Category Archives: Venture Capital

China Startups (The Complete Series)

Posted on April 14, 2013 by Steve Blank

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I just spent a few weeks in Japan and China on a book tour for the Japanese and Chinese versions of the Startup Owners Manual. In these series of 5 posts, I thought I’d share what I learned in China. … Continue reading →

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Why Facebook is Killing Silicon Valley

Posted on May 21, 2012 by Steve Blank

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We choose to go to the moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and … Continue reading →

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Steel In Their Eyes – Why VC’s Should Be Startup CEO’s

Posted on November 1, 2011 by Steve Blank

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A man who carries a cat by the tail learns something he can learn in no other way. Mark Twain Venture Capitalists who are serious about turning their firms into more than one-fund wonders may want to have their associates … Continue reading →

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Nokia as “He Who Must Not Be Named” and the Helsinki Spring

Posted on October 10, 2011 by Steve Blank

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I was invited to Finland as part of Stanford’s Engineering Technology Venture Program partnership with Aalto University. (Thanks to Kristo Ovaska and team for the fabulous logistics!) I presented to 1,000’s of entrepreneurs, talked to 17 startups, gave 12 lectures, had 9 interviews, chatted with … Continue reading →

Posted in Business Model versus Business Plan, Customer Development, Teaching, Venture Capital | Leave a comment

The Helsinki Spring

Posted on October 7, 2011 by Steve Blank

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I spent the month of September lecturing, and interacting with (literally) thousands of entrepreneurs in two emerging startup markets, Finland and Russia. This is the first of two posts about Finland and entrepreneurship…read full post. Download MP3

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Why Governments Don’t Get Startups

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Steve Blank

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Not understanding and agreeing what “Entrepreneur” and “Startup” mean can sink an entire country’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. I’m getting ready to go overseas to teach, and I’ve spent the last week reviewing several countries’ ambitious attempts to kick-start entrepreneurship.  After poring through stacks … Continue reading →

Posted in Big Companies versus Startups: Durant versus Sloan, Business Model versus Business Plan, Teaching, Technology, Venture Capital | Leave a comment

Eureka! A New Era for Scientists and Engineers

Posted on July 28, 2011 by Steve Blank

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Silicon Valley was born in an era of applied experimentation driven by scientists and engineers. It wasn’t pure research, but rather a culture of taking sufficient risks to get products to market through learning, discovery, iteration and execution. This approach would shape … Continue reading →

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How Scientists and Engineers Got It Right, and VC’s Got It Wrong

Posted on July 25, 2011 by Steve Blank

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Scientists and engineers as founders and startup CEOs is one of the least celebrated contributions of Silicon Valley. It might be its most important. ESL, the first company I worked for in Silicon Valley, was founded by a PhD in Math and … Continue reading →

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The $10 million Photo and other VC Stories

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Steve Blank

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Throw in the Photo and You Have a Deal When we were trying to raise money for E.piphany, my last startup, I was negotiating with a venture capital firm called Infinity Capital. They really wanted to invest, but it was … Continue reading →

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The Internet Might Kill Us All

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Steve Blank

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My friend Ben Horowitz and I debated the tech bubble in The Economist. An abridged version of this post was the “closing” statement to Ben’s rebuttal comments. Part 1 is here and Part 2 here.  The full version is below…read full post. Download the MP3

Posted in Family/Career, Secret History of Silicon Valley, Venture Capital | Leave a comment