CINXE.COM

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">   <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en-US">  <head profile="http://gmpg.org/xfn/11"> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" /> <title>Steve Blank Hacking for Recovery</title> <link rel="pingback" href="https://steveblank.com/xmlrpc.php" /> <meta name='robots' content='max-image-preview:large' /> <style>img:is([sizes="auto" i], [sizes^="auto," i]) { contain-intrinsic-size: 3000px 1500px }</style>  <meta name="google-site-verification" content="NzQX03n5c3BUqAOH2ZZeaOzmFxIKopb99y0xo7ymJ7w" /> <meta name="msvalidate.01" content="77BB8773D8C1446AC1C1A19B8355A369" /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//secure.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//stats.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//widgets.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//jetpack.wordpress.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//s0.wp.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//public-api.wordpress.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//0.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//1.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='dns-prefetch' href='//2.gravatar.com' /> <link rel='preconnect' href='//i0.wp.com' /> <link rel='preconnect' href='//c0.wp.com' /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Steve Blank » Feed" href="https://steveblank.com/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Steve Blank » Comments Feed" href="https://steveblank.com/comments/feed/" /> <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Steve Blank » Hacking for Recovery Category Feed" href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/feed/" /> <script type="text/javascript"> /* <![CDATA[ */ window._wpemojiSettings = {"baseUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/72x72\/","ext":".png","svgUrl":"https:\/\/s.w.org\/images\/core\/emoji\/15.0.3\/svg\/","svgExt":".svg","source":{"concatemoji":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-emoji-release.min.js?ver=6.7.2"}}; /*! This file is auto-generated */ !function(i,n){var o,s,e;function c(e){try{var t={supportTests:e,timestamp:(new Date).valueOf()};sessionStorage.setItem(o,JSON.stringify(t))}catch(e){}}function p(e,t,n){e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(t,0,0);var t=new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data),r=(e.clearRect(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height),e.fillText(n,0,0),new Uint32Array(e.getImageData(0,0,e.canvas.width,e.canvas.height).data));return t.every(function(e,t){return e===r[t]})}function u(e,t,n){switch(t){case"flag":return n(e,"\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f","\ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200b\u26a7\ufe0f")?!1:!n(e,"\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf3","\ud83c\uddfa\u200b\ud83c\uddf3")&&!n(e,"\ud83c\udff4\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc62\udb40\udc65\udb40\udc6e\udb40\udc67\udb40\udc7f","\ud83c\udff4\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc62\u200b\udb40\udc65\u200b\udb40\udc6e\u200b\udb40\udc67\u200b\udb40\udc7f");case"emoji":return!n(e,"\ud83d\udc26\u200d\u2b1b","\ud83d\udc26\u200b\u2b1b")}return!1}function f(e,t,n){var r="undefined"!=typeof WorkerGlobalScope&&self instanceof WorkerGlobalScope?new OffscreenCanvas(300,150):i.createElement("canvas"),a=r.getContext("2d",{willReadFrequently:!0}),o=(a.textBaseline="top",a.font="600 32px Arial",{});return e.forEach(function(e){o[e]=t(a,e,n)}),o}function t(e){var t=i.createElement("script");t.src=e,t.defer=!0,i.head.appendChild(t)}"undefined"!=typeof Promise&&(o="wpEmojiSettingsSupports",s=["flag","emoji"],n.supports={everything:!0,everythingExceptFlag:!0},e=new Promise(function(e){i.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded",e,{once:!0})}),new Promise(function(t){var n=function(){try{var e=JSON.parse(sessionStorage.getItem(o));if("object"==typeof e&&"number"==typeof e.timestamp&&(new Date).valueOf()<e.timestamp+604800&&"object"==typeof e.supportTests)return e.supportTests}catch(e){}return null}();if(!n){if("undefined"!=typeof Worker&&"undefined"!=typeof OffscreenCanvas&&"undefined"!=typeof URL&&URL.createObjectURL&&"undefined"!=typeof Blob)try{var e="postMessage("+f.toString()+"("+[JSON.stringify(s),u.toString(),p.toString()].join(",")+"));",r=new Blob([e],{type:"text/javascript"}),a=new Worker(URL.createObjectURL(r),{name:"wpTestEmojiSupports"});return void(a.onmessage=function(e){c(n=e.data),a.terminate(),t(n)})}catch(e){}c(n=f(s,u,p))}t(n)}).then(function(e){for(var t in e)n.supports[t]=e[t],n.supports.everything=n.supports.everything&&n.supports[t],"flag"!==t&&(n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&n.supports[t]);n.supports.everythingExceptFlag=n.supports.everythingExceptFlag&&!n.supports.flag,n.DOMReady=!1,n.readyCallback=function(){n.DOMReady=!0}}).then(function(){return e}).then(function(){var e;n.supports.everything||(n.readyCallback(),(e=n.source||{}).concatemoji?t(e.concatemoji):e.wpemoji&&e.twemoji&&(t(e.twemoji),t(e.wpemoji)))}))}((window,document),window._wpemojiSettings); /* ]]> */ </script> <link rel='stylesheet' id='all-css-4b5aab539aa9ba458e4a4064e3b0a025' href='https://steveblank.com/_static/??-eJydUdtuAiEQ/aEiNdrYPhg/pZmFCU53uISBbPj7skaT1Qe79oVwOJccZqakKBiuFkUbEW1Jih44mlExDRly01Ia48ZT2HTB27Qw/Ij2aAmQ0WModyAxNMyK0YFpq9ydW+Klx8RQZkk5d2ou6dzu2utBkbg6Cj0cSwIzah9t5flvkGMVZC0Tpd5rqMH+w30l1O1hbUAhRqscMGOf6BO0NpBp7OdLI5A6iMmUCsXwgFZHnCGjBWvb5UrB/eX87uvWEg0BK44uyh247fjkj9vD/v1jd9h/fv0CUx/8jA==' type='text/css' media='all' /> <style id='wp-block-library-inline-css'> .has-text-align-justify{text-align:justify;} </style> <style id='wp-emoji-styles-inline-css'> img.wp-smiley, img.emoji { display: inline !important; border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; height: 1em !important; width: 1em !important; margin: 0 0.07em !important; vertical-align: -0.1em !important; background: none !important; padding: 0 !important; } </style> <style id='jetpack-sharing-buttons-style-inline-css'> .jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list{display:flex;flex-direction:row;flex-wrap:wrap;gap:0;list-style-type:none;margin:5px;padding:0}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-small-icon-size{font-size:12px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-normal-icon-size{font-size:16px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-large-icon-size{font-size:24px}.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-huge-icon-size{font-size:36px}@media print{.