There’s a Pattern Here

Posted on February 23, 2009 by steveblank

After my eighth and likely final startup, E.piphany, sitting in a ski cabin, it became clear that there is a better a way to manage startups. Joseph Campbell’s insight of the repeatable patterns in mythology is equally applicable to building a successful startup. All startups (whether a new division inside a larger corporation or in [...]

Filed under: Customer Development, E.piphany, Venture Capital | Tagged: , , , , , | 14 Comments »

Out of the Ashes – Something Isn’t Quite Right

Posted on February 23, 2009 by steveblank

“Customer Development” was born four years earlier and 200 miles away on Sandhill Road.  I was between my 7th and 8th and final startup; licking my wounds from Rocket Science, the company I had cratered as my first and last attempt as a startup CEO. I was consulting for the two venture capital firms who [...]

Filed under: Customer Development, Customer Development Manifesto, Venture Capital | Tagged: , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Product Development Model

Posted on February 23, 2009 by steveblank

I realized that traditional ways to think about startups – have an idea, raise some money, do product development, go through an alpha test, beta test and first customer ship was the canonical model of how entrepreneurs thought about early stage ventures. This product development diagram had become part of the DNA of Silicon Valley.  [...]

Filed under: Customer Development, Customer Development Manifesto | Tagged: , , , , , | 7 Comments »

Retirement and Redemption

Posted on February 23, 2009 by steveblank

In 1999 I retired and began to reflect about my career and what had happened in the previous 21 years and eight startups in Silicon Valley.  Alone in a ski cabin with the snow coming down outside, and my wife and daughters out on the slopes all day, I started collecting my thoughts by writing [...]

Filed under: Customer Development | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

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