Steven Gary Blank
Encyclopedia
Steve Blank is a Silicon Valley-based retired serial entrepreneur, founding and/or part of 8 startup companies in California’s Silicon Valley
after dropping out of the University of Michigan
. A prolific educator, thought leader and writer on Customer Development for Startups, Blank teaches, refines, writes and blogs on “Customer Development,” a rigorous methodology he developed to bring the “scientific method” to the typically chaotic, seemingly disorganized startup process.
Now teaching Entrepreneurship at three major Universities, Blank co-founded his first of eight startups after several years repairing fighter plane electronics in Thailand during the Vietnam War, followed by several years of defense electronics work for U.S. intelligence agencies in “undisclosed locations.” "The Four Steps to the Epiphany," Blank’s book, details the Customer Development process and is considered a “must read” among entrepreneurs, investors, and established companies alike, when the focus is optimizing a startup’s chances for scalability and success. Blank views entrepreneurship as a practice that can be managed rather than purely an art form to be experienced.
His Customer Development methodology is rooted on startups "getting out of the building," talking to customers and using that feedback to develop and refine their product.
and MIPS Computers (now MIPS Technologies
); Convergent Technologies; a consulting stint for Pixar; a supercomputer firm, Ardent Computer
; peripheral supplier, SuperMac Technologies; a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL
; Rocket Science Games
. Steve co-founded startup number eight, E.piphany, in his living room in 1996. After retiring from E.piphany the day before its IPO in September 1999, Blank served on two public boards (Macrovision and Immersion) and several private companies. He continues to selectively advise Silicon Valley startups.
's Haas School of Business
, Stanford University
Graduate School of Engineering, and a joint MBA class with Berkeley Haas and Columbia Business School. His “Customer Development” teaching and writing coalesce and codify his experiences and observations of entrepreneurs in action, including his own and those he advises.
In 2009, he earned the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in Management Science and Engineering. The same year, The San Jose Mercury News listed him as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley. In 2010, he was earned the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.
In January 2011, he launched a new class at Stanford University, The Lean LaunchPad. It teaches aspiring entrepreneurs all aspects of building a business, including business model design, customer and agile development, and design thinking. In July 2011, the National Science Foundation adopted the Lean Launchpad as the curriculum for its Innovation-Corps, an incubator for 100 science and engineering teams each year.
In May 2011, Blank was the commencement speaker at Philadelphia University
Blank has collected an informal history of Silicon Valley, which was presented as a Google TechTalk
and a talk at the Computer History Museum called The Secret History of Silicon Valley.
Silicon Valley
Silicon Valley is a term which refers to the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California in the United States. The region is home to many of the world's largest technology corporations...
after dropping out of the University of Michigan
University of Michigan
The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...
. A prolific educator, thought leader and writer on Customer Development for Startups, Blank teaches, refines, writes and blogs on “Customer Development,” a rigorous methodology he developed to bring the “scientific method” to the typically chaotic, seemingly disorganized startup process.
Now teaching Entrepreneurship at three major Universities, Blank co-founded his first of eight startups after several years repairing fighter plane electronics in Thailand during the Vietnam War, followed by several years of defense electronics work for U.S. intelligence agencies in “undisclosed locations.” "The Four Steps to the Epiphany," Blank’s book, details the Customer Development process and is considered a “must read” among entrepreneurs, investors, and established companies alike, when the focus is optimizing a startup’s chances for scalability and success. Blank views entrepreneurship as a practice that can be managed rather than purely an art form to be experienced.
His Customer Development methodology is rooted on startups "getting out of the building," talking to customers and using that feedback to develop and refine their product.
Business career
Steve Blank arrived in Silicon Valley in 1978, as boom times began. His early startups include two semiconductor companies, ZilogZilog
Zilog, Inc., previously known as ZiLOG , is a manufacturer of 8-bit and 24-bit microcontrollers, and is most famous for its Intel 8080-compatible Z80 series.-History:...
and MIPS Computers (now MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies
MIPS Technologies, Inc. , formerly MIPS Computer Systems, Inc., is most widely known for developing the MIPS architecture and a series of pioneering RISC chips. MIPS provides processor architectures and cores for digital home, networking and mobile applications.MIPS Computer Systems Inc. was...
); Convergent Technologies; a consulting stint for Pixar; a supercomputer firm, Ardent Computer
Ardent Computer
The Ardent Computer Corporation was a graphics minicomputer manufacturing company. The systems also used the Intel i860 as graphics co-processors. The company went through a series of mergers and re-organizations and changed names several times as their venture capital funders attempted to find a...
; peripheral supplier, SuperMac Technologies; a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL
ESL Incorporated
ESL Incorporated, or Electromagnetic Systems Laboratory, was a subsidiary of TRW, a high technology firm in the United States that was engaged in software design, systems analysis and hardware development for the strategic reconnaissance marketplace. Founded in January, 1964 in Palo Alto,...
; Rocket Science Games
Rocket Science Games
Rocket Science Games was a video game developer that created games for consoles and computers from 1993 to 1997. The company was responsible for games such as Obsidian, Rocket Jockey, and Loadstar.-History:...
. Steve co-founded startup number eight, E.piphany, in his living room in 1996. After retiring from E.piphany the day before its IPO in September 1999, Blank served on two public boards (Macrovision and Immersion) and several private companies. He continues to selectively advise Silicon Valley startups.
Teaching
After 21 years driving 8 high technology startups, today Steve teaches entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
's Haas School of Business
Haas School of Business
The Walter A. Haas School of Business, also known as the Haas School of Business or simply Haas, is one of 14 schools and colleges at the University of California, Berkeley....
, Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
Graduate School of Engineering, and a joint MBA class with Berkeley Haas and Columbia Business School. His “Customer Development” teaching and writing coalesce and codify his experiences and observations of entrepreneurs in action, including his own and those he advises.
In 2009, he earned the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in Management Science and Engineering. The same year, The San Jose Mercury News listed him as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley. In 2010, he was earned the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.
In January 2011, he launched a new class at Stanford University, The Lean LaunchPad. It teaches aspiring entrepreneurs all aspects of building a business, including business model design, customer and agile development, and design thinking. In July 2011, the National Science Foundation adopted the Lean Launchpad as the curriculum for its Innovation-Corps, an incubator for 100 science and engineering teams each year.
In May 2011, Blank was the commencement speaker at Philadelphia University
Blank has collected an informal history of Silicon Valley, which was presented as a Google TechTalk
Google TechTalks
AtGoogleTalks is a series of presentations by invited speakers sponsored by Google given at various Google offices throughout the world. The series has feature categories such as Authors@Google, Candidates@Google, Women@Google, Musicians@Google and others...
and a talk at the Computer History Museum called The Secret History of Silicon Valley.