Steve Blank

Startup Tools

143 Responses

1. 

   Cheap Web Design, on February 16, 2009 at 6:49 am said:

   Very interesting stuff. I am both an avid entrepreneur and book worm but must admit to having not read most of the books on your list. It is certaintly a great list to motivate me to get reading again. Keep up the great work!

   Reply
2. 

   Crystal Williams, on April 12, 2009 at 10:38 am said:

   Hi Steve!

   My name is Crystal Williams, and I maintain a small business blog called Babeofbusiness.com. I recently did a piece on the best books for startups, where I included your book “Four Steps to the Epiphany.” If you have a few moments and are interested, I would love to have you post your recommended books in the comments section.
   …

   Thanks!
   …

   Reply
3. 

   Avron Olshewsky, on June 10, 2009 at 11:03 am said:

   Hi Steve,

   Read your book “The four steps …” and have enjoyed it and your blog. I have recently been doing some research on Entrepreneurship in Brazil, while also trying to start my own company. I wanted to ask you what you thought about “context” ? I.e a lot is written in general terms, mostly US centric. What about emerging economies, what caveats do they posses ? Also do you agree with the notion of Entrepreneurship as “opportunity recognition” ?

   Regards
   Avron

   Reply
4. 

   Greg Geracie, on September 16, 2009 at 5:40 pm said:

   Hi Steve,

   I enjoyed your book and I found it helped me connect a lot of dots which now make more sense!

   Most of the examples you cite in the book are targeted on highlighting challenges faced by each of the respective companies. I was wondering if you have a couple of examples of companies that have utilized your methodology and enjoyed great market success crossing the chasm and becoming successful mission-centric companies from start ups?

   Any examples would be greatly appreciated!

   Thank you.

   Greg G.

   Reply
   • 

     steveblank, on September 16, 2009 at 7:00 pm said:

     Greg,
     The Google Group “Lean Startup Circle” at http://groups.google.com/group/lean-startup-circle is a wonderful repository of Customer Development/Lean Startup success and failure.
     In addition they have started a “Lean Startup Wiki” with the beginnings of a Case Study section here: http://leanstartup.pbworks.com/
     If you email the group you’ll get plenty of responses.

     steve

     Reply
5. 

   Luke Lockhart, on November 13, 2009 at 2:01 pm said:

   Hello Steve,

   I am currently reading The Four Steps to the Epiphany. The granular, tactical process that is laid out is amazing. I’ve experienced working for companies that did it the wrong way and one that went through the “death spiral” just as you describe. This thoroughly instilled in me that some sort of process more akin to yours must be the way to go. But until reading his book and blog I hadn’t known the exact steps to take and in which order.

   Are there digital copies of some of the worksheets and checklists in the appendix of your book available in digital format? These would be extremely useful in getting buy-in and working collaboratively through the process across our founding team.

   Thanks and Regards,

   Luke L.
   - Waterloo, Ontario

   Reply
6. 

   Damien Rottemberg, on November 19, 2009 at 6:31 am said:

   Hi Steve,

   I wish I had discovered your book earlier. It became my bible (after the real one to develop my company LocalBooking. I think this is perfect for it.

   I wish I could have you as a consultant to help my company to take off. I am still trying to figure out the right market and customers for it.

   Reply
7. 

   Mike Byrnes, on April 28, 2010 at 9:17 am said:

   Steve:

   I just found your site and blog from a link off Venture Hacks
   “Two great talks from SLLConf”

   I fell like I’ve just found the mother lode!

   Thanks a million. Now I’ve really got my work cut out, but you just gave me a big “leg up”.

   – Mike

   http://www.fintelligence.org

   Reply
8. 

   Jeff Skinner, on May 24, 2010 at 9:28 am said:

   Steve, you don’t know me though I use your ‘Customer Development process’ video in my classes (Entrepreneurship at London Business School).

   I hewar via thew grapevine that you’re thinking about a ‘Business Model Competition’. Interesting. Can we touch base on this.

   Jeff skinner
   Faculty, London Business School.

   Reply
9. 

   phil gainley, on August 7, 2010 at 12:36 am said:

   Hey Steve

   Reading great struff around your Customer Development process, would love to see you speak around this

   Are you doing anything in the UK in the near future that I can turn up for?

   Thanks

   Phil Gainley

   Reply
10. 

    Margit Niemelä, on August 16, 2010 at 6:29 am said:

    Steve, wonderful job!

    Thank you

    Margit Niemelä
    PhD, Principal Lecturer, Entrepreneur
    Vaasa University of Applied Sciences

    Reply
11. 

    Akash Pai, on September 26, 2010 at 10:46 am said:

    Steve,
    This is an incredibly useful list and the book – 4 steps to Epiphany is a must-read for any startup. Pearls of wisdom, wish I’d read it earlier.
    And I’m of an opinion that its the right way to productize for a large corporate as well. After all, most of them seem to have only one or two hits (or high profit margin products).

    Are your lectures (in b-schools) open to public?

    Reply
12. 

    Conrado, geek @ fengoffice, on October 4, 2010 at 10:05 am said:

    @Steve, I frequently feel like thanking you on every one of your posts, at the Amazon reviews, etc.

    Doing so would extend your posts’ comments sections while adding little value.

    But I definitely have to do it somewhere, at least once. Using this page – just the one that I happen to be using at this very moment – feels ok.

    You’ve been top of my entrepreneurship mentors/heroes for over a year now.

    @Entrepreneurs not fans of Steve, read his books. Read his blog.

    Reply
13. 

    Bill Seitz, on October 7, 2010 at 9:58 am said:

    Do you have the worksheets from your book available online anywhere?

