Customer Development for Web Startups (opens in new tab)

(steveblank.com)

44 pointswhite_eskimo16y ago8 comments

8 comments

Interesting post, but the first flow-chart seems to perpetuate the (Silicon Valley oriented ?) mindset that a startup should be pursuing:

  * Rapid growth

  * Frenzied hiring

  * Profitability relatively late in the game

What about different approaches to building and running great companies ? Why not:

  * Focus on the product and passionate users (ala Paul Buchheit and Gmail)

  * Focus on exactly how you make money from that product

  * Hire incrementally at (or just before) the point you are profitable

  * Accept slower (less fashionable and exciting ?) growth

Maybe that would help align our thoughts around what it takes to build a sustainable business rather than just coding great features ?

It also has the added advantage of freeing you from the hand of the VCs and looking over you shoulder fretting about your burn rate.

plinkplonk16y ago

"Interesting post, but the first flow-chart seems to perpetuate the (Silicon Valley oriented ?) mindset that a startup should be pursuing:

* Rapid growth, Frenzied hiring and Profitability relatively late in the game "

If anything, Steve Blank reccomends a strategy completely opposed to the above. Read his book. The flowchart may make more sense then?

whyleyc16y ago

I confess I haven't read Steve's book (and probably should), but in the context of this post that flow-chart is misleading if it doesn't accurately represent his position.

ashmaurya16y ago

I think it feels "misleading" because there is no time scale attached to it and maybe the word "Scalable Startup" should be changed. Building a scalable startup is all about the things you highlight... getting to problem/solution fit, then product/market fit... Key is getting there with low burn.

Once you have product/market fit, you have the semblance of a business. You transition towards growth from there.

1 more reply

jeremytech16y ago

Customer development is an often overlooked process that boils down to understanding what is actually useful for the end user or customer, rather than what the entrepreneur thinks is useful.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse

8 comments

whyleyc16y ago

Interesting post, but the first flow-chart seems to perpetuate the (Silicon Valley oriented ?) mindset that a startup should be pursuing:

  * Rapid growth

  * Frenzied hiring

  * Profitability relatively late in the game

What about different approaches to building and running great companies ? Why not:

  * Focus on the product and passionate users (ala Paul Buchheit and Gmail)

  * Focus on exactly how you make money from that product

  * Hire incrementally at (or just before) the point you are profitable

  * Accept slower (less fashionable and exciting ?) growth

Maybe that would help align our thoughts around what it takes to build a sustainable business rather than just coding great features ?

It also has the added advantage of freeing you from the hand of the VCs and looking over you shoulder fretting about your burn rate.

plinkplonk16y ago

"Interesting post, but the first flow-chart seems to perpetuate the (Silicon Valley oriented ?) mindset that a startup should be pursuing:

* Rapid growth, Frenzied hiring and Profitability relatively late in the game "

If anything, Steve Blank reccomends a strategy completely opposed to the above. Read his book. The flowchart may make more sense then?

whyleyc16y ago

I confess I haven't read Steve's book (and probably should), but in the context of this post that flow-chart is misleading if it doesn't accurately represent his position.

ashmaurya16y ago

Once you have product/market fit, you have the semblance of a business. You transition towards growth from there.

1 more reply

jeremytech16y ago

Customer development is an often overlooked process that boils down to understanding what is actually useful for the end user or customer, rather than what the entrepreneur thinks is useful.

j / k navigate · click thread line to collapse