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list{display:none!important}}.editor-styles-wrapper .wp-block-jetpack-sharing-buttons{gap:0;padding-inline-start:0}ul.jetpack-sharing-buttons__services-list.has-background{padding:1.25em 2.375em} </style> <style id='classic-theme-styles-inline-css'> /*! This file is auto-generated */ .wp-block-button__link{color:#fff;background-color:#32373c;border-radius:9999px;box-shadow:none;text-decoration:none;padding:calc(.667em + 2px) calc(1.333em + 2px);font-size:1.125em}.wp-block-file__button{background:#32373c;color:#fff;text-decoration:none} </style> <style id='global-styles-inline-css'> :root{--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--square: 1;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--4-3: 4/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-4: 3/4;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--3-2: 3/2;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--2-3: 2/3;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--16-9: 16/9;--wp--preset--aspect-ratio--9-16: 9/16;--wp--preset--color--black: #000000;--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray: #abb8c3;--wp--preset--color--white: #ffffff;--wp--preset--color--pale-pink: #f78da7;--wp--preset--color--vivid-red: #cf2e2e;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange: #ff6900;--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber: #fcb900;--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan: #7bdcb5;--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan: #00d084;--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue: #8ed1fc;--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue: #0693e3;--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple: #9b51e0;--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(6,147,227,1) 0%,rgb(155,81,224) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(122,220,180) 0%,rgb(0,208,130) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(252,185,0,1) 0%,rgba(255,105,0,1) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red: linear-gradient(135deg,rgba(255,105,0,1) 0%,rgb(207,46,46) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(238,238,238) 0%,rgb(169,184,195) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(74,234,220) 0%,rgb(151,120,209) 20%,rgb(207,42,186) 40%,rgb(238,44,130) 60%,rgb(251,105,98) 80%,rgb(254,248,76) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,206,236) 0%,rgb(152,150,240) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(254,205,165) 0%,rgb(254,45,45) 50%,rgb(107,0,62) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,203,112) 0%,rgb(199,81,192) 50%,rgb(65,88,208) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(255,245,203) 0%,rgb(182,227,212) 50%,rgb(51,167,181) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(202,248,128) 0%,rgb(113,206,126) 100%);--wp--preset--gradient--midnight: linear-gradient(135deg,rgb(2,3,129) 0%,rgb(40,116,252) 100%);--wp--preset--font-size--small: 13px;--wp--preset--font-size--medium: 20px;--wp--preset--font-size--large: 36px;--wp--preset--font-size--x-large: 42px;--wp--preset--font-family--albert-sans: 'Albert Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--alegreya: Alegreya, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--arvo: Arvo, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--bodoni-moda: 'Bodoni Moda', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--bricolage-grotesque: 'Bricolage Grotesque', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--cabin: Cabin, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--chivo: Chivo, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--commissioner: Commissioner, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--cormorant: Cormorant, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--courier-prime: 'Courier Prime', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--crimson-pro: 'Crimson Pro', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-mono: 'DM Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-sans: 'DM Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--dm-serif-display: 'DM Serif Display', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--domine: Domine, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--eb-garamond: 'EB Garamond', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--epilogue: Epilogue, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fahkwang: Fahkwang, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--figtree: Figtree, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fira-sans: 'Fira Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fjalla-one: 'Fjalla One', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--fraunces: Fraunces, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--gabarito: Gabarito, system-ui;--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-mono: 'IBM Plex Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-sans: 'IBM Plex Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--ibarra-real-nova: 'Ibarra Real Nova', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--instrument-serif: 'Instrument Serif', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--inter: Inter, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--josefin-sans: 'Josefin Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--jost: Jost, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--libre-baskerville: 'Libre Baskerville', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--libre-franklin: 'Libre Franklin', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--literata: Literata, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--lora: Lora, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--merriweather: Merriweather, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--montserrat: Montserrat, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--newsreader: Newsreader, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--noto-sans-mono: 'Noto Sans Mono', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--nunito: Nunito, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--open-sans: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--overpass: Overpass, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--pt-serif: 'PT Serif', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--petrona: Petrona, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--piazzolla: Piazzolla, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--playfair-display: 'Playfair Display', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--plus-jakarta-sans: 'Plus Jakarta Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--poppins: Poppins, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--raleway: Raleway, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--roboto: Roboto, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--roboto-slab: 'Roboto Slab', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--rubik: Rubik, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--rufina: Rufina, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--sora: Sora, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--source-sans-3: 'Source Sans 3', sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--source-serif-4: 'Source Serif 4', serif;--wp--preset--font-family--space-mono: 'Space Mono', monospace;--wp--preset--font-family--syne: Syne, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--texturina: Texturina, serif;--wp--preset--font-family--urbanist: Urbanist, sans-serif;--wp--preset--font-family--work-sans: 'Work Sans', sans-serif;--wp--preset--spacing--20: 0.44rem;--wp--preset--spacing--30: 0.67rem;--wp--preset--spacing--40: 1rem;--wp--preset--spacing--50: 1.5rem;--wp--preset--spacing--60: 2.25rem;--wp--preset--spacing--70: 3.38rem;--wp--preset--spacing--80: 5.06rem;--wp--preset--shadow--natural: 6px 6px 9px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--deep: 12px 12px 