    Reply
14. 

    Paul Campbell, on October 14, 2010 at 9:56 pm said:

    Hi Steve,
    It was a pleasure to meet you at the Churchill Club event tonight. I met you immediately after the panel ended. I am an expert on Corporate Entrepreneurship and lecture in Drew Isaacs’ courses and CEE programs.

    I recommend that corporate entrepreneurs read “Grow from Within: Mastering Corporate Entrepreneurship and Innovation’, Lippitz and Wolcott, 2010.

    Let’s plan to connect at Berkeley sometime soon.

    Best regards,
    Paul Campbell
    e: startupgenie@gmail.com

    Reply
15. Επιχειρηματικότητα & Καινοτομία. Resources?, on October 25, 2010 at 11:08 pm said:

    [...] Αξίζει πραγματικά να κάνετε bookmark και να ψάξετε στα ¨Startup Resources¨ του συγκεκριμένου [...]

    Reply
16. 

    Phil Gainley, on November 8, 2010 at 4:44 am said:

    Steve

    Great list of books..

    When you come over to the UK would love to see you speak

    Thanks

    Phil

    Reply
17. 

    Tara Gowland, on November 24, 2010 at 1:43 pm said:

    Great resources!

    Reply
18. 

    Jason, on December 20, 2010 at 2:05 pm said:

    Awesome resources! Thanks.

    Jason

    Reply
19. 

    jorge, on February 27, 2011 at 9:38 am said:

    wow. that is tenacity!

    Reply
20. 

    Bill Bonham, on February 27, 2011 at 10:13 am said:

    http://www.Iconfinder.com is missing in the Website tools category

    Reply
21. 

    Andy, on February 27, 2011 at 10:33 am said:

    Great post,

    I’d recommend adding http://managewith.us to the Project Management section

    Andy

    Reply
22. 

    Justin Chen, on February 27, 2011 at 11:10 am said:

    What about http://pickfu.com/ for cheap and easy a/b tests and surveys?

    Reply
23. 

    jade, on February 27, 2011 at 2:25 pm said:

    Great compilation. There is nothing on sales. Can you add useful resource for generating sales for start-ups.

    Reply
24. 

    John Fan, on February 27, 2011 at 6:10 pm said:

    Dim dim was acquired by Salesforce and has been shut down.

    Reply
    • 

      steveblank, on February 27, 2011 at 6:22 pm said:

      thanks. removed from the list.

      Reply
25. 

    Daniel Odio, on February 27, 2011 at 9:00 pm said:

    Steve, what a killer list.

    One thought — it’s not just the tools, but the culture in the company to implement the tools.

    We call it “playing a computer like an instrument” at AppMakr. http://go.danielodio.com/instrument

    DROdio
    CEO, AppMakr.com

    Reply
26. 

    Girish Redekar, on February 27, 2011 at 10:58 pm said:

    Shameless plug: Folks can also try Recruiterbox (similar to Resumator) to manage their hiring / applicant tracking

    Reply
    • 

      Recruiterbox, on February 28, 2011 at 8:33 pm said:

      Thanks for adding recruiterbox !

      Reply
27. 

    Jarek, on February 27, 2011 at 11:51 pm said:

    What about CRM? You don’t think startups should use CRM tools? I know that in B2B world you are dead in the water without CRM tool….
    We are using our own stuff – http://www.discoursehq.com

    Reply
28. 

    Josh, on February 28, 2011 at 12:12 am said:

    Thank you for all the great links, how can i get an invite to quora?

    Reply
29. 

    Roman Gaponov, on February 28, 2011 at 1:50 am said:

    Steve, Very interesting list of resources. Thanks!

    What about Django http://djangoproject.com as Web Development Framework?

    Reply
    • 

      steveblank, on February 28, 2011 at 2:01 am said:

      added Django. thx

      Reply
30. 

    Dan Croak, on February 28, 2011 at 6:39 am said:

    Here’s a few that are central to my work.

    Billing/Subscription Management:

    Braintree http://www.braintreepaymentsolutions.com – Payment gateway, merchant account, and recurring billing all in one. Known for their great customer service.

    Web Development Tools:

    Sendgrid http://sendgrid.com – Sends transactional email (signed up, forgot password, notifications) on behalf of you application. High deliverability rates.

    Hoptoad http://hoptoadapp.com – Collects production application errors, groups them so developers can see one backtrace and how many times the error occurred.

    Blogs (VC):

    Antonio Rodriguez http://theonda.org/ – A very technical VC at Matrix partners who can actually code.

    Blogs (web development):

    Giant Robots Smashing Into Other Giant Robots – http://robots.thoughtbot.com Company blog of thoughtbot covering Ruby on Rails, HTML, CSS, Javascript, databases, and mobile development.

    Reply
31. 

    Allison, on February 28, 2011 at 10:40 am said:

    Thanks for including Grasshopper in your list Steve!

    Reply
32. 

    Jeff Epstein, on February 28, 2011 at 11:03 am said:

    Steve,

    Looking forward to hearing you speak in Ann Arbor next month!

    Would love to have you include my referral platform http://zferral.com to the marketing category.

    Thanks.

    Reply
    • 

      Jeff Epstein, on March 1, 2011 at 7:53 am said:

      Thanks Steve!

      Reply
33. 

    Jeremy @ Wordloop, on February 28, 2011 at 11:13 am said:

    I would also recommend Ash Maurya’s Lean Canvas:

    http://leancanvas.com/ a tool for documenting your business model and managing tests, as well as his book

    Running Lean
    http://www.runningleanhq.com/

    Reply
34. 

