This document discusses customer development and its importance for startups. It argues that product development alone is not enough and that startups need a parallel process focused on customer development from the beginning. This includes discovering customers, validating problems and solutions, creating customers, and building a company around them. Customer development should be iterative and focus on learning rather than linear execution. It is as important as product development for startup success.
Henrik Berglund, Presentation at Venture Cup, feb 2013.
This presentation is based on the Customer Development theory developed by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (http://www.steveblank.com), and is based on slides developed by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/).
Henrik Berglund, Presentation at Venture Cup, feb 2013.
This presentation is based on the Customer Development theory developed by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (http://www.steveblank.com), and is based on slides developed by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/).
Content marketing For Marketing Automation DemandGen
Trying to connect the dots between Content Marketing and Marketing Automation? Join DemandGen for another exploration of B2B Marketing Automation best practice. This webcast will be looking at the relationship between Content Marketing and Marketing Automation. We’ve put together another panel of smart b2b practitioners. This month’s insights are provided by Doug Kessler of Velocity Partners, author of The B2B Content Marketing Workbook and Bob Apollo, founder of Inflexion-Point, B2B Sales and Marketing Performance Improvement specialists.
We’ll be taking a closer look at the relationship between Marketing Automation and Content Marketing:
- Rules of thought leadership
- Aligning content to the buying cycle
- Best practices: Building an integrated content marketing strategy with Marketing Automation tools
- B2B content marketing examples and successes
- Measuring the results
First lecture in a workshop on business model generation and technology startups. Focuses on the overall philosophy and the structure and nature of business models.
Workshop at Chalmers Innovation Startup Camp 2013.
This presentation is based on the Customer Development theory developed by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (http://www.steveblank.com), and is based on slides developed by Steve Blank and Bob Dorf (http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/).
Nurture vs. Nature - The Rules of Real Relationship Building for Prospects & ...ReadyTalk
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Team Networks - 2022 Technology, Innovation & Great Power CompetitionStanford University
Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition,TIGPC, Gordian knot Center, DIME-FIL, department of defense, dod, intlpol 340, joe felter, ms&e296, raj shah, stanford, Steve blank, AI, ML, AI/ML, china, networks
Team LiOn Batteries - 2022 Technology, Innovation & Great Power CompetitionStanford University
Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition,TIGPC, Gordian knot Center, DIME-FIL, department of defense, dod, intlpol 340, joe felter, ms&e296, raj shah, stanford, Steve blank, AI, ML, AI/ML, china, LiOn Batteries
Team Quantum - 2022 Technology, Innovation & Great Power CompetitionStanford University
Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition,TIGPC, Gordian knot Center, DIME-FIL, department of defense, dod, intlpol 340, joe felter, ms&e296, raj shah, stanford, Steve blank, AI, ML, AI/ML, china, Quantum
Team Disinformation - 2022 Technology, Innovation & Great Power CompetitionStanford University
Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition,TIGPC, Gordian knot Center, DIME-FIL, department of defense, dod, intlpol 340, joe felter, ms&e296, raj shah, stanford, Steve blank, AI, ML, AI/ML, china, Disinformation
Team Wargames - 2022 Technology, Innovation & Great Power CompetitionStanford University
Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition,TIGPC, Gordian knot Center, DIME-FIL, department of defense, dod, intlpol 340, joe felter, ms&e296, raj shah, stanford, Steve blank, AI, ML, AI/ML, china, Wargames
Team Acquistion - 2022 Technology, Innovation & Great Power Competition Stanford University
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Team Army venture capital - 2021 Technology, Innovation & Great Power Competi...Stanford University
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Team Army venture capital - 2021 Technology, Innovation & Great Power Competi...Stanford University
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Team Catena - 2021 Technology, Innovation & Great Power CompetitionStanford University
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A Strategic Approach: GenAI in EducationPeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Embracing GenAI - A Strategic ImperativePeter Windle
Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies such as Generative AI, Image Generators and Large Language Models have had a dramatic impact on teaching, learning and assessment over the past 18 months. The most immediate threat AI posed was to Academic Integrity with Higher Education Institutes (HEIs) focusing their efforts on combating the use of GenAI in assessment. Guidelines were developed for staff and students, policies put in place too. Innovative educators have forged paths in the use of Generative AI for teaching, learning and assessments leading to pockets of transformation springing up across HEIs, often with little or no top-down guidance, support or direction.
