Talk:Steve Blank

Unsourced, improperly sourced

2010

• Confusing testosterone with strategy is a bad idea.
  • Business Insider "You're Better Off Being A Fast Follower Than An Originator", October 5, 2010.

2011

• The world is run by those who show up… not those who wait to be asked.
  • NPR: "The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever". May 14, 2011.
• Eighty percent of success in your career will come from just showing up.
  • NPR: "The Best Commencement Speeches, Ever". May 14, 2011.

2012

• Founders are truly artists – they see something no one else does.
  • Fortune "Entrepreneurs as dissidents". November 6, 2012.

2013

• Entrepreneurship is an art, not a job.
  • Forbes "Entrepreneurship is an Art Not a Job". March 29, 2013.
• Founders fit the definition of a composer: they see something no one else does. And to help them create it from nothing, they surround themselves with world-class performers.
  • Forbes "Entrepreneurship is an Art Not a Job". March 29, 2013.

• In Silicon Valley, we have a special word for a failed entrepreneur – it’s called experienced.
  • University of Minnesota commencement speech, FounderLY. May 06, 2013.

Interview with Steve Blank

Tablet Magazine "Tikkum Olam in Silicon Valley". May 06, 2013.

• Great entrepreneurs are revolutionaries. They speak truth to power. They change the status quo. They rebel against what exists. If you want to see what country will create the next Steve Jobs or Elon Musk, see how they treat their dissidents.
• The Silicon Valley entrepreneurial culture used to be limited to a few entrepreneurial clusters. Now the Internet has spread that culture everywhere.
• There are several generations of Silicon Valley CEOs who "pay-it-forward." It’s an understood, underground thing you don’t talk about. You give back to younger founders and entrepreneurs without asking for anything. The goal is to pass on what we learned to make our startup ecosystem better.
• The #1 change in Silicon Valley is information density. If you think about it, 30 years ago the only way you got info was during one-on-one meetings. You knew very little and the world knew very little. We just know a lot more now.
• The Silicon Valley culture is "I can win and you can win" - it isn't a sum-zero game.

2014

• Strategy Is not a to-do list.
  • Entrepreneur "Strategy is Not a To-do List" October 16, 2014.

2015

• There are no facts inside the building, so get the hell outside.
  • Forbes "Try 'Walking The Path' To Solve Your Startup Problems". October 27, 2015.

• To predict the future, 1/3 of your team needs to be crazy.
  • VentureBeat "‘Blank’s Rule’: To predict the future, 1/3 of your team needs to be crazy". December 19, 2015.

2016

• Young entrepreneurs tend to be fearless and have no respect for the status quo, and that’s exactly what you need in an environment where the status quo is going to put you out of business.
• Don't believe your own b.s. It's real easy to confuse funding with success.
  • Forbes "Lean And Meaningful: What Founders Still Need To Fix In The 21st Century". February 29, 2016 issue.

• "Build it and they will come” is not a strategy; it’s a prayer.
  • Forbes "How To Test The Assumption That People Actually Want Your Product". June 14, 2016.

• We used to pivot by firing people. Now we fire the hypotheses.
  • Startup Grind "70,000 tests later, Steve Blank knows how your startup can fail". June 15, 2016.
• Customer Development says “Glad you have these hypotheses about your startup. All of them are probably wrong.”
  • Startup Grind "70,000 tests later, Steve Blank knows how your startup can fail". June 15, 2016.