Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders • Hacker News Board

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#31

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:04 PM UTC

dchuk wrote: post #30

robomartin wrote: post #27

For a book about startup smarts they sure are missing something very important on their site: A button to get on a list to be notified when the electronic version is out. I have zero interest in the printed version. Lately there have been only certain books that I might consider buying in printed form. I want to buy this book but will not do so until it is available on iBooks, Kindle or ePub format. They should have…

He's repeatedly said he won't come out with an ebook version of any of his books. He wants people to use them like textbooks and write in notes and highlight things for future reference. He never created an ebook version of 4 Steps To The Epiphany either. The button you want will literally never show up on that site.

[deleted]

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#32

Post by hshah » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:07 PM UTC

ovi256 wrote: post #14

badclient wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For practical advice, I'd strongly recommend Nail it, Then Scale It . They go as far as including exactly call scripts / emails to send, for example. Eric's book seemed more like marketing material for lean targeted at big cos who have no idea what it is.

I'm just discovering the lean startup methodology, and I was wondering which book (or other resource) is best for an overview of the methodology, as applied for a small startup, from a very practical point of view. Start Small Stay Small was very close, but it did not espouse much Customer Development. As you point out, it's not Eric Ries book. I suspect it's not Steve Blank's Manual, as it's more of a reference. May…

I'd recommend checking out The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: http://custdev.com - It's a very practical guide to the first part of customer development and complimentary to Steve Blank's book and Eric Ries's Lean Startup Principles. I recommend it to every entrepreneur that I talk to (which ends up being hundreds a year!)

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#33

Post by nirvana » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:09 PM UTC

Steve Blank is shooting himself in the foot, I think.

He's said (repeatedly?) that he won't make ebooks versions of his books because he wants people to be able to write in them, and to highlight things.

I have around 800[1] books in iBooks. I own, literally, zero, physical books. (I live nomadically and all my possessions fit in a single bag.) I don't care how great the book is-- and frankly, this book is at the top of my "want to buy list", and prior to it, the 4 steps to the epiphany was at the top of that list for FOUR YEARS.

But his reasoning is mistaken-- these features aren't unique to physical books, in fact, they exist and even work much better in e-readers.

iBooks allows you to write notes about what you're reading, and highlight things for future reference. In iBooks your notes and highlighted text along with bookmarks also sync across devices, allowing you to read it on the iPad at night and then pick up on the iPhone at work. ( I don't know if the kindle reader has similar features. )

Here's the thing, this is the customer development guy who says "Get out of the building." Yet he's not listening to his own customers! His customers are demanding ebook versions, very emphatically, and they do so on every single blog post he makes mentioning either book, he gets dozens and dozens of comments from people asking when there will be an iBooks or kindle version.

For me, his refusal to listen to his own customers kinda goes against his entire business agenda. (I think this issue is just hitting a personal blind spot of his, and I'd have to guess that he's afraid the books will be pirated if he releases them electronically. I'm not saying he's a hypocrite, but he, of all people, should be listening to his customers.)

[1] Couldn't believe this myself, so I just checked. iTunes reports 794 items. I think about %10 are ephemera (like maps in PDF format, etc). Maybe %20 are newsletters I've subscribed to over the years that are in PDF format. But its shocking how quickly ePub is being adopted as a standard. I've probably actually bought less than 100 items from the iBookstore.

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#34

Post by davidw » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:16 PM UTC

ovi256 wrote: post #14

badclient wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For practical advice, I'd strongly recommend Nail it, Then Scale It . They go as far as including exactly call scripts / emails to send, for example. Eric's book seemed more like marketing material for lean targeted at big cos who have no idea what it is.

I'm just discovering the lean startup methodology, and I was wondering which book (or other resource) is best for an overview of the methodology, as applied for a small startup, from a very practical point of view. Start Small Stay Small was very close, but it did not espouse much Customer Development. As you point out, it's not Eric Ries book. I suspect it's not Steve Blank's Manual, as it's more of a reference. May…

Start Small is not about 'Lean Startups' per se. It's more about making something that works for you, without having too much of an ideology/movement/whatever. Insomuch as he talks about customer development, it's mostly techniques to appraise a potential market.

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#35

Post by davidw » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:18 PM UTC

nirvana wrote: post #33

Steve Blank is shooting himself in the foot, I think. He's said (repeatedly?) that he won't make ebooks versions of his books because he wants people to be able to write in them, and to highlight things. I have around 800[1] books in iBooks. I own, literally, zero, physical books. (I live nomadically and all my possessions fit in a single bag.) I don't care how great the book is-- and frankly, this book is at the top…

I even offered to do this book for free via LiberWriter on some blog post of his, in order to have an eBook version.

Perhaps the "problem" is that in business terms, it doesn't really matter: he's already set for life in terms of money, so he's simply not concerned about customers in terms of hustling for money. So he thinks the paper version is superior and is going to stick by his guns.

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#36

Post by davidw » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:22 PM UTC

waderoush wrote: post #25

sayemm wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious... what makes Eric Ries and Steve Blank successful startup founders? I'm just not very read-up on their backgrounds, but which companies have they started and successfully built? Anyone know? Are they currently working on any big idea now? I think it would be really interesting to see them try to apply their own theories into practice.

You can't question either Eric Ries's or Steve Blank's chops as entrepreneurs. Read this piece we did at Xconomy, which includes the story of how Steve and Eric met and influenced one another: http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2011/07/06/eric-ries-th...

That's part of what made Lean Startup frustrating. I know that Ries is the 'real deal', but the book ended up feeling like empty calories to me. Some good ideas, but all kind of vague.

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#37

Post by rwillystyle » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 9:34 PM UTC

mindcrime wrote: post #21

rwillystyle wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This looks like a rip off of Ash's Maurya's Running Lean: http://www.runningleanhq.com/

I seriously doubt Ash would have ever written "Running Lean" if it weren't for Steve. The whole notion of the "lean startup" emerged partly as a result of the influence of Steve Blank's work, on Eric Ries and others. Of course it would make sense that there would be overlap between the work of Ash and Steve (and Eric and others as far as that goes) but I very much doubt that Steve's book is in any way a "ripoff" of t…

Thanks for the downvotes because you kids can't read. I'm talking about the "Nail It Then Scale It" book being a copy, not "4 steps.."

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#38

Post by mindcrime » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 10:01 PM UTC

rwillystyle wrote: post #37

mindcrime wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I seriously doubt Ash would have ever written "Running Lean" if it weren't for Steve. The whole notion of the "lean startup" emerged partly as a result of the influence of Steve Blank's work, on Eric Ries and others. Of course it would make sense that there would be overlap between the work of Ash and Steve (and Eric and others as far as that goes) but I very much doubt that Steve's book is in any way a "ripoff" of t…

Thanks for the downvotes because you kids can't read. I'm talking about the "Nail It Then Scale It" book being a copy, not "4 steps.."

> Thanks for the downvotes because you kids can't read. I'm talking about the "Nail It Then Scale It" book being a copy, not "4 steps.."

A perfect example of why it's good to quote what you're replying to. Your message was so far over to the left, and was pushed down far enough below the actual post you were replying to, that the context got lost. Scrolling down the HN page, your reply appeared to be a reply to the parent post, implying you were calling Steve's book a ripoff.

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#39

Post by sayemm » Fri, Mar 30, 2012, 11:27 PM UTC

waderoush wrote: post #25

sayemm wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just curious... what makes Eric Ries and Steve Blank successful startup founders? I'm just not very read-up on their backgrounds, but which companies have they started and successfully built? Anyone know? Are they currently working on any big idea now? I think it would be really interesting to see them try to apply their own theories into practice.

You can't question either Eric Ries's or Steve Blank's chops as entrepreneurs. Read this piece we did at Xconomy, which includes the story of how Steve and Eric met and influenced one another: http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2011/07/06/eric-ries-th...

Nice write-up, but their history/bio still doesn't give me any proof of their success in the startup world, outside of marketing lean startup stuff to other entrepreneurs, ironically. Taking advice from failed entrepreneurs is dangerous and a waste of time, I think.

Re: Steve Blank hands a new owner's manual to startup founders

#40

Post by Ecio78 » Sat, Mar 31, 2012, 5:32 AM UTC

davidw wrote: post #34

ovi256 wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm just discovering the lean startup methodology, and I was wondering which book (or other resource) is best for an overview of the methodology, as applied for a small startup, from a very practical point of view. Start Small Stay Small was very close, but it did not espouse much Customer Development. As you point out, it's not Eric Ries book. I suspect it's not Steve Blank's Manual, as it's more of a reference. May…

Start Small is not about 'Lean Startups' per se. It's more about making something that works for you, without having too much of an ideology/movement/whatever. Insomuch as he talks about customer development, it's mostly techniques to appraise a potential market.

Rob Walling (author of Start Small Stay Small) also gives away for free a PDF ebook containing many of the stuff that is also present in the book. You just have to register on his blog site http://www.softwarebyrob.com/ and you'll receive a link. Of course doing so you'll be subscribed to his newsletter (but it's part of the customer acquisition "game", no? :-))