50px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.4);--wp--preset--shadow--sharp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.2);--wp--preset--shadow--outlined: 6px 6px 0px -3px rgba(255, 255, 255, 1), 6px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);--wp--preset--shadow--crisp: 6px 6px 0px rgba(0, 0, 0, 1);}:where(.is-layout-flex){gap: 0.5em;}:where(.is-layout-grid){gap: 0.5em;}body .is-layout-flex{display: flex;}.is-layout-flex{flex-wrap: wrap;align-items: center;}.is-layout-flex > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}body .is-layout-grid{display: grid;}.is-layout-grid > :is(*, div){margin: 0;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;}.has-black-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-color{color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-background-color{background-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-black-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--black) !important;}.has-cyan-bluish-gray-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-white-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--white) !important;}.has-pale-pink-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-pink) !important;}.has-vivid-red-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-red) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--luminous-vivid-amber) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--light-green-cyan) !important;}.has-vivid-green-cyan-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-pale-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--pale-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-cyan-blue) !important;}.has-vivid-purple-border-color{border-color: var(--wp--preset--color--vivid-purple) !important;}.has-vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--vivid-cyan-blue-to-vivid-purple) !important;}.has-light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--light-green-cyan-to-vivid-green-cyan) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-amber-to-luminous-vivid-orange) !important;}.has-luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-vivid-orange-to-vivid-red) !important;}.has-very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--very-light-gray-to-cyan-bluish-gray) !important;}.has-cool-to-warm-spectrum-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--cool-to-warm-spectrum) !important;}.has-blush-light-purple-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-light-purple) !important;}.has-blush-bordeaux-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--blush-bordeaux) !important;}.has-luminous-dusk-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--luminous-dusk) !important;}.has-pale-ocean-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--pale-ocean) !important;}.has-electric-grass-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--electric-grass) !important;}.has-midnight-gradient-background{background: var(--wp--preset--gradient--midnight) !important;}.has-small-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--small) !important;}.has-medium-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--medium) !important;}.has-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--large) !important;}.has-x-large-font-size{font-size: var(--wp--preset--font-size--x-large) !important;}.has-albert-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--albert-sans) !important;}.has-alegreya-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--alegreya) !important;}.has-arvo-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--arvo) !important;}.has-bodoni-moda-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--bodoni-moda) !important;}.has-bricolage-grotesque-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--bricolage-grotesque) !important;}.has-cabin-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--cabin) !important;}.has-chivo-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--chivo) !important;}.has-commissioner-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--commissioner) !important;}.has-cormorant-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--cormorant) !important;}.has-courier-prime-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--courier-prime) !important;}.has-crimson-pro-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--crimson-pro) !important;}.has-dm-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-mono) !important;}.has-dm-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-sans) !important;}.has-dm-serif-display-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--dm-serif-display) !important;}.has-domine-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--domine) !important;}.has-eb-garamond-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--eb-garamond) !important;}.has-epilogue-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--epilogue) !important;}.has-fahkwang-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fahkwang) !important;}.has-figtree-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--figtree) !important;}.has-fira-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fira-sans) !important;}.has-fjalla-one-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fjalla-one) !important;}.has-fraunces-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--fraunces) !important;}.has-gabarito-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--gabarito) !important;}.has-ibm-plex-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-mono) !important;}.has-ibm-plex-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibm-plex-sans) !important;}.has-ibarra-real-nova-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--ibarra-real-nova) !important;}.has-instrument-serif-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--instrument-serif) !important;}.has-inter-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--inter) !important;}.has-josefin-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--josefin-sans) !important;}.has-jost-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--jost) !important;}.has-libre-baskerville-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--libre-baskerville) !important;}.has-libre-franklin-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--libre-franklin) !important;}.has-literata-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--literata) !important;}.has-lora-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--lora) !important;}.has-merriweather-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--merriweather) !important;}.has-montserrat-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--montserrat) !important;}.has-newsreader-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--newsreader) !important;}.has-noto-sans-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--noto-sans-mono) !important;}.has-nunito-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--nunito) !important;}.has-open-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--open-sans) !important;}.has-overpass-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--overpass) !important;}.has-pt-serif-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--pt-serif) !important;}.has-petrona-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--petrona) !important