    Roger Neel, on February 28, 2011 at 11:30 am said:

    Steve,

    Big fan & great list – we use a lot of these tools for our lean startup.

    I’d like to throw my hat in the ring for you to add http://www.mavenlink.com under the Project Management category and/or the Freelance category. We have an end-to-end suite that helps consultants and clients work better together. We’re lean and 40k people (and growing!) agree that we’ve got the best PM/time tracking/invoicing app out there.

    Roger

    Reply
35. 

    Paul Hontz, on February 28, 2011 at 11:59 am said:

    Thanks for the shout out to TSF. To put together a fantastic list!

    Reply
36. 

    Steve Kohlenberger, on February 28, 2011 at 3:25 pm said:

    Steve,

    Love your book! Super list.

    Microsoft’s WebMatrix (http://www.microsoft.com/web/webmatrix/) tries to seamlessly combine many public web development tools (like dotNetNuke, BlogEngine, WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, Umbraco, …) in one place on Windows for deployment on your choice of providers for $2.99/mo and up. (I don’t work for Microsoft nor an ISP).

    For Freelance Help, consider adding:
    Freelancer.com

    Logo Design:
    http://logoyes.com/

    Reply
37. Creating mockups/screenshots | MobInsights.com, on March 2, 2011 at 5:47 am said:

    [...] Blank maintains a list of mockup tools you may use, few are specialized for mobile apps though. In my mind, any good drawing tools or even [...]

    Reply
38. 

    Chuck Robinson, on March 6, 2011 at 8:50 am said:

    Wow, Steve! Wow, wow, wow! Thanks for this incredible resource!

    Chuck

    Reply
39. 

    Benoit Fallenius, on March 8, 2011 at 11:45 am said:

    “Name, Domain name and Trademark” is a complex topic that, right or wrong, take a lot of time for entrepreneurs in the beginning. It should be added to this great list.
    A new tool that will help the entrepreneur in the trademark issue is Markify – a trademark search that finds all similar trademarks. It covers both Europe ant the US, it is easy, fast and free. This kind of search normally costs more than $500…
    Test your name http://www.markify.com/ so you don’t end up with a name that is confusingly similar to an existing trademark.

    Reply
40. 

    Tatiana Maya, on March 10, 2011 at 9:10 pm said:

    Hi Steve,

    Are you aware of http://www.bettermeans.com ??? have a look, maybe as a collaborative resource on your list. Thanks for your work. I have lots to go through!

    Reply
41. Quora, on March 12, 2011 at 12:54 am said:

    What are the free software tools and online services one should leverage for an internet start-up just getting started from an idea?…

    I think Steven Gary Blank, the guy behind “The Four Steps To The Epiphany,” has this nice list which I reference periodically. http://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/…

    Reply
42. 

    Ian Ippolito, on March 24, 2011 at 8:45 am said:

    Steve,
    Thanks for an incredible resource for entrepreneurs, which I’m going to be forwarding them to.

    May I humbly also suggest under the “freelance” category, my own site: vWorker.com? It has better protections than Elance (100% free money back guarantees) and the same timecard monitoring as oDesk but is cheaper by 10-35%:

    https://www.vworker.com/RentACoder/DotNet/misc/CompetitorInformation/WhyRentACoder_ForBuyers.aspx

    Ian Ippolito

    Reply
43. 

    Vadim Nekhai, on March 29, 2011 at 4:23 am said:

    Hi Steve!

    Great job done! I enjoyed reading your post.
    Are you aware of http://www.smtp.com? Please take a look, it might be one more option to Sendgrid and Postmark in your list.

    Thanks.

    Reply
44. 

    Abbas, on April 7, 2011 at 10:22 pm said:

    Great compendium Steve! Thank you. One tool that I have found useful for UML diagram is http://www.gliffy.com. Very easy to use and share. I am not associated with the company.

    Thanks.

    Reply
45. 

    Dave Jafari, on April 10, 2011 at 10:11 am said:

    Great list Steve. I’d like to add http://www.sparkmuse.com as a community for founders.

    Reply
46. 

    Faren, on April 11, 2011 at 1:40 am said:

    Hi Steve,

    Thanks for adding my ipod, ipad and web wireframe template post to your list. Glad you and everyone else found it useful. Your list is a great reference by the way.

    Keep up the good work!

    Reply
47. 

    Ronaldo Bahia, on April 12, 2011 at 6:26 am said:

    Awesome summary of pretty important stuff. There is no reason to discard ideas anymore

    Reply
48. 

    Jason Miller, on April 13, 2011 at 4:09 pm said:

    Hi Steve,

    Fantastic list of resources. We would be truly flattered if you could add Zoomerang Online Surveys & Polls to your list of survey tools. (Free basic version, surveys & polls, 150+ templates to customize and send in minutes)

    Thank you!

    All the best,

    Jason Miller
    http://www.Zoomerang.com

    Reply
49. Some Of My Favorite Online Resources, on April 18, 2011 at 11:06 pm said:

    [...] Steve Blank is quickly becoming one of my very favorite writers/speakers on entrepreneurship. Everything he writes seems like it is a “must read”. His blog has a list of all kinds of wonderful tools for start-ups and such. His Twitter account is a must follow @SgBlank too. Check out the list of tools though HERE. [...]

    Reply
50. 

    Erick, on April 22, 2011 at 7:53 pm said:

    bookmarked this page months ago, and have referenced it at least a dozen times. great resource.

    Reply
51. 

    Alyson Button Stone, on April 25, 2011 at 2:41 pm said:

    This is a great resource which I have shared with our users, many of whom are progressive startups with a frugal mindset.

