evolve before the first committee is ever called into session. This book provides a solid framework for staying ahead of the tide by streamlining the process from start to finish, and developing the best-fit solution quickly.Fully grasp the problem to be solved--at a deeper level Turn ideas into solutions in extremely short periods of time Understand all stakeholders, issues, costs, resources, and more Produce a springboard for other potential technology solutions When national security is at stake, response time is critical--traditional methods have proved too sluggish for Silicon Valley, so why should they be "business as usual" for the Department of Defense? Hacking for Defense provides an alternate roadmap from problem to solution, using the fastest, most direct route.
by Steve Blank
How do leaders in companies and the government think about and organize innovation in a way that makes a difference? The answer is that companies and government agencies need an Innovation Doctrine to guide their efforts. The Innovation Doctrine explains how to organize companies and government agencies to rapidly access and mobilize talent and technology to beat competitors and win wars. It describes how and why companies and government agencies took a wrong turn on innovation. The book also offers the path how these organizations can create their own innovation doctrines that will allow them to access and mobilize talent and technology to beat competitors and win wars.
by Steve Blank