Comments on: A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company

By: Startups Are Not Small Versions of Big Companies! | | BootStrapTodayBootStrapToday

Wed, 16 May 2012 09:01:47 +0000

[...] and nurture it with the right set of nutrients – the people, the skills and the processes. In his dissection of a startup, Steve Blank has conceptually explained it [...]

By: Seedcamp vs 500 Startups? Or why we decided to do both. | Bluefields

Seedcamp vs 500 Startups? Or why we decided to do both. | Bluefields — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 05:40:13 +0000

[...] all know a Startup is not a business (if you didn’t know, you do now – consider yourself enlightened). A startup is instead an [...]

By: John

John — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:22:33 +0000

We are a startup and we face the same challenge, how to have customers believe us.

By: Vested Interests » Patent Strategy for Startups

Vested Interests » Patent Strategy for Startups — Wed, 25 May 2011 02:24:52 +0000

[...] Steve Blank has eloquently put it, startups are not small versions of larger companies. Instead, startups – and particularly very early stage startups – face their own unique [...]

By: Creating the Next Silicon Valley – The Chilean Experiment « The Latin American Venture Capital Association

Thu, 19 May 2011 18:43:54 +0000

[...] and realize different regions of Chile have different needs. In Santiago the concept that startups are not smaller versions of large companies and traditional business school classes and methods don’t apply, is starting to take hold and [...]

By: Startups are born into wartime

Startups are born into wartime — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 05:32:18 +0000

[...] imitating the things they’re doing now that they’ve gotten there. As Steve Blank says, a startup is not a scaled-down version of a big company. Startups—and their CEOs—operate in wartime and can’t necessarily imitate the peacetime [...]

By: Lean Startup 1.9/10 – Verso la Solution Interview « Zmaker's Weblog

Lean Startup 1.9/10 – Verso la Solution Interview « Zmaker's Weblog — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 11:41:21 +0000

[...] – Steve Blank, “What’s a Startup? First Principles,” http://steveblank.com/2010/01/25/whats-a-startup-first-principles/- Steve Blank, “Make No Little Plans – Defining the Scalable Startup,” http://steveblank.com/2010/01/04/make-no-little-plans-–-defining-the-scalable-startup/- Steve Blank, “A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company”, http://steveblank.com/2010/01/14/a-startup-is-not-a-smaller-version-of-a-large-company/ [...]

By: nickpelling

nickpelling — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 10:34:28 +0000

Three points in response to your two letters:-

(1) Startups need to plan, even if their plans need constant iterating based on customer feedback. And if they need to plan at all they need to use Sloan thinking to some degree.

(2) Startups also need finance, and to extrapolate and communicate their financial needs, they need to use Sloan thinking to some degree. The finance world is a Sloan world, and Sloan thinking is the interface to that world.

(3) Only a few entrepreneurs genuinely have the flair and outright brilliance of Billy Durant – the rest of us need Durant *and* Sloan in roughly equal measures. Properly integrated thinking means being able to work comfortably in both certain and uncertain contexts: fundable startups need a third way, not a be-like-Billy manifesto.

By: steveblank

steveblank — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:40:52 +0000

no.

By: nickpelling

nickpelling — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 09:28:16 +0000

Ummm… nice post (I look forward to the rest of the series), but how radically different is this from Robert X. Cringeley’s three stages of development in Chapter 12 of his “Accidental Empires” – Commandos, Infantry, Police? [Market penetration, market exploitation, market retention].

There’s a nice 2000 summary of this on the Motley Fool here: http://www.landley.net/writing/mirror/fool/foth000731.htm

Overall, my concern is that by polarizing startups against the MBA/Sloan world, aren’t you sidestepping the need for synthesis, the need to find a third way more appropriate to their situation?

Surely the key problem startups have right now (and going forward) is that of finance, so how can the kind of learning startup you and Eric Ries propose get funded in a world full of Sloan-thinking angels and VCs?

By: Creating The Next Silicon Valley - In Chile? - Steve Blank

Creating The Next Silicon Valley - In Chile? - Steve Blank — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 01:00:28 +0000

By: Quora

Quora — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:54:15 +0000

Why does Ben Horowitz assume that tech startups need to hire lots of people to succeed?…

Steve Blank’s talk also provides some incredible insights on why its necessary to scale if you are building an important company. Video link: http://startup-marketing.com/steve-blanks-sll-keynote-its-a-must-watch/ In his own words: “A scalable start…

By: 5 Ways To Tell Which VC Firm Is Right For You | TechsZone

5 Ways To Tell Which VC Firm Is Right For You | TechsZone — Sat, 26 Jun 2010 09:02:07 +0000

[...] role of a founding CEO in a startup searching for a business model is radically different than a CEO building and growing a [...]

By: The X risks with founders’ friends « Braving Moguls

The X risks with founders’ friends « Braving Moguls — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 17:18:33 +0000

[...] raison d’être for a startup company is to the find the business model. A startup company is not a mini-me version of a large company. It is a fundamentally different corpus whose principles, goals, methods, and successes can seem [...]

By: E2.0 Pros - "The corporation super nova: bringing it together again" | E2.0 Pros

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 01:43:53 +0000

[...] Steve Blank wrote: “A startup is not a smaller version of a large company.” In his article, he argues that each stage of a company requires different needs and management skills. He states that processes and strategies that work for small organizations may not work for larger ones. Three stages of companies exist according to him: the scalable start-up, the transition, and the large company. The transition period is when outside managers are hired and financial flows begin to break even – a time where business strategy matures and the organization heads towards expansion and market domination. [...]

By: Rick Breden

Rick Breden — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 17:38:49 +0000

For me, as a start-up person (masochist), this article brings hope. Our company is in the transition stage (finally), although recently profitable. I can hardly wait for the next posts.

Thanks,
Rick

By: A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company Â« Steve Blank « Blazer's Blog

Wed, 10 Feb 2010 10:44:54 +0000

[...] A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company Â« Steve Blank By Joachim Blazer A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company Â« Steve Blank [...]

By: Copy Exactly « Shyam's Blog

Copy Exactly « Shyam's Blog — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:28:05 +0000

[...] A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company (steveblank.com) [...]

By: Entreprenurial learning requires new methods, tools and techniques « Methodologist

Sun, 24 Jan 2010 12:59:09 +0000

[...] As mentioned in my previous post on the Lean Startup Business Model Pattern, configurations of new frameworks often assembly and facilitate best practices from previous work. I believe that the vast amount of business strategy formulation frameworks out there, to some degree are overlapping and can be summarized. Consider whether entrepreneurs have the time and resources to sit down and carefully carry out their long-time strategy. Or whether strategy forumaltion should comes as consequence of processes when resources are scarce and uncertainty is extreme. This calls for new blue-collar frameworks that are embracing entrepreneurial learning and pivoting. To site Steven Blank, A Startup is Not a Smaller Version of a Large Company. [...]

By: Mark Essel

Mark Essel — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 09:46:09 +0000

Can the startup culture exist in a more mature business entity that is highly profitable?

Do we have to throw out the “baby with the bathwater” to execute in the process of creating a larger business?

These are the questions we rarely have time to think about while iterating on the product/market fit. Is Google’s corporate culture closer to Lockeed Martin than a startup?