    I would love to see Assistly included on this list under the category of Customer Support. We are a featured Google App Marketplace company, and believe passionately in putting the customer at the center of the business.

    Thanks again for a great resource. This is one of those posts where you say to yourself: Why didn’t I think of doing this?

    Best, Alyson Stone, Assistly Team

    Reply
52. Quora, on April 26, 2011 at 6:46 am said:

    What are the best online resources (blogs, articles, etc.) on startups and entrepreneurship?…

    Steve Blank’s blog has been mentioned twice but I think it’s worthwhile to highlight this specific post where he has a very robust list of services (best analytics tools, best survey tools, boiler plate venture docs, usability testing services, etc) …

    Reply
53. 

    Robert, twago, on April 27, 2011 at 7:24 am said:

    Great ressource. Many of the tools I’ve never heard of, but I’ll check a few.
    My ultimate tool I can’t live without: dropbox – it’s the best.
    For freelancers and people looking for freelancers I would like to recommend twago (disclaimer: I work there): http://www.twago.com
    Robert

    Reply
54. 

    Stanford professor gives you the keys to building a start-up right here « From corporate to chameleon, on May 10, 2011 at 8:10 am said:

    [...] you need to create a business model hypotheses and to test it.  Combined with the start-up resources links on Steve’s site you are on your way to getting your venture off the [...]

    Reply
55. 

    Terri, on May 12, 2011 at 12:54 pm said:

    I’d also recommend smartQ for visual task management:
    http://www.getsmartQ.com

    Reply
56. 

    Olga Sorokina, on May 19, 2011 at 1:26 am said:

    Thanks for a great list!
    Do you know TeamLab? http://www.teamlab.com
    It is a web based project management and collaboration system. As distinct from similar solutions, TeamLab offers all the features for free with no limits – a very solid argument for most of start-ups and enterpreneurs.

    Reply
57. You don’t need a business plan yet: 7 ideas for Customer Development « Information Maven: Greg Meyer, on May 22, 2011 at 7:37 am said:

    [...] further along in the information you’ll need to build your business plan. Steve Blank lists some great tools for startups that will help you in this [...]

    Reply
58. 

    Iphone App Creators, on June 1, 2011 at 1:26 am said:

    That’s a really good list. Very helpful and worth taking time to go through most of them. Thanks for a Great Post.

    Reply
59. 

    Mary B., on June 5, 2011 at 1:15 am said:

    Stumbled on your page by serendipity. I sold to you & PR function back in the day (SuperMac) and others to the many companies dating back, but finally E.piphany ~ MediaMap (now is Cision). Amazing list. The best part though is the tenacity link. Nothing really compares with that, does it? All the best!

    Reply
    • 

      steveblank, on June 5, 2011 at 1:21 am said:

      Mary Bagatelos?

      Reply
60. 

    Mary B., on June 5, 2011 at 7:00 am said:

    You. Are. Something. How on earth did you remember? You’ve got everyone who ever breathed in that database. Yep, C’est moi.

    Reply
61. 

    Martin Henk, on June 8, 2011 at 6:13 am said:

    Impressive list, but missing a key ingredient: Sales management tools. I think actually actively selling your stuff is very important for a startup these days. No-brainer for B2B companies but also for B2C companies (making special advertising deals for example)

    Reply
    • 

      steveblank, on June 8, 2011 at 9:05 am said:

      Martin,

      Any suggestions?

      steve

      Reply
      • 

        Katarzyna Krolak-Wyszynska, on June 21, 2011 at 4:21 am said:

        I agree that help with sales is key for startups. I have found the step by step guideline of Kellogg Prof. Mohan Sawhney very helpful in clarifying the value proposition & positioning and crafting the messaging. It is a process supported by a set of videos, tools and templates.

        Reply
62. 

    techstartupceo, on June 21, 2011 at 10:45 am said:

    Hi Steve,

    Really enjoy your book and blog – thanks for your insights. I have a question though, how do you suggest moving through the customer development process when you are developing a product that you want to keep under wraps until its release (and thus maintain your market advantage)? My R&D company has a product in the works that we plan to sell to an existing customer base – but I’m challenged by how we engage these customers in the early design phases without letting the cat of the bag!

    Thanks in advance for your insights –

    Reply
63. 

    Spanglish Bee, on June 22, 2011 at 10:08 am said:

    Great list some “must have tools” for any strartup. I also highly recommend podio.com for project management its fantastic for collaborating on ideas, bug tracking, feature requests and much more, I’ve tried a lot but it’s my favorite, very flexible and easy to customize. Good luck with your startups!

    Reply
64. 

    ebzovi, on June 22, 2011 at 1:39 pm said:

    Hi Steve,
    We’d like to contribute to your list by adding our free invoicing application -www.healpay.com

    Reply
65. Projektverktyg – hantera projekt online | Ted Forssblad, on June 24, 2011 at 3:44 am said:

    [...] sprang på en bra lista med projektledningsverktyg (och en hel del andra användbara länkar) som jag tänkte dela med mig [...]

    Reply
66. 

    “Tell Me About It” «, on June 28, 2011 at 8:27 am said:

    [...] Our team is following Steve Blank’s Customer Development methodology, which is rooted on startups “getting out of the building,” talking to customers and using that feedback to develop and refine their product.  (For those who would like to learn more, Steve Blank has a helpful podcast called “Customer Development for Startups” and a blog.)  [...]

