Steve Blank: “Sean Murphy adds tremendous value for startups in setting them up “getting out of the building” and how to make sense of the data they’ve gathered. He’s one consultant I personally know (I’m sure there are others) who doesn’t confuse his role with the founders. I think of his consulting firm as a […]
SKMurphy, Inc. 8 Years In: What We Are Working On Now Read More »
Learning to explore is a key skill for entrepreneurs. Ask questions you don’t know the answer to–where the answer would have an impact on your ability to assess the risk in your venture or would help you to define a key aspect of your business.
Buying a Map vs. Learning to Explore Read More »
Taking a scientific approach to startups by formulating and testing critical hypotheses is a great idea, but it won’t create a “Science of Startups.”
A Scientific Approach to Startups Won’t Create “A Science of Startups” Read More »
I have been invited to speak at the Global Indian Technical Professional (GITPRO) on “Crucial Customer Development Concepts” this Saturday June 18. I will outline key customer development insights and some rules of thumb for successful innovation in Silicon Valley. I will cover concepts that form the basis for conventional wisdom on customer development in
Crucial Customer Development Concepts At GITPRO Sat-Jun-18 Read More »
Technology changes fast: you need continually renew your technical skills and those of your team. Soft skills–people skills–have a much longer lifetime.
Technology Changes Fast, People, Not So Much Read More »
Want a simple way to determine your competition during customer discovery: consider what your prospects would have to give up to buy and use your product or service. The time and money you want prospects to spend on your offering have to come from somewhere: prospects will normally choose to take it from what they
How To Determine Your Competition During Customer Discovery Read More »
It’s always a good idea to treat prospects well: you don’t want to foreclose the possibility of another conversation or a referral.
Treat Prospects Well–Allow For Another Conversation Read More »
I took part in a number of great conversations at today’s Startup Lessons Learned Conference, probably the most common–and most vexing–issue that was discussed was whether to give up in the face of modest success. I had perhaps half a dozen conversations around “We’ve come this far and have paying customers but are not sure
Giving Up Too Soon, Persisting Too Long Read More »
Customer understand when they have unmet needs, persistent problems, and goals and risk. They are normally very good at describing their problems and constraints on a solution but less accurate in fully specifying a solution.
Interview Prospects To Find Unmet Needs, Persistent Problems, and Goals at Risk Read More »
“The only certainty is a reasonable probability.” Edgar Watson Howe, “Country Town Sayings” We help clients to interview prospects in the early market for customer discovery purposes, we also help them have serious conversations with early customers periodically to capture their evolving perspective on the client’s offering. Sometimes we will do this on the client’s behalf
We Use a Wiki to Organize Customer Interviews Read More »
Hope to see you on Monday, May 23, 2011 in San Francisco, CA for the Second Startup Lessons Learned conference. The day-long event will feature a mix of panels and talks focused on the key challenges and issues that technical and market-facing people at startups need to understand in order to succeed in building successful
Signed up for Startup Lessons Learned Conference Read More »
John Cook routinely offers great insights on his blog, “The Endeavor.” He was interviewed by Vincent Tan in the March 2011 issue[PDF] of Singularity Magazine Actually applying math is hard work. It requires knowing the limits of your abstractions. It may require writing software or writing English prose. It requires skills outside of mathematics in
Connecting Technical Know-How With Customer Needs Read More »
This is a guest post by Edith Harbaugh. She moderates the Lean Startup Circle mailing list but doesn’t have a blog of her own, so I have offered her mine because I was impressed by her insights and writing. It’s Your Execution Not Your Idea An initially dispiriting thing to hear from a customer is
Edith Harbaugh: It’s Your Execution Not Your Idea Read More »
Always prepare an answer for when a prospect asks you “How do we get started?” Do this before you hear it the first time so you are ready.
Prepare and Rehearse Your Answer to “How Do We Get Started?” Read More »
Mark Duncan and I collaborated on a four page article “An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Sales” that has been added to the Chicago MBA Coursepack
Our “Entrepreneur’s Guide To Sales” Added To Chicago MBA Coursepack Read More »
Here is the handout from this morning’s Bootstrapper Breakfast® in Walnut Creek. Mapping the Path to Your First Dollar of Revenue Sean Murphy, SKMurphy, Inc. Bootstrapper Breakfast Walnut Creek Jan 25, 2011 Entrepreneurs tend to focus on having a good idea, or on the challenges of developing a new product, or on finding co-founders to
Mapping the Path to Your First Dollar of Revenue – Handout Read More »
“We didn’t know what “the new” was. It’s kind of a hard concept because when most people talk about “the new,” they’re actually talking about it after the fact. They look back and say how brilliant you were at seeing all this, and so forth. Well, it’s all nonsense. When it is new, you don’t
Early Adopters Have Already Let Go of the Past Read More »
It’s rare for a new initiative to work the first time, at least when I try. I have to “walk around the problem” to look at it from different perspectives.
Take Time to Walk Around The Problem Read More »
Customer Development Requires a Willingness to Be Surprised And by “surprised” I mean: able to admit that your assumptions are wrong open to new insights from prospects willing to change your plans for your product or your startup willing begin again with a better frame of reference Inspired by Bob Lewis’ “Holiday Card to the
Customer Development Requires a Willingness to Be Surprised Read More »
Most of our clients offer complex software products, frequently in combination with some amount of consulting services. Their sales are not the results of credit card transactions but a complex orchestrated sales process. Frequently their prospects need to see a custom demonstration or a benchmark that relies on their own data, not just the standard
Keeping the Ball Rolling With Prospects Read More »
