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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

by 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.
    - sayemm 15y ago
      Thanks a lot, that's helpful. I do think is Steve Blank is more legit, but not because he did multiple companies - if you worked on several venture-backed companies throughout your life but they all went nowhere, you must suck as an entrepreneur. I just looked up Epiphany and this answers my question, he founded it, did $71.5M in revenue, and it IPO'd, so Blank definitely knows what he's talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany,_Inc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany,_Inc. IMVU on the other thand had good traction and Eric Ries was VP of Engineering there, but what's happened to it since? Just looking it up on crunchbase: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/imvu http://www.crunchbase.com/company/imvu - no big exit/big numbers or anything special like Epiphany? And here's his LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/eries http://www.linkedin.com/in/eries - it just doesn't show any blockbuster results as an entrepreneur, just a lot of advising/marketing/blogging.

by sayemm 15y ago

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.
  - sayemm 15y ago
    Thanks a lot, that's helpful. I do think is Steve Blank is more legit, but not because he did multiple companies - if you worked on several venture-backed companies throughout your life but they all went nowhere, you must suck as an entrepreneur. I just looked up Epiphany and this answers my question, he founded it, did $71.5M in revenue, and it IPO'd, so Blank definitely knows what he's talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany,_Inc http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epiphany,_Inc. IMVU on the other thand had good traction and Eric Ries was VP of Engineering there, but what's happened to it since? Just looking it up on crunchbase: http://www.crunchbase.com/company/imvu http://www.crunchbase.com/company/imvu - no big exit/big numbers or anything special like Epiphany? And here's his LinkedIn profile: http://www.linkedin.com/in/eries http://www.linkedin.com/in/eries - it just doesn't show any blockbuster results as an entrepreneur, just a lot of advising/marketing/blogging.