    Reply
67. 

    rob, on July 7, 2011 at 8:24 am said:

    Is this list monthly updated ? some stuff seems old

    Reply
    • 

      steveblank, on July 7, 2011 at 12:22 pm said:

      Rob,

      This list is one I started for my students trying to figure out what tools to use.
      I’m always happy to get updates. Let me know what “stuff” is old, and I’ll update it.

      steve

      Reply
68. 

    The Ultimate 6-Week Startup Crash Course « Keeping It Short, on July 23, 2011 at 9:19 pm said:

    [...] trials to a dozen some-odd tools that help you kick ass all over the place. Steve Blank has a pretty good list, but definitely include KissMetrics and KissInsights, Google Analytics (free) and Apps (not as [...]

    Reply
69. 

    Richard Stobart, on July 26, 2011 at 5:41 pm said:

    At Unboxed Consulting we use Xero.com, a SAAS accounting package and http://www.fatfreecrm.com, an open-source Ruby-on-Rails CRM solution. Both are great for those first 1000 customers.

    Reply
70. Lean startup article from NYT | Marketade Blog, on July 27, 2011 at 3:23 pm said:

    [...] a read.  Blank also has a ton of great links to tools for startups on his [...]

    Reply
71. 

    Mike, on August 1, 2011 at 9:29 am said:

    I would recommend My eStore App ( http://www.myestoreapp.com ) it let’s new startup’s add ecommerce directly on your site for free and set up only takes 5 minutes. No coding required; works similar to google analytics.

    Check it out.

    Reply
72. 

    Sophia, on August 3, 2011 at 6:55 pm said:

    Hi Steve,

    I looked around but couldn’t find a good way to contact you. I work for Experience In Software, a small Berkeley-based company that’s been producing acclaimed business software since 1983. (Perhaps you’re familiar with Project KickStart?)

    Yesterday we launched a brand-new project management application called Webplanner. I’m sure you’re very busy, but I wanted to invite you to give it a try. We’d be delighted to hear your thoughts: http://www.webplanner.com

    Thanks for your time.

    Reply
73. 

    Bono, on August 6, 2011 at 6:29 pm said:

    Hey Steve,

    Thanks for the collection. Its an awesome list. Really appreciating the work you’re putting in here. For inspiration you can include Mixergy.com, and also IncomeDiary from Michael Dunlop. There is also a new blog from Zak Taylor, http://www.yoranter.com, keep you’re eye on it, its a blog for online entrepreneurs.

    Reply
74. The Ultimate 6-Week Startup Crash Course | Profitably, on August 16, 2011 at 12:23 am said:

    [...] trials to a dozen some-odd tools that help you kick ass all over the place. Steve Blank has a pretty good list, but definitely include KissMetrics and KissInsights, Google Analytics (free) and Apps (not as [...]

    Reply
75. Can anyone recommend a good SEO?, on August 16, 2011 at 7:53 am said:

    [...] and portfolio; watch out for linking scams. If you're interested in taking on some of it yourself, Startup Tools Great list of tools, articles, basically everything you need to get started. Goodluck! [...]

    Reply
76. 

    Tyler Schoening, on August 18, 2011 at 3:44 am said:

    What a fantastic list of resources, thanks!

    Reply
77. 

    Shahab, on August 18, 2011 at 10:59 pm said:

    Steve, I’ve been volunteering as an organizer of a Meetup which helps match Co-Founders. It started really small in Rockville, MD about 9 months ago, and people have been asking us to do more and grow into other nearby cities. Would you consider adding this under Groups and Incubator List

    http://cofounderslab.meetup.com/

    Reply
78. 

    Nathan Beckord, on August 22, 2011 at 3:40 pm said:

    Awesome compilation, Steve. I didn’t see anything about “the exit” so I’m including a link to a deck I made awhile back that was pretty well received (over 5k views on Slideshare): http://slidesha.re/dnmrLH

    And while we’re in shameless self-promotion mode, here’s a blog post called “Hacking Angel List” that had some legs (http://bit.ly/nGOHKm), as well as another on startup valuation ranges (http://bit.ly/5w3m1Z).

    Let me know if any of that stuff is accretive to your compendium here.

    In other news, I’m working building on a collection of “exit hacks” (tips, techniques for maximizing value)…would you want to share a few nuggets and lessons learned? Want to do an interview?

    thanks, Nathan Beckord

    Reply
79. 

    New Startup, on August 27, 2011 at 1:15 pm said:

    You know this is one of the most extensive lists I have seen for anyone in the internet business. Really appreciate your hard work here.

    I really do not think you have missed a site here that is relevant. Being and electrical engineer it was great to see Digikey and Sparkfun on their . Thank you.

    Reply
80. Some Of My Favorite Online Resources | Ace CampaignAce Campaign, on August 28, 2011 at 5:12 pm said:

    [...] Steve Blank is quickly becoming one of my very favorite writers/speakers on entrepreneurship. Everything he writes seems like it is a “must read”. His blog has a list of all kinds of wonderful tools for start-ups and such. His Twitter account is a must follow @SgBlank too. Check out the list of tools though HERE. [...]

    Reply
81. » Lean Startup Tools | StartupNorth, on August 31, 2011 at 10:36 am said:

    [...] of the tools that we’re actively using (and some of the others we evaluated). There are the tools and blogs listed by Steve Blank that include [...]

    Reply
82. 

