Volume One of Steve Blank s collected blog posts, featuring war stories and lessons from 20 years in Silicon Valley startups, how to build a successful Customer Development model, and real world advice on creating a successful venture capital pitch. Includes thoughtful ideas on balancing family and career, and finishes up with a rare look into the deep and often secret past of Silicon Valley and its role in both wartime and peacetime high tech. A personal look at the life and times of a Silicon Valley veteran.
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Author of the Four Steps to the Epiphany, Steve Blank's path has taken him from repairing fighter planes in Thailand during the Vietnam War, to spook stuff in undisclosed location(s). He was lucky enough to arrive at the beginning of the boom times of Silicon Valley in 1978. After 21 years in 8 high technology companies, he retired in 1999. He started his last company, E.piphany, in his living room in 1996. His other startups include two semiconductor companies, Zilog and MIPS Computers, a workstation company Convergent Technologies, a consulting stint for a graphics hardware/software spinout Pixar, a supercomputer firm, Ardent, a computer peripheral supplier, SuperMac, a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL and a video game company, Rocket Science Games. Steve moved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA program. The Customer Development model that he developed for his classes became the text the Four Steps to the Epiphany. In 2009, Steve was awarded the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in the department of Management Science and Engineering. The same year, the San Jose Mercury News listed Steve as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley.
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Author
Put to a vote, I might have been chosen "least likely to succeed" in my New York City high school class. My path has taken me from repairing fighter planes in Thailand during the Vietnam War, to spook stuff in undisclosed location(s), and I was lucky enough to arrive at the beginning of the boom times of Silicon Valley in 1978.
After 21 years in 8 high technology companies, I retired in 1999. I started my last company, E.piphany, in my living room in 1996. My other startups include two semiconductor companies, Zilog and MIPS Computers, a workstation company Convergent Technologies, a consulting stint for a graphics hardware/software spinout Pixar, a supercomputer firm, Ardent, a computer peripheral supplier, SuperMac, a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL and a video game company, Rocket Science Games.
Total score: two large craters (Rocket Science and Ardent), one dot.com bubble home run (E.piphany) and several base hits.
After I retired, I took some time to reflect on my experience and wrote a book (actually my class text) about building early stage companies called Four Steps to the Epiphany.
I moved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA program. The "Customer Development" model that I developed in my book is one of the core themes in these classes. In 2009, I was awarded the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in the department of Management Science and Engineering. The same year, the San Jose Mercury News listed me as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley. In 2010, I was awarded the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.
I also followed my curiosity about why entrepreneurship blossomed in Silicon Valley and was stillborn elsewhere. It has led to several talks on The Secret History of Silicon Valley.
In 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed me to serve on the California Coastal Commission, the public body which regulates land use and public access on the California coast. In 2010 I was appointed to the Expert Advisory Panel for the California Ocean Protection Council.
I am on the board of Audubon California (and its past chair) and spent several years on the Audubon National Board. I'm also a board member of Peninsula Open Space Land Trust (POST). In 2009 I became a trustee of U.C. Santa Cruz and joined the board of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV).
I blog at www.steveblank.com
After 21 years in 8 high technology companies, I retired in 1999. I started my last company, E.piphany, in my living room in 1996. My other startups include two semiconductor companies, Zilog and MIPS Computers, a workstation company Convergent Technologies, a consulting stint for a graphics hardware/software spinout Pixar, a supercomputer firm, Ardent, a computer peripheral supplier, SuperMac, a military intelligence systems supplier, ESL and a video game company, Rocket Science Games.
Total score: two large craters (Rocket Science and Ardent), one dot.com bubble home run (E.piphany) and several base hits.
After I retired, I took some time to reflect on my experience and wrote a book (actually my class text) about building early stage companies called Four Steps to the Epiphany.
I moved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship to both undergraduate and graduate students at U.C. Berkeley, Stanford University and the Columbia University/Berkeley Joint Executive MBA program. The "Customer Development" model that I developed in my book is one of the core themes in these classes. In 2009, I was awarded the Stanford University Undergraduate Teaching Award in the department of Management Science and Engineering. The same year, the San Jose Mercury News listed me as one of the 10 Influencers in Silicon Valley. In 2010, I was awarded the Earl F. Cheit Outstanding Teaching Award at U.C. Berkeley Haas School of Business.
I also followed my curiosity about why entrepreneurship blossomed in Silicon Valley and was stillborn elsewhere. It has led to several talks on The Secret History of Silicon Valley.
In 2007 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger appointed me to serve on the California Coastal Commission, the public body which regulates land use and public access on the California coast. In 2010 I was appointed to the Expert Advisory Panel for the California Ocean Protection Council.
I am on the board of Audubon California (and its past chair) and spent several years on the Audubon National Board. I'm also a board member of Peninsula Open Space Land Trust (POST). In 2009 I became a trustee of U.C. Santa Cruz and joined the board of the California League of Conservation Voters (CLCV).
I blog at www.steveblank.com
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cool collection from a Silicon Valley Blogger,
By cspa (Palo Alto, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost (Perfect Paperback)
I got this as a gift, and I admit I was skeptical--I thought it would be a ramble. Instead, I found an engaging collection of blog entries. My favorites were the Secret Histories of Silicon Valley. Seeing them all together and organized in a book again points out that old media can be better than new media.
It's a great book to have sitting around to read anytime you have a spare couple of hours on a lazy afternoon. I have to admit, some of the pictures are lower quality that I would desire, and I do miss the comments. But, you can always go to his online blog for that. As a fan of his Four Steps to the Epiphany (his other book), I enjoyed gaining a deeper insight into how he thinks.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A surprise- an excellent history book on silicon valley,
By stevew (Silicon Valley) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost (Perfect Paperback)
I am a history buff and came across this book almost by accident. A good friend loaned me this book, and I became quite engrossed in the section on the history of silicon valley. The writing could use some editing, but the story comes across like an old John McPhee New Yorker article. It has the right level of detail and insight into (I think) a little known story of the roots of silicon valley. I have lived in Silicon Valley for years, and I never even thought about its history, because I thought I knew it (shockley...fairchild,,,), I was wrong. Totally a much more interesting story.
There are other sections on being an entrepreneur which also were quite easy to read and presented a more modern history in microcosm of silicon valley by tracing the author's career and his thoughts on how to grow a startup by developing the customer side of the business. So all in all, I would recommend giving this book as a gift to your friends and family; especially those on the east coast who wonder why you live out here in silicon valley.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Awsome insights into the mind of a Legend Entreprenuer,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost (Perfect Paperback)
Probably the best book in entreprenuership. Gives especifics of how to (of course 4 steps to epipaphny is the book for this) and a lot of background of his life and the history of Silicon Valley.
It leaves you hungry for more information. Very well written and easy to read. A must for anyone wanting to get involved in a startups
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