This Gasta posits a strategic approach to integrating AI into HEIs to prepare staff, students and the curriculum for an evolving world and workplace. We will highlight the advantages of working with these technologies beyond the realm of teaching, learning and assessment by considering prompt engineering skills, industry impact, curriculum changes, and the need for staff upskilling. In contrast, not engaging strategically with Generative AI poses risks, including falling behind peers, missed opportunities and failing to ensure our graduates remain employable. The rapid evolution of AI technologies necessitates a proactive and strategic approach if we are to remain relevant.
Read| The latest issue of The Challenger is here! We are thrilled to announce that our school paper has qualified for the NATIONAL SCHOOLS PRESS CONFERENCE (NSPC) 2024. Thank you for your unwavering support and trust. Dive into the stories that made us stand out!
Operation “Blue Star” is the only event in the history of Independent India where the state went into war with its own people. Even after about 40 years it is not clear if it was culmination of states anger over people of the region, a political game of power or start of dictatorial chapter in the democratic setup.
The people of Punjab felt alienated from main stream due to denial of their just demands during a long democratic struggle since independence. As it happen all over the word, it led to militant struggle with great loss of lives of military, police and civilian personnel. Killing of Indira Gandhi and massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and other India cities was also associated with this movement.
June 3, 2024 Anti-Semitism Letter Sent to MIT President Kornbluth and MIT Cor...Levi Shapiro
Letter from the Congress of the United States regarding Anti-Semitism sent June 3rd to MIT President Sally Kornbluth, MIT Corp Chair, Mark Gorenberg
Dear Dr. Kornbluth and Mr. Gorenberg,
The US House of Representatives is deeply concerned by ongoing and pervasive acts of antisemitic
harassment and intimidation at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Failing to act decisively to ensure a safe learning environment for all students would be a grave dereliction of your responsibilities as President of MIT and Chair of the MIT Corporation.
This Congress will not stand idly by and allow an environment hostile to Jewish students to persist. The House believes that your institution is in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, and the inability or
unwillingness to rectify this violation through action requires accountability.
Postsecondary education is a unique opportunity for students to learn and have their ideas and beliefs challenged. However, universities receiving hundreds of millions of federal funds annually have denied
students that opportunity and have been hijacked to become venues for the promotion of terrorism, antisemitic harassment and intimidation, unlawful encampments, and in some cases, assaults and riots.
The House of Representatives will not countenance the use of federal funds to indoctrinate students into hateful, antisemitic, anti-American supporters of terrorism. Investigations into campus antisemitism by the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Committee on Ways and Means have been expanded into a Congress-wide probe across all relevant jurisdictions to address this national crisis. The undersigned Committees will conduct oversight into the use of federal funds at MIT and its learning environment under authorities granted to each Committee.
• The Committee on Education and the Workforce has been investigating your institution since December 7, 2023. The Committee has broad jurisdiction over postsecondary education, including its compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, campus safety concerns over disruptions to the learning environment, and the awarding of federal student aid under the Higher Education Act.
• The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is investigating the sources of funding and other support flowing to groups espousing pro-Hamas propaganda and engaged in antisemitic harassment and intimidation of students. The Committee on Oversight and Accountability is the principal oversight committee of the US House of Representatives and has broad authority to investigate “any matter” at “any time” under House Rule X.