;}.has-piazzolla-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--piazzolla) !important;}.has-playfair-display-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--playfair-display) !important;}.has-plus-jakarta-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--plus-jakarta-sans) !important;}.has-poppins-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--poppins) !important;}.has-raleway-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--raleway) !important;}.has-roboto-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--roboto) !important;}.has-roboto-slab-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--roboto-slab) !important;}.has-rubik-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--rubik) !important;}.has-rufina-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--rufina) !important;}.has-sora-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--sora) !important;}.has-source-sans-3-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--source-sans-3) !important;}.has-source-serif-4-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--source-serif-4) !important;}.has-space-mono-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--space-mono) !important;}.has-syne-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--syne) !important;}.has-texturina-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--texturina) !important;}.has-urbanist-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--urbanist) !important;}.has-work-sans-font-family{font-family: var(--wp--preset--font-family--work-sans) !important;} :where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-flex){gap: 1.25em;}:where(.wp-block-post-template.is-layout-grid){gap: 1.25em;} :where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-flex){gap: 2em;}:where(.wp-block-columns.is-layout-grid){gap: 2em;} :root :where(.wp-block-pullquote){font-size: 1.5em;line-height: 1.6;} </style> <style id='akismet-widget-style-inline-css'> .a-stats { --akismet-color-mid-green: #357b49; --akismet-color-white: #fff; --akismet-color-light-grey: #f6f7f7; max-width: 350px; width: auto; } .a-stats * { all: unset; box-sizing: border-box; } .a-stats strong { font-weight: 600; } .a-stats a.a-stats__link, .a-stats a.a-stats__link:visited, .a-stats a.a-stats__link:active { background: var(--akismet-color-mid-green); border: none; box-shadow: none; border-radius: 8px; color: var(--akismet-color-white); cursor: pointer; display: block; font-family: -apple-system, BlinkMacSystemFont, 'Segoe UI', 'Roboto', 'Oxygen-Sans', 'Ubuntu', 'Cantarell', 'Helvetica Neue', sans-serif; font-weight: 500; padding: 12px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; transition: all 0.2s ease; } /* Extra specificity to deal with TwentyTwentyOne focus style */ .widget .a-stats a.a-stats__link:focus { background: var(--akismet-color-mid-green); color: var(--akismet-color-white); text-decoration: none; } .a-stats a.a-stats__link:hover { filter: brightness(110%); box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.06), 0 0 2px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.16); } .a-stats .count { color: var(--akismet-color-white); display: block; font-size: 1.5em; line-height: 1.4; padding: 0 13px; white-space: nowrap; } </style> <style id='jetpack-global-styles-frontend-style-inline-css'> :root { --font-headings: unset; --font-base: unset; --font-headings-default: -apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif; --font-base-default: -apple-system,BlinkMacSystemFont,"Segoe UI",Roboto,Oxygen-Sans,Ubuntu,Cantarell,"Helvetica Neue",sans-serif;} </style> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-mu-wpcom-settings-js-before"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var JETPACK_MU_WPCOM_SETTINGS = {"assetsUrl":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-content\/mu-plugins\/wpcomsh\/jetpack_vendor\/automattic\/jetpack-mu-wpcom\/src\/build\/"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <link rel="https://api.w.org/" href="https://steveblank.com/wp-json/" /><link rel="alternate" title="JSON" type="application/json" href="https://steveblank.com/wp-json/wp/v2/categories/697967637" /><link rel="EditURI" type="application/rsd+xml" title="RSD" href="https://steveblank.com/xmlrpc.php?rsd" /> <style>img#wpstats{display:none}</style> <meta name="description" content="Posts about Hacking for Recovery written by steve blank" /> <style type="text/css"> #header h1 a, #header h1 a:hover, #header .description { color: #eb221e; } </style>   <meta property="og:type" content="website" /> <meta property="og:title" content="Steve Blank Hacking for Recovery" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/" /> <meta property="og:site_name" content="Steve Blank" /> <meta property="og:image" content="https://s0.wp.com/i/blank.jpg" /> <meta property="og:image:alt" content="" /> <meta property="og:locale" content="en_US" />  <link rel="icon" href="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" sizes="32x32" /> <link rel="icon" href="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" sizes="192x192" /> <link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" /> <meta name="msapplication-TileImage" content="https://s0.wp.com/i/webclip.png" />  <script type='text/javascript'> var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-85363375-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' === document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })(); </script>  </head> <body class="archive category category-hacking-for-recovery category-697967637"><div id="container"> <div id="header"> <div id="menu"> <ul id="menu-menu" class="menu"><li id="menu-item-12086" class="menu-item menu-item-type-custom menu-item-object-custom menu-item-home menu-item-12086"><a href="http://steveblank.com">Home</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12085" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12085"><a href="https://steveblank.com/about/">About Steve</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12083" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12083"><a href="https://steveblank.com/books-for-startups/">Startup Books</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12080" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12080"><a href="https://steveblank.com/slides/">Slides/Videos</a></li> <li id="menu-item-25611" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-25611"><a href="https://steveblank.com/raising-money/">Fund Raising</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12082" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12082"><a href="https://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/">Tools!