Steve Blank Quotes
Greatest risk is not development of new product, but development of customers and markets
Unless you have tested the assumptions in your business model first, outside the building, your business plan is just creative writing.
A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.
Using the Product Development Waterfall diagram for Customer Development activities is like using a clock to tell the temperature. They both measure something, but not the thing you wanted.
Startups don’t fail because they lack a product; they fail because they lack customers and a profitable business model.
The company that consistently makes and implements decisions rapidly gains a tremendous, often decisive, competitive advantage.
When you're gone would you rather have your gravestone say, 'He never missed a meeting.' Or one that said, 'He was a great father.'
One of the mistakes we'll make because we're human beings is to believe that your vision is a fact. That's the natural optimism of human beings.
Business plans are the tool existing companies use for execution. They are the wrong tool to search for a business model.
It's worth noting that everything - from the Internet to electric cars, genomic sequencing, mobile apps, and social media - were pioneered by startups, not existing companies.
The introduction of new technology is always disruptive to existing markets, particularly to content/copyright owners who sell through well-established distribution channels.
Watching an entrepreneur fail is sad, but watching him fail from lack of nerve is tragic.
My imagination ran 24/7, and to me, every problem was a challenge to solve and new product to create. It wasn't until I started teaching that I realized that not everyone's head worked the same way.
Innovation in an existing company is not just the sum of great technology, key acquisitions, or smart people. Corporate innovation needs a culture that matches and supports it.
Great entrepreneurial DNA is comprised of leadership, technological vision, frugality, and the desire to succeed.
Learning how to keep track of inventory and cash flow and creating an income statement and a balance sheet are great skills to learn for managing existing businesses.
Founding a company is a sheer act of will and tenacity in the face of immense skepticism from everyone - investors, customers, friends, family, and employees, to name a few.
The art of entrepreneurship and the science of Customer Development is not just getting out of the building and listening to prospective customers. It's understanding who to listen to and why.
In corporations, the penalty for repeated failure on known tasks is being reassigned to other tasks or asked to leave the company.
While 'The Owner's Manual' is not a formula for guaranteed success by any means, we're confident it will help reduce the failure rate of most startups that use our Customer Development process.
