Online Business Models

Robin Good: As the author of The Startup Owner's Manual, Steve Blank is someone who has been experimenting, studying and analyzing startups for many years and who has a comprehensive vision of what it takes to be a successful startup and wher emost new digital companies fail.

In his own words a "startup" is "a temporary organization designed to search for a repetable and scalable business model".

In this excellent video interview by GigaOM Chris Albert, the focus is on the state of startups and entrepreneurship.

From the original article: "When Steve Blank talks about entrepreneurship, people listen.

...Blank co-founded the CRM software company E.piphany and the video game business Rocket Science.

His current gigs as an entrepreneurship professor at Stanford, UC Berkeley and Columbia give him a unique insight that combines a historical perspective with a look at the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Key takeaways:

1) Startups are not smaller versions of big companies, so don’t try to be like them

2) Startups are about searching for a business model, not executing a business plan

3) Contrary to the myth, Steve Jobs interacted with consumers more than you think

4) Amazon has been hugely important to the boom in startups

5) Today’s students have a “wonderful entrepreneurial arrogance”

Insightful. 9/10

Watch the video interview in full here: http://gigaom.com/2012/05/11/steve-blank-on-small-startups-big-execution-and-steve-jobs/