</a></li> <li id="menu-item-12084" class="menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-12084"><a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/">Secret History</a></li> </ul> </div> <div id="header-box"> <div id="header-image"> <img src="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/cropped-100_3947-ks-far-away-download10.jpg" alt="" /> </div> <div id="header-overlay"> <img src="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/themes/digg3/images/bg_header_overlay.png" alt="" /> </div> <div id="pagetitle"> <h1><a href="https://steveblank.com/" title="Steve Blank">Steve Blank</a></h1> </div> <div id="syndication"> <a href="https://steveblank.com/feed/" title="Syndicate this site using RSS" class="feed">Entries <abbr title="Really Simple Syndication">RSS</abbr></a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/comments/feed/" title="Syndicate comments using RSS">Comments RSS</a> </div> <div id="searchbox"> <form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://steveblank.com/"> <div> <input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s" /> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search" /> </div> </form> </div> </div> </div> <div class="pagewrapper"><div id="page">  <div class="obar"> <ul> <li id="blog_subscription-3" class="widget widget_blog_subscription jetpack_subscription_widget"><h2 class="widgettitle">Email Subscription</h2> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__container"> <form action="#" method="post" accept-charset="utf-8" id="subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-3" data-blog="6599589" data-post_access_level="everybody" > <div id="subscribe-text"><p>Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.</p> </div> <p id="subscribe-email"> <label id="jetpack-subscribe-label" class="screen-reader-text" for="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-3"> Email Address </label> <input type="email" name="email" required="required" value="" id="subscribe-field-blog_subscription-3" placeholder="Email Address" /> </p> <p id="subscribe-submit" > <input type="hidden" name="action" value="subscribe"/> <input type="hidden" name="source" value="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/"/> <input type="hidden" name="sub-type" value="widget"/> <input type="hidden" name="redirect_fragment" value="subscribe-blog-blog_subscription-3"/> <input type="hidden" id="_wpnonce" name="_wpnonce" value="ef37b2e164" /><input type="hidden" name="_wp_http_referer" value="/category/hacking-for-recovery/" /> <button type="submit" class="wp-block-button__link" name="jetpack_subscriptions_widget" > Sign me up! </button> </p> </form> <div class="wp-block-jetpack-subscriptions__subscount"> Join 55.9K other subscribers </div> </div> </li> <li id="categories-356180491" class="widget widget_categories"><h2 class="widgettitle">Categories</h2> <ul> <li class="cat-item cat-item-64203016"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/2-minute-lessons/">2 Minute Lessons</a> (15) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-2450"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/air-force/">Air Force</a> (19) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1457175"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/ardent/">Ardent</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-45014641"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/business-model-versus-business-plan/">Business Model versus Business Plan</a> (64) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-4787488"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/california-coastal-commission/">California Coastal Commission</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1470"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/china/">China</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-6987201"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/commencement-speeches/">Commencement Speeches</a> (9) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-23993"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/conservation/">Conservation</a> (4) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-3075385"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/convergent-technologies/">Convergent Technologies</a> (4) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-635806586"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/corporate-govt-innovation/">Corporate/Gov't Innovation</a> (131) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697702677"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/covid-19-recovery/">Covid-19/Recovery</a> (10) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1874987"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/customer-development/">Customer Development</a> (323) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-25337102"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/customer-development-manifesto/">Customer Development Manifesto</a> (34) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16840"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/epiphany/">E.piphany</a> (13) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967638"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/educators-summit/">Educators Summit</a> (7) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967634"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/esl/">ESL</a> (8) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-64567312"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/familycareerculture/">Family/Career/Culture</a> (81) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967641"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/gordian-knot-center-for-national-security-innovation/">Gordian Knot Center for National Security Innovation</a> (11) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-479441927"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-defense/">Hacking For Defense</a> (41) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-526158618"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-diplomacy/">Hacking for Diplomacy</a> (10) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967637 current-cat"><a aria-current="page" href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/">Hacking for Recovery</a> (5) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-105397"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/harvard-business-review/">Harvard Business Review</a> (12) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-684268037"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/innovation-doctrine/">Innovation Doctrine</a> (3) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-340390495"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/innovation-outposts/">Innovation Outposts</a> (4) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-217160777"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/investment-readiness-level/">Investment Readiness Level</a> (6) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-53169179"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/lean-launchpad/">Lean LaunchPad</a> (117) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-261983049"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/life-sciences-nih/">Life Sciences (NIH)</a> (26) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16879037"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/market-types/">Market Types</a> (15) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-175"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/marketing/">Marketing</a> (27) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-28276971"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/mips-computers/">MIPS Computers</a> (2) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967640"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/national-security/">National