• The Committee on Ways and Means has been investigating several universities since November 15, 2023, when the Committee held a hearing entitled From Ivory Towers to Dark Corners: Investigating the Nexus Between Antisemitism, Tax-Exempt Universities, and Terror Financing. The Committee followed the hearing with letters to those institutions on January 10, 202
Acetabularia Information For Class 9 .docxvaibhavrinwa19
Acetabularia acetabulum is a single-celled green alga that in its vegetative state is morphologically differentiated into a basal rhizoid and an axially elongated stalk, which bears whorls of branching hairs. The single diploid nucleus resides in the rhizoid.
2. Customer Development in the
High Tech Enterprise
MBA 295-F/EMBA 295-F
Customer and Agile Development
Steve Blank
sblank@kandsranch.com
2
3/27/10
3. Class 3: Agenda
! Logistics/Questions
! CASE: E-Ink
! Product Development
! Boyd & the OODA Loop
! Customer Development
4. It Started With a Question
If Startups Fail from a Lack of customers
not Product Development Failure
Then why do we have:
• process to manage product development?
• no process to manage customer development?
5. I Started Reading
• Lead User Research - Von Hippel • OODA Loop - Boyd
• Crossing the Chasm - Moore • Question-based Selling - Freese
• Entrepreneurial Mindset - McGrath/MacMillan • Solution Selling - Bosworth
• Innovators Dillema - Christensen • Conceptual/Strategic Selling - Heiman
• Profitable Value - Lanning • Spin Selling - Rackham
• Lanchester Strategy - Yano • US Marine Corps Warfighting Manual
• High Tech Marketing - Davidow • Tipping Point - Gladwell
Customer Customer Customer Company
Discovery Validation Creation Building
6. All We Had Was 30 Years of This
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Seed Round Dev. Test 1st Ship
Product Development Model
7. What’s Wrong With This?
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Seed Round Dev. Test 1st Ship
- Create Marcom - Hire PR Agency - Create Demand
Marketing Materials - Early Buzz - Launch Event
- Create Positioning - “Branding”
7
8. What’s Wrong With This?
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Seed Round Dev. Test 1st Ship
- Create Marcom - Hire PR Agency - Create Demand
Marketing Materials - Early Buzz - Launch Event
- Create Positioning - “Branding”
• Hire Sales VP • Build Sales
Sales • Hire 1st Sales Staff Organization
9. What’s Wrong With This?
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Seed Round Dev. Test 1st Ship
- Create Marcom - Hire PR Agency - Create Demand
Marketing Materials - Early Buzz - Launch Event
- Create Positioning - “Branding”
• Hire Sales VP • Build Sales
Sales • Hire 1st Sales Staff Organization
Business
• Hire First • Do deals for FCS
Development
Bus Dev
10. 10 Things I Hate About
Product Development
1. Where are the Customers?
2. The Focus on First Customer Ship
3. Emphasis on Execution vs. Learning & Discovery
4. No Customer-centric milestones
5. Product dev. to measure Sales
6. Product dev. to measure Marketing
7. Premature Scaling
8. Death Spiral
9. Three Types of Startups
10. Unrealistic Expectations
11. Chasing The FCS Date
! Sales & Marketing costs are front loaded
" focused on execution vs. learning & discovery
! First Customer Ship becomes the goal
! Execution & hiring predicated on business plan hypothesis
! Heavy spending hit if product launch is wrong
! Financial projections, assumes all startups are the same
=
You don’t know if you’re wrong until you’re out of
business/money
13. Boyd’s OODA “Loop”
Observe Orient Decide Act
Implicit Implicit
Unfolding Guidance Cultural
Guidance
Circumstances & Control Traditions & Control
Genetic
Heritage Analyses &
Observations Feed
Forward
Synthesis Feed Decision Feed Action
Forward Forward
(Hypothesis) (Test)
New
Previous
Information
Experience
Outside Unfolding
Information Interaction
With
Unfolding
Environment
Interaction Feedback
With
Environment Feedback
Orientation shapes observation, shapes decision, shapes action, and in turn is shaped by the feedback
and other phenomena coming into our observing window.