    Martin Villig, on September 11, 2011 at 1:25 pm said:

    Hi Steve,
    It was nice to meet you last week in Tallinn. I would suggest 2 useful tools built by Estonian startups:
    http://edicy.com – simplest and most beautiful website creation tool
    http://toggl.com – simple and easy time tracking tool

    Reply
83. Tools and technologies that you can use for rapid prototyping | Startup Monthly Idea Accelerator, on September 20, 2011 at 1:41 am said:

    [...] Tools and technologies that you can use for rapid prototyping By yuri On September 20, 2011 · Leave a Comment Tweet Hello Accelerators, After pivoting and changing your idea in the last 2 weeks, now is the time to focus all your efforts towards you Minimal Viable Product. We have 4 weeks left till the Demo Day on October 16th. We are here to help you to succeed both on the Business Model side and the technology side. Most of the teams were assigned to a mentor that will lead them till the Demo day and make sure that you are on the right track in terms of the business model and that you are focused and know what do you want to implement for initial launch. We are going to be very strict and make sure that each of the teams will have live products. Remember that the faster you get live the faster you will get feedback from your customers and pivot if necessary. As a result, we will allow teams with live products only to present to a panel of investors. In order to be ready for the final you will have to prototype your MVP (Focus on the key feature that will make your customer to come back and use your product again), launch it, market it to your target customers, define metrics, collect metrics and statistics, analyze the metrics and refine your pitch deck (we will provide a template that you will need to fill), show traction to panel of investors. Remember that the panel of investors are looking at team cohesiveness, previous experience, ability to execute, show traction, social proof, business model and your target market. As most of you already started creating wireframes and the coding efforts I strongly recommend to use these tools and services: One of the complete sources of tools for startups is shown by Steve Blank in his blog post [...]

    Reply
84. 

    George P. Stathis, on September 21, 2011 at 2:41 pm said:

    There seems to be tremendous response to such startup tools lists, both here and in the lists linked at the top of the page. The reputation of the source recommending the tools obviously has a lot to do with it. Would there be any interest in organizing this in some sort of community curated directory? Tools might make the list based on some entry criteria: e.g. two or more sources that have used or read them recommend they get mentioned. Some benefits are that it would be searchable and discussions / testimonials could be organized around each recommendation, helping potential users/readers to get a better idea of what to expect. There is a LOT to select from here, so the community could help make the selection process smoother.

    Reply
    • 

      steveblank, on December 8, 2011 at 12:49 am said:

      Happy to have someone volunteer to do so.

      Reply
      • 

        Michael Eales, on January 22, 2012 at 5:40 pm said:

        It is worth having the ‘volunteer’ include aspects of Tom Hulme’s crowdsourced list… see http://cnda.condenast.co.uk/wired-static/tools_for_startups.pdf

        Reply
85. 

    Perico, on September 26, 2011 at 3:46 pm said:

    I use Priority Matrix, an app for iOS and Mac that helps you focus on important stuff and get the most out of your little time.

    Reply
86. 

    Jerome, on September 30, 2011 at 4:38 am said:

    Another nice project management tool is TaskPoint http://www.taskpoint.com, it hosted fork of Redmine and includes really nice communication features missing in Redmine and Chilliproject

    Reply
87. How To Build a Web Startup – Lean LaunchPad Edition | Florida Venture Sourcing, on October 3, 2011 at 10:30 am said:

    [...] first attempt at helping students answer these questions was by putting together the Startup Tools Page - a compilation of available web development tools. While it was a handy reference, it still [...]

    Reply
88. How To Build a Web Startup – Lean LaunchPad Edition | NYU Entrepreneur, on October 5, 2011 at 7:31 am said:

    [...] first attempt at helping students answer these questions was by putting together the Startup Tools Page - a compilation of available web development tools. While it was a handy reference, it still [...]

    Reply
89. 

    Daniel McQuillen (@SimpleDiagrams), on October 9, 2011 at 8:21 am said:

    Hi Steve,

    If your readers doing really basic UX flows or mockups, my application SimpleDiagrams might be helpful!

    http://www.simplediagrams.com

    Daniel McQuillen

    Reply
90. 

    Scott Yates, on October 10, 2011 at 7:36 pm said:

    One other new addition is the blog writing service Blogmutt. “We work like a dog to fill up your blog!”

    This is a service for companies with a site and a blog that is always the last thing that gets done, and it ends up being weeks and months between posts. For a low, flat fee Blogmutt uses a crowd of writers to create all-original posts.

    Reply
91. » Finding Funding & Financing, on October 13, 2011 at 10:17 pm said:

    [...] more about funding by reading Steve Blank, author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany, offers amazing tools, books, and other resources to [...]

    Reply
92. 

    David Moore (@5MinuteAngels), on October 20, 2011 at 10:09 am said:

    What a fantastic list of resources! Thanks Steve for taking the time to put all of these tools into one place. Your readers might also be interested in http://www.testimonialmonkey.com which is a new customer review site that enables business to integrate their feedback directly into their web pages.

    They offer a free 30 day trial for new users and the Lite package is free.

    I hope this helps!

    David

    Reply
93. 

    startupworkbench, on October 20, 2011 at 4:05 pm said:

    Steve:
    You’re my new hero!
    This list is filled with amazing goodies and is a real reflection.
    I’m a big fan of your SV history lecture. My dad, a history buff, was copilot in a B24 over the last 6 ms of WWII. This shed new light on what they were up against. He would have loved this too.
    The link on tenacity is so real and sweet…. a heartbreaker. TYVM.
    gene@ebm-inc.com

    Reply
94. 

    Industrial Fasteners, on October 28, 2011 at 4:48 am said:

    Great list of websites some of the links were really helpful.

    Reply
95. 

    Leore, on November 1, 2011 at 4:12 am said:

    Hi Steve,

    Great list of resources here!

    As an additional resource for “Billing/Subscription Management/E-Store”, I thought your readers would be interested in Plimus. We offer a global e-Commerce platform for sellers and affiliates who sell digital goods and services online.