Security</a> (41) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-2064"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/navy/">Navy</a> (6) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-34826422"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/nih-national-institutes-of-health/">NIH (National Institutes of Health)</a> (17) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16770755"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/nsf-national-science-foundation/">NSF (National Science Foundation)</a> (18) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16848661"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/rocket-science-games/">Rocket Science Games</a> (10) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-137272104"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/science-and-industrial-policy/">Science and Industrial Policy</a> (27) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-16849552"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/secret-history-of-silicon-valley/">Secret History of Silicon Valley</a> (26) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-50184180"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/siriusxm-radio-show/">SiriusXM Radio Show</a> (50) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-235742"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/supermac/">SuperMac</a> (12) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1591"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/teaching/">Teaching</a> (178) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-6"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology/">Technology</a> (86) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967636"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology-innovation-and-modern-war/">Technology Innovation and Great Power Competition</a> (17) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-697967642"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/technology-innovation-and-modern-war-2/">Technology Innovation and Modern War</a> (20) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-429989"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/tesla/">Tesla</a> (5) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/uncategorized/">Uncategorized</a> (8) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-202"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/venture-capital/">Venture Capital</a> (82) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-1087649"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/vertical-markets/">Vertical Markets</a> (5) </li> <li class="cat-item cat-item-715437"><a href="https://steveblank.com/category/zilog/">Zilog</a> (5) </li> </ul> </li> <li id="rss_links-3" class="widget widget_rss_links"><h2 class="widgettitle">Get Steve Blank via your RSS Feed</h2> <ul><li><a target="_self" href="https://steveblank.com/feed/" title="Subscribe to posts">RSS - Posts</a></li><li><a target="_self" href="https://steveblank.com/comments/feed/" title="Subscribe to comments">RSS - Comments</a></li></ul> </li> <li id="recent-posts-2" class="widget widget_recent_entries"> <h2 class="widgettitle">Recent Posts</h2> <ul> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/12/03/how-to-flip-the-script-and-beat-china-and-russia-and-fix-the-broken-department-of-defense/">How to Flip the Script, Beat China and Russia – And Fix the Broken Department of Defense</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/10/22/quantum-computing-an-update/">Quantum Computing – An Update</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/10/08/how-saboteurs-threaten-innovation-and-what-to-do-about-it/">How Saboteurs Threaten Innovation–and What to Do About It</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/10/05/what-does-product-market-fit-sound-like-this/">What Does Product Market Fit Sound Like? This.</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/09/17/the-directory-of-dod-program-executive-offices-and-officers-peos/">How To Find Your Customer In the Dept of Defense – The Directory of DoD Program Executive Offices</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/08/13/security-clearances-at-the-speed-of-startups/">Security Clearances at the Speed of Startups</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/07/30/why-large-organizations-struggle-with-disruption-and-what-to-do-about-it/">Why Large Organizations Struggle With Disruption, and What to Do About It</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/06/27/lean-launchpad-stanford-2024-8-teams-in-8-companies-out/">Lean LaunchPad @Stanford 2024 – 8 Teams In, 8 Companies Out</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/06/24/hacking-for-defense-stanford-2024-lessons-learned-presentations/">Hacking for Defense @ Stanford 2024 – Lessons Learned Presentations</a> </li> <li> <a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/06/03/youre-invited-hacking-for-defense-and-lean-launchpad-final-presentations/">You’re Invited: Hacking for Defense and Lean LaunchPad Final Presentations</a> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="search-2" class="widget widget_search"><form method="get" id="searchform" action="https://steveblank.com/"> <div> <input type="text" value="" name="s" id="s" /> <input type="submit" id="searchsubmit" value="Search" /> </div> </form></li> <li id="archives-2" class="widget widget_archive"><h2 class="widgettitle">Archives</h2> <ul> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/12/'>December 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/10/'>October 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/09/'>September 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/08/'>August 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/07/'>July 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/06/'>June 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/05/'>May 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/04/'>April 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/03/'>March 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/02/'>February 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2024/01/'>January 2024</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/12/'>December 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/11/'>November 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/10/'>October 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/09/'>September 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/08/'>August 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/07/'>July 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/04/'>April 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/02/'>February 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2023/01/'>January 2023</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/11/'>November 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/10/'>October 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/09/'>September 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/06/'>June 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/05/'>May 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/04/'>April 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/03/'>March 