Competitive advantage comes from quickness over the entire “loop,” not just
from the O-to-O-to-D-to-A sequence.
14. Build a Customer Development Process
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Seed Round Dev. Test 1st Ship
Customer Development
? ? ? ?
15. Customer Development is as important
as Product Development
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Bus. Plan Dev. Test 1st Ship
Customer Development
Customer Customer Customer Company
Discovery Validation Creation Building
16. Customer Development is as important
as Product Development
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Bus. Plan Dev. Test 1st Ship
Customer Development
Customer Customer Customer Company
Discovery Validation Creation Building
17. Customer Development Heuristics
! There are no facts inside your building, so get
outside
" Founders in front of customers
! Find a Market for the Product as spec’d
" I.e Develop for the Few, not the Many
! Learning and Discovery versus linear execution
! Earlyvangelists make your company
! Market Types Matter
18. Customer & Product Development
Synchronization
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Bus. Plan Dev. Test 1st Ship
Customer Development
Customer Customer Customer Scale
Discovery Validation Creation Company
19. Product Development
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/
Bus. Plan Dev. Test 1st Ship
But really, how does this work?
20. Customer Development:
Big Ideas
! Parallel process to Product Development
! Measurable Checkpoints for the entire company
! Not tied to FCS, but to customer milestones
! Iterative to represent reality
! Executed by a small team including CEO
21. It Resulted in a Few Hypotheses
• Startups weren’t small versions of large companies
• They were about learning/discovery, not execution
• Entrepreneurs and their VC’s were executing on
guesses
• But the facts were outside the building
22. Which Turned Into A Model
Product Development
Concept/ Product Alpha/Beta Launch/1st
Bus. Plan Dev. Test Ship
+
Customer Development
Customer Customer Customer Company
Discovery Validation Creation Building
23. Eric Ries Extends the Model
• Took my class at U.C. Berkeley
• Co-founded IMVU
- 1st implementation of Customer Development
- Paired it with an Agile Development Model
• Observed that the sum of the two was powerful
24. Eric Ries: Insight - 1
Startups assumed development was “known”
Concept/ Product Alpha/ Launch/
Seed Dev. Beta Ship
Waterfall
!"#$%&"'"()*+
Solution: known
,"*%-(+
• I understood the problem .'/0"'"()123(+
was unknown Problem: known 4"&%56123(+
• Eric observed the solution 71%()"(1(6"+
was unknown in a startup
25. Eric Ries: Insight - 2
Agile matches the Customer Dev speed
Concept/ Product Alpha/ Launch/
Seed Dev. Beta Ship
Solution: unknown
• Agile was the development
methodology to use when the
solution was unknown
26. Eric Ries: Insight 3
Customer + Agile + Commodity = Lean
• Solving for both unknowns is the “Lean Startup”
Problem: Unknown Solution: Unknown
Source: Eric Ries
27. Jon Feiber @ MDV Insight
Not all Need Customer Development
• Market Risk vs. Technical Risk?
- Web is about customers & markets
- Biotech is about science & invention
28. John Boyd - Insight
The OODA “Loop”
Observe Orient Decide Act
Implicit Implicit
Unfolding Guidance Cultural
Guidance
Circumstances & Control Traditions & Control
Genetic
Heritage Analyses &
Observations Feed
Forward
Synthesis Feed Decision Feed Action
Forward Forward
(Hypothesis) (Test)
New
Previous
Information
Experience
Outside Unfolding
Information Interaction
With
Unfolding
Environment
Interaction Feedback
With
Environment Feedback
Orientation shapes observation, shapes decision, shapes action, and in turn is shaped by the feedback and
other phenomena coming into our observing window.
29. Iteration versus Execution
Iteration Execution
Customer Customer Customer Company
Discovery Validation Creation Building
The Search for a Business The Growth of a Business
Product/Market Fit