    Our platform supports several subscription models (from different trials to dynamic subscriptions) and has all the tools needed to help manage them.

    Our site is: http://www.plimus.com (and it’s free to sign up).

    Regards,
    Leore

    Reply
96. 

    John, on November 2, 2011 at 9:17 pm said:

    Great list.

    How about website backup tools: http://www.dropmysite.com

    Reply
97. Others’ Collections | the laboratory, on November 3, 2011 at 9:34 am said:

    [...] Steve Blank’s collection: http://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/ [...]

    Reply
98. How To Build a Web Startup – The Lean Launch Pad | Notesinthecloud, on November 6, 2011 at 2:14 pm said:

    [...] guide for a lean development of a minimum viable product, and provides a very helpful set of startup tools that span from business model development frameworks, to SEO and analytics tutorials.  If you [...]

    Reply
99. 

    Nicholas Hughes, on November 9, 2011 at 11:29 pm said:

    Hi, Steve,

    Thanks for the collection. Its an awesome list. Really appreciating the work you’re putting in here. Here I also recommend another online project schedule tool-TABB. http://www.tabb.ca Maybe you can review and add it into your list.

    Reply
100. 

     Lasse, on November 11, 2011 at 2:07 am said:

     Hi Steve,

     Thanks a bunch for your impressive list of great resources for entrepreneurs. Let me recommend an addition to the Web analytics tools:

     Mouseflow (http://mouseflow.com) performs analytics comparable to clicktale but at a fraction of the cost. Give it a try!

     Reply
101. 

     Taat, on November 15, 2011 at 12:10 am said:

     Business plan and financial tool:
     http://www.iplanner.net

     Reply
102. 

     Atul Veer, on November 20, 2011 at 10:48 pm said:

     Hi Steve,

     Great list. Thanks a lot for all the hard work in listing all this information.

     Found one typo:

     The URL link to Thomas in “Marketing Research > Market Research Resources Online” is wrong, its pointing to http://www.thomas.net. It should point to http://www.thomasnet.com

     Thanks,
     Atul

     Reply
     • 

       steveblank, on November 20, 2011 at 11:40 pm said:

       thanks. link updated.

       Reply
103. 

     Matthew Ogston, on November 29, 2011 at 1:45 pm said:

     Great set of startup tools Steve.
     I’ve been referring to the list for quite some time now to build my own company, and waiting for the time we are ready to shamelessly suggest our own product – JobPage – http://www.jobpage.com

     We provide many of the benefits of Recruiterbox and the Resumator, but we specialise in tech and marketing recruitment only. Our platform also pro-actively seeks out suitable candidates before they’ve even applied to one of our jobs.

     Reply
     • 

       steveblank, on December 3, 2011 at 11:42 am said:

       Matthew,
       Created new “Recruiting” and “Find a Co-founder” sections. Added jobpage.com

       steve

       Reply
       • 

         Matthew Ogston, on December 3, 2011 at 11:47 am said:

         Thank you Steve!

         Regards, Matt

         Reply
104. To Build Or Not To Build? | | Lead To Win for WomenLead To Win for Women, on November 30, 2011 at 6:28 pm said:

     [...] build massive systems in-house. Before you do it, look into third-party apps (here’s the mother load from Steve Blank) and talk to other entrepreneurs to see if they can help. Otherwise it’s a waste [...]

     Reply
105. 

     Thom Holland, on December 2, 2011 at 6:15 am said:

     Incredible list for entrepreneurs.

     Reply
106. 

     Bahadir, on December 3, 2011 at 11:10 am said:

     Steve- this is great, thanks!
     Having recently dived into the game myself, I’d add 2 very useful tools to the list to build up a user base before even launching the product:
     launchrock, and kickofflabs, that both help sign users up in anticipation of the launch date.

     Useful for Apps and more.
     Cheers,

     Reply
     • 

       steveblank, on December 3, 2011 at 11:38 am said:

       Already on the list, under “Product Launch Tools”

       steve

       Reply
107. 

     Praveen, on December 7, 2011 at 6:04 am said:

     Hi Steve,

     Would like to share about 99tests.com, we are a Crowdsourced Software testing platform. We help software developers in functionality testing of their applications.

     Thanks,
     Praveen.

     Reply
108. 

     ngowdy, on December 7, 2011 at 1:57 pm said:

     Hey Steve – this is a brilliant list that I find myself coming back to time and again when tasked with, “Hey – Nick, find us a vendor for X.” It’s an easy way to get a who’s-who in each of these verticals, and we’ve been pretty happy with the vendors we’ve found (MailChimp, UserTesting.com, ClickTale, countless others).

     I use this frequently enough that I think it would be terrific if you would consider our business for this list – FreedomVoice (http://www.freedomvoice.com). We’ve been in business since 1996, providing small businesses, startups, and entrepreneurs with 800 numbers and virtual phone service. We’ve recently branched into hosted VoIP telephony as well (www.freedomiq.com), a natural extension for growing businesses.

     Maybe we could find a home under the “Misc Office Help” area – alongside vendors like Grasshopper or RingCentral?

     Either way, my shame all-but-expunged, I just want to thank you for this is a ridiculously extensive, valuable, and constantly fresh list.

     Go Bears.

     Reply
109. 

     JasonL, on December 9, 2011 at 2:07 pm said:

     @Steve
     This page should be retitled, “One Step to the Epiphany”. What an amazingly broad set of start-up tools and resources!

     Thank you for this page as well as placing your lecture materials online.

     Best wishes,
     Jason

     Reply
110. 