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2022/01/'>January 2022</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/12/'>December 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/11/'>November 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/10/'>October 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/09/'>September 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/08/'>August 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/07/'>July 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/06/'>June 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/05/'>May 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/04/'>April 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/03/'>March 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/02/'>February 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2021/01/'>January 2021</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/12/'>December 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/11/'>November 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/10/'>October 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/09/'>September 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/08/'>August 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/07/'>July 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/06/'>June 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/05/'>May 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/04/'>April 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/03/'>March 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/02/'>February 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2020/01/'>January 2020</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/12/'>December 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/11/'>November 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/10/'>October 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/09/'>September 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/06/'>June 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/05/'>May 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/04/'>April 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/03/'>March 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2019/01/'>January 2019</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/12/'>December 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/11/'>November 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/10/'>October 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/09/'>September 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/08/'>August 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/07/'>July 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/06/'>June 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/04/'>April 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/03/'>March 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/02/'>February 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2018/01/'>January 2018</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/11/'>November 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/10/'>October 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/09/'>September 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/08/'>August 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/07/'>July 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/06/'>June 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/05/'>May 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/04/'>April 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/03/'>March 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/02/'>February 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2017/01/'>January 2017</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/12/'>December 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/11/'>November 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/10/'>October 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/09/'>September 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/08/'>August 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/07/'>July 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/06/'>June 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/05/'>May 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/04/'>April 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/03/'>March 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/02/'>February 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2016/01/'>January 2016</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/12/'>December 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/11/'>November 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/10/'>October 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/09/'>September 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/08/'>August 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/07/'>July 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/06/'>June 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/05/'>May 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/03/'>March 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/02/'>February 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2015/01/'>January 2015</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/12/'>December 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/11/'>November 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/10/'>October 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/09/'>September 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/08/'>August 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/07/'>July 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/06/'>June 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/05/'>May 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/04/'>April 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/03/'>March 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/02/'>February 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2014/01/'>January 2014</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/12/'>December 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/11/'>November 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/10/'>October 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/09/'>September 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/08/'>August 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/07/'>July 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/06/'>June 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/05/'>May 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/04/'>April 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/03/'>March 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/02/'>February 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2013/01/'>January 2013</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/12/'>December 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/11/'>November 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/10/'>October 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/09/'>September 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/08/'>August 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/07/'>July 