

Steve Blank is partially wrong about business plan competitions - brandnewlow
http://www.kyle-jensen.com/steve-blank-is-partially-wrong-about-business

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ibagrak
I've also noticed that most "mainstream" startup discussions are skewed
towards a "classic" web startup world view. That's what everyone imagines when
the word startup comes to mind. So I think what you are saying makes sense,
but at the same time you could argue that if your first real customer contact
comes 6 years down the road, then your investors ARE your customers, and you
just happened to hook one without a pivot.

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kljensen
Ha...investors definitely are the first customers for many capital or research
intensive start-ups. Well put.

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DuncanIdaho
<meta> Partially wrong == mostly right -> if in doubt follow Blank's advice
</meta>

I'll guess that these startups Kyle is talking about were good enough to make
it anyway - without loosing time on writing worthless papers.

Disclaimer: I'm not involved in any startups. But when I first came into
contact with business plan concept. I couldn't see any real value in it and it
seemed kinda cargo cultish to me.

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friendstock
yes, I agree. Non-web (e.g. cleantech, biotech, semiconductor) startups could
benefit from a more traditional business plan approach... but of course, they
would still benefit from some of Steve Blank's ideas on customer development.