     Derek Scruggs, on December 11, 2011 at 11:11 am said:

     A couple more tools to suggest:

     Analytics
     StatsMix – easy tracking, charting and sharing of internal application and business metrics

     Surveys
     SurveyGizmo – free basic version, extremely powerful survey creation and data integration tools

     Reply
111. 

     Derek Scruggs, on December 11, 2011 at 11:12 am said:

     Argh, forgot to include the urls!

     StatsMix – http://www.statsmix.com
     SurveyGizmo – http://www.surveygizmo.com

     Reply
     • 

       steveblank, on December 15, 2011 at 9:50 pm said:

       added

       Reply
112. 

     Davide, on December 15, 2011 at 3:53 am said:

     @Steve
     The link of SpyFu isn’t right.

     Reply
     • 

       steveblank, on December 15, 2011 at 9:49 pm said:

       fixed

       Reply
113. 

     Mayank Sharma (@mayanks), on December 15, 2011 at 9:20 pm said:

     Appreciate your mentioning of freshdesk here but (besides the typo) calling it a zendesk clone sends wrong signal. The authority that you carry has the power to make a lie ^sound like a fact^.

     > Steve Blank calls it a clone, so it must be a clone.

     Reply
     • 

       Mayank Sharma (@mayanks), on December 15, 2011 at 9:35 pm said:

       Thank you for obliging. My respect for you just went up couple of notches.

       Reply
114. 

     LEGAY Jean-François, on December 23, 2011 at 4:14 am said:

     Hi Steve,
     I read the french translation of your book “the 4 steps to epiphanie”.
     The content appeared to me of great value for companies willing to put on the market successfull new products.
     Nevertheless the french translation is very poor and appears offently as coming directly from a translating machine without necessary corrections or interpretations. This should make the content difficult to digest for non expertised persons.
     Best regards and congratulations for your expertise.

     Jean-François

     Reply
115. 

     Sridh_ar, on January 11, 2012 at 1:03 am said:

     Steve, here is a nomination for a Startup tool > 10Screens, a _free_ online prototyping and collaboration tool (“PowerPoint for prototyping”). Request you to include under “Wireframing tools” list.
     TIA,
     Sridh_ar

     Reply
116. 

     Scott Annan, on January 21, 2012 at 5:45 pm said:

     Hi Steve,

     I’ve used this list as a reference for some time – thanks for curating it!

     I thought you might want to check out http://startupplays.com – its what TechCrunch called a “Virtual Accelerator” and a “real viable alternative to current startup accelerators”. I thought you might want to include it in your list above – and would love to collaborate with you on building a “play”.

     Thanks for the list, and all the great content.

     Reply
117. 

     Stephen, on February 1, 2012 at 11:47 am said:

     Hi Steve,

     Brilliant list!

     I might humbly put forward http://www.skillpages.com as a tool for recruiting people and finding freelancers.

     Thanks again,

     Stephen

     Reply
118. 

     Lillian Cherry, on February 7, 2012 at 4:50 pm said:

     Another great tool is Blogmutt, a crowd-sourced blog writing service.

     http://www.blogmutt.com

     Reply
119. 

     Ching, on February 7, 2012 at 6:24 pm said:

     If anyone is interested in infographics as a tool for entrepreneur, may I add http://www.piktochart.com to the list? Looking forward to your feedback!

     Thanks
     Ching

     Reply
120. On Planning Versus Execution | Meet Justin Barrett, on February 7, 2012 at 8:04 pm said:

     [...] that I think are greatly improving the planning process.  The Lean Startup methodology, along with Steve Blank’s concepts in customer development, can change the game in how company’s get started.  Yes, the [...]

     Reply
121. 

     Barbara Tien, on February 8, 2012 at 5:08 pm said:

     Wow, Steve! Raising a family — what a delightful way to represent the tenacity and courage it takes to raise a business.

     I snatched the list the first time well over a year ago and found it in my Evernote collection this afternoon when I went hunting for tools. My eyes popped! I’d not appreciated it the first time.

     This time, I found your timelapse treasure as a special reward for looking carefully. Wow, I hope you’ll have a moment to peruse these comments occasionally and you’ll find this thank you in return.

     Reply
     • 

       steveblank, on February 10, 2012 at 1:37 am said:

       Your welcome. Seek and ye shall find!

       Reply
122. 

     Caroline, on February 8, 2012 at 6:47 pm said:

     Hi Steve! Really nice list! Definitely bookmarking this one

     By the way, could you include Keynotopia under Wireframing tools? It’s a rapid wireframing + high fidelity (pixel perfect) prototyping tool that’s been very popular among start-ups In fact we even had one of our users win StartUp week-end using it that thanked us for the help

     Thanks and keep up the great work!

     -Caroline
     http://keynotopia.com/

     Reply
123. Startup Library | Lara.do, on February 12, 2012 at 6:39 pm said:

     [...] Toolkit: Some of the tools that will help you to quickly get your startup off the ground. Steve Blank’s Startup Tools is extremely useful as well. You can also check out this cool [...]

     Reply
124. 

     Tim Waters, on February 21, 2012 at 9:14 pm said:

     Excellent resources Steve, entrepreneurs will find this very helpful. I also bookmark this one on delicious. I believe that in order to be a successful entrepreneur you will need the right online tools and resources that can help you run your business smoothly and hassle free to progress. With these tools it can help you manage your business effectively and efficiently. You can also check this for more alternative tools that are very useful for entrepreneur to use. (http://www.timedoctor.com/blog/2011/04/14/compare-screen-monitoring-software) Using these tools it can help you improve collaboration, project management and team communication.

     Reply

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