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/06/'>June 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/05/'>May 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/04/'>April 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/03/'>March 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/02/'>February 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2012/01/'>January 2012</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/12/'>December 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/11/'>November 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/10/'>October 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/09/'>September 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/08/'>August 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/07/'>July 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/06/'>June 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/05/'>May 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/04/'>April 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/03/'>March 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/02/'>February 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2011/01/'>January 2011</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/12/'>December 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/11/'>November 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/10/'>October 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/09/'>September 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/08/'>August 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/07/'>July 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/06/'>June 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/05/'>May 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/04/'>April 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/03/'>March 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/02/'>February 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2010/01/'>January 2010</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/12/'>December 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/11/'>November 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/10/'>October 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/09/'>September 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/08/'>August 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/07/'>July 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/06/'>June 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/05/'>May 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/04/'>April 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/03/'>March 2009</a></li> <li><a href='https://steveblank.com/2009/02/'>February 2009</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="pages-2" class="widget widget_pages"><h2 class="widgettitle">Other Stuff</h2> <ul> <li class="page_item page-item-2"><a href="https://steveblank.com/about/">About Steve</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-22"><a href="https://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/">Startup Tools</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-62"><a href="https://steveblank.com/secret-history/">Secret History</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-68"><a href="https://steveblank.com/books-for-startups/">Books for Startups</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-11025"><a href="https://steveblank.com/slides/">Slides/Videos</a></li> <li class="page_item page-item-25609"><a href="https://steveblank.com/raising-money/">Raising Money</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div>  <div class="narrowcolumnwrapper"><div class="narrowcolumn"> <div id="content" class="content"> <div class="post-26234 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-hacking-for-recovery category-lean-launchpad category-teaching" id="post-26234"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/" rel="bookmark">Hacking 4 Recovery – Time to Take A Shot</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">August 17, 2020</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <h3 style="text-align:center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic7NqP_YGlg&feature=youtu.be&t=305" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Rise Up</em></a></h3> <p>“Let’s do something to help with the pandemic.” In April, with the economy crashing, and the East Coast in lockdown, I heard this from Stanford instructors Tom Bedecarre and Todd Basche, both on the same day. And my response to them was the same, “I can’t sew masks and I don’t know how to make ventilators.” But after thinking about it, it dawned on to me that we could contribute – by creating a class to help existing businesses recover and new ones to start.</p> <p>And so, <a href="https://h4r.stanford.edu/">Hacking for Recovery</a> began, starting first at Stanford and <a href="http://innovate2impact.hawaii.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">next offered by University of Hawaii</a> for the State of Hawaii.</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/phoenix-rising.motto_.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="26258" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/phoenix-rising-motto/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/phoenix-rising.motto_.jpg?fit=2083%2C2083&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2083,2083" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Phoenix Rising.motto" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/phoenix-rising.motto_.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/phoenix-rising.motto_.jpg?fit=468%2C468&ssl=1" class="wp-image-26258 alignright" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/phoenix-rising.motto_.jpg?resize=221%2C221&ssl=1" alt="" width="221" height="221" /></a></p> <p>After teaching 70 teams – 50 at Stanford and <a href="http://innovate2impact.hawaii.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">20 in Hawaii</a> – 275+ entrepreneurs – we’ve proven three things: 1) people can take control of what happens to their lives/careers during and after the pandemic, 2) in five days teams can make extraordinary progress in validating a business model and, 3) this process can be replicated in other areas of the country that need to recover and rebuild businesses.</p> <p>Here’s how it happened.</p> <hr /> <p>I realized we had the ability to rapidly launch a large number of companies on the path of validating their business models. We could offer a 5-day version of the <a href="https://vimeo.com/108950853">Lean LaunchPad</a> / <a href="https://vimeo.com/175258417">Hacking For Defense</a> / <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/">National Science Foundation I-Corps</a> class that’s trained tens of thousands of entrepreneurs. The class already existed. I had been teaching it at Columbia University for the last seven years. Brainstorming with my Stanford co-instructor Steve Weinstein, we streamlined the material for a virtual class, and told Tom and Todd we could do it.</p> <p>In two months, they recruited 200 students (50 teams) on 6 continents and in more than a dozen countries. What united the students was their belief that while the pandemic had disrupted their lives, here was an opportunