I was lucky enough to get interviewed by Ron Morris of American Entrepreneur Radio.
Ron Morris has a great “radio voice,” and actually seemed to understand what the heck I was talking about. It made for a fun interview.
Click here to listen to the interview: Steve Blank American Entrepreneur Radio interview
The following week Ron Morris interviewed Regis McKenna, who for decades was the “gold standard” for high tech Public Relations in Silicon Valley. Click here to listen to the Regis interview.
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Filed under: Business Model versus Business Plan, Corporate/Gov't Innovation, Customer Development |
Loved the interview. Listening to it was a perfect way to start a relaxing vacation day in beautiful Miami.
I’d like to get your opinion on a gripe of mine involving the “demise” of the business plan. I just can’t understand how investors can make an intelligent business decision based on a one hour meeting and a deck with ten slides. Isn’t it the case that a seemingly good team can be wrong about their technology assessments? And can’t these details make or break the business? It would seem to me that even if a startup was going to pivot and transform over time, having a somewhat detailed plan would:
1) Solidify the assumptions so that pivots can be made
2) Provide a framework for analytical assessment
3) Allow 3rd parties to learn the details of the business in order to give advice
What type of written materials do you think a team should have before approaching investors?
My current take is that the most important thing to have is a business model which has already made contact with customers and has been iterated upon. On top of this I still think it is necessary to have a “Plan of Record” which explains how the company will get from point A to point B (point B being the business described in the model). This would have to include schedules and projections. Do the combination of these components not make a business plan?
Great interview!
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