6 ms·

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

73 points by waderoush 15y ago

davidw 15y ago
I'm curious to have a look - I ordered mine a few weeks ago. I was a bit disappointed by Eric Ries' book - after reading "Start Small, Stay Small", I've grown even less interested in hand wavy, "big picture" business books, and want more practical advice of stuff I can do. I'm not a huge company that wants to hire Eric to help me 'get lean'. I'm one guy working alone with limited time, and really appreciate it when authors give me specific stuff I can do. The fact that he's labeling it a 'manual' gives me hope that it'll contain a lot of good stuff.
- rcamera 15y ago
  I got mine almost 2 weeks ago. Didn't read much, I skimmed through alot of it and read around 80 pages (it really is a reference, a manual, not a textbook that you can read linearly and quickly). My first impressions were: 1) it is a pretty big book; 2) So far, its text has been easier to read than "the 4 steps to epiphany"; 3) IMO, its "killer feature" is NOT that it integrates Business Model Canvas content into Customer Development Model, but that it discusses and exemplifies the application of the Customer Development Model to offline businesses as well as online ones.
- Ecio78 15y ago
  David we're in the same boat: i've read Rob Walling's "Start small stay small" and other stuff on the net and now I'm thinkin about this Steve Blank book, hoping it will help to develop the Customer part of the project i'm thinkin about.
- badclient 15y ago
  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.
  - ovi256 15y ago
    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. Maybe the Manual has a brief overview as well ? I mean, to use it as a reference, you first need to understand the method and what to look out for.
    - badclient 15y ago
      I'd start with Nail it, Then Scale It. Specifically for customer development, I'd check out The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A cheat sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany.
    - hshah 15y ago
      I'd recommend checking out The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: http://custdev.com 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!)
    - davidw 15y ago
      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.
      - Ecio78 15y ago
        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/ 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? :-))
- sayemm 15y ago
  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.
  - waderoush 15y ago
    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-the-face-of-the-lean-startup-movement-on-how-a-once-insane-idea-went-mainstream/ http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2011/07/06/eric-ries-th...
    - davidw 15y ago
      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.
    - sayemm 15y ago
      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.
      - davidw 15y ago
        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMVU http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMVU http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blank They are both the real deal - especially Steve Blank, who did multiple companies.
        15y ago
ovi256 15y ago
FWIW, I ordered mine from a link I got in the last thread discussing this, from the Book Repository, which sells it for 20 Euros with free worldwide shipping. For me, it was a better deal than the local Amazon. http://www.bookdepository.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Steve-Blank/9780984999309 http://www.bookdepository.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Steve-Bl...
- Ecio78 15y ago
  In my case it's not available in the local Amazon so I think i'll do the same
ianpurton 15y ago
Hey Mr Blank, kindle version please.
- picardo 15y ago
  I second this. In this day and age, when ebook sales have surpassed hard cover sales, it's beyond ridiculous to publish a new book without a digital version, and, oh, only in hard cover format. That makes me doubt Steve Blank's judgment, more so than anything he writes.
- carsonm 15y ago
  I'll third that, with a request for an audio book version too.
- ovi256 15y ago
  I saw somewhere that a kindle edition is incoming. For the older book, he refused to publish one, because he thought that it was more like a workbook, you're supposed to dogear it, take notes on the margins, color code, put postits on the pages, carry it around with you.
  - lnanek 15y ago
    Hmm, well, re the last thing he wants, carrying it around; if there were a Kindle version of this it would be in the Kindle app on my phone which is with me almost constantly. A physical book, I don't think I'd bother carrying anywhere, which would probably prevent me from doing anything else to it or with it except one quick read and giving it away or having it rot on the shelf.
- waderoush 15y ago
  Steve and his people tell me that an e-book version coming later this year, probably iBooks first then Kindle (which is harder because of the formatting limitations in ePub).
lclaude01 15y ago
In any type of "gold rush", this is the one selling "shovels" who's making money.
- rwillystyle 15y ago
  I believe there's even a startup that sells startup "plays", which are just excel spreadsheets with todo lists, and they're killing it.
sudonim 15y ago
Watch out for the dark UX pattern on the page. There are 2 ways to buy the book from Amazon. The first button is $39.99 + $5 shipping. The second button is $26.40 + free shipping. Here's an image to show you which link does what: https://img.skitch.com/20120330-bumpat24ar3dg3um252k59ndfd.png https://img.skitch.com/20120330-bumpat24ar3dg3um252k59ndfd.p...
l1ghtm4n 15y ago
Steve Blank is speaking next week at Startup Grind for those in SV. http://www.meetup.com/Startup-Grind/events/38750922/ http://www.meetup.com/Startup-Grind/events/38750922/
lnanek 15y ago
Would have bought it if there was a Kindle version...heck even a PDF version...
robomartin 15y ago
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 had a "Want the upcoming electronic version?" button for others who share my sentiment.
- lowglow 15y ago
  I was given a free copy of this book, and I really like some of the insights it holds for first time start-ups. It provides a lot of invaluable info that help you keep your head clear in the game. I do really wish there was a digital copy available as this thing is HUGE (think old CCIE books) and really adds weight on top of my already heavy load of laptop, ipad, and sketchbook.
- dchuk 15y ago
  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 15y ago
    [deleted]
nirvana 15y ago
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.
- davidw 15y ago
  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.

73 points by waderoush 15y ago

I'm curious to have a look - I ordered mine a few weeks ago. I was a bit disappointed by Eric Ries' book - after reading "Start Small, Stay Small", I've grown even less interested in hand wavy, "big picture" business books, and want more practical advice of stuff I can do. I'm not a huge company that wants to hire Eric to help me 'get lean'. I'm one guy working alone with limited time, and really appreciate it when authors give me specific stuff I can do. The fact that he's labeling it a 'manual' gives me hope that it'll contain a lot of good stuff.

rcamera 15y ago
I got mine almost 2 weeks ago. Didn't read much, I skimmed through alot of it and read around 80 pages (it really is a reference, a manual, not a textbook that you can read linearly and quickly). My first impressions were: 1) it is a pretty big book; 2) So far, its text has been easier to read than "the 4 steps to epiphany"; 3) IMO, its "killer feature" is NOT that it integrates Business Model Canvas content into Customer Development Model, but that it discusses and exemplifies the application of the Customer Development Model to offline businesses as well as online ones.
Ecio78 15y ago
David we're in the same boat: i've read Rob Walling's "Start small stay small" and other stuff on the net and now I'm thinkin about this Steve Blank book, hoping it will help to develop the Customer part of the project i'm thinkin about.
badclient 15y ago
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.
- ovi256 15y ago
  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. Maybe the Manual has a brief overview as well ? I mean, to use it as a reference, you first need to understand the method and what to look out for.
  - badclient 15y ago
    I'd start with Nail it, Then Scale It. Specifically for customer development, I'd check out The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: A cheat sheet to The Four Steps to the Epiphany.
  - hshah 15y ago
    I'd recommend checking out The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development: http://custdev.com 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!)
  - davidw 15y ago
    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.
    - Ecio78 15y ago
      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/ 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? :-))
sayemm 15y ago
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.
- waderoush 15y ago
  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-the-face-of-the-lean-startup-movement-on-how-a-once-insane-idea-went-mainstream/ http://www.xconomy.com/san-francisco/2011/07/06/eric-ries-th...
  - davidw 15y ago
    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.
  - sayemm 15y ago
    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.
    - davidw 15y ago
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Ries http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMVU http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMVU http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blank http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Blank They are both the real deal - especially Steve Blank, who did multiple companies.
      - 15y ago

ovi256 15y ago

FWIW, I ordered mine from a link I got in the last thread discussing this, from the Book Repository, which sells it for 20 Euros with free worldwide shipping. For me, it was a better deal than the local Amazon. http://www.bookdepository.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Steve-Blank/9780984999309 http://www.bookdepository.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Steve-Bl...

Ecio78 15y ago
In my case it's not available in the local Amazon so I think i'll do the same

ianpurton 15y ago

Hey Mr Blank, kindle version please.

picardo 15y ago
I second this. In this day and age, when ebook sales have surpassed hard cover sales, it's beyond ridiculous to publish a new book without a digital version, and, oh, only in hard cover format. That makes me doubt Steve Blank's judgment, more so than anything he writes.
carsonm 15y ago
I'll third that, with a request for an audio book version too.
ovi256 15y ago
I saw somewhere that a kindle edition is incoming. For the older book, he refused to publish one, because he thought that it was more like a workbook, you're supposed to dogear it, take notes on the margins, color code, put postits on the pages, carry it around with you.
- lnanek 15y ago
  Hmm, well, re the last thing he wants, carrying it around; if there were a Kindle version of this it would be in the Kindle app on my phone which is with me almost constantly. A physical book, I don't think I'd bother carrying anywhere, which would probably prevent me from doing anything else to it or with it except one quick read and giving it away or having it rot on the shelf.
waderoush 15y ago
Steve and his people tell me that an e-book version coming later this year, probably iBooks first then Kindle (which is harder because of the formatting limitations in ePub).

lclaude01 15y ago

In any type of "gold rush", this is the one selling "shovels" who's making money.

rwillystyle 15y ago
I believe there's even a startup that sells startup "plays", which are just excel spreadsheets with todo lists, and they're killing it.

sudonim 15y ago

Watch out for the dark UX pattern on the page. There are 2 ways to buy the book from Amazon. The first button is $39.99 + $5 shipping. The second button is $26.40 + free shipping. Here's an image to show you which link does what: https://img.skitch.com/20120330-bumpat24ar3dg3um252k59ndfd.png https://img.skitch.com/20120330-bumpat24ar3dg3um252k59ndfd.p...

l1ghtm4n 15y ago

Steve Blank is speaking next week at Startup Grind for those in SV. http://www.meetup.com/Startup-Grind/events/38750922/ http://www.meetup.com/Startup-Grind/events/38750922/

lnanek 15y ago

Would have bought it if there was a Kindle version...heck even a PDF version...

robomartin 15y ago

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 had a "Want the upcoming electronic version?" button for others who share my sentiment.

lowglow 15y ago
I was given a free copy of this book, and I really like some of the insights it holds for first time start-ups. It provides a lot of invaluable info that help you keep your head clear in the game. I do really wish there was a digital copy available as this thing is HUGE (think old CCIE books) and really adds weight on top of my already heavy load of laptop, ipad, and sketchbook.
dchuk 15y ago
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 15y ago
  [deleted]

nirvana 15y ago

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.

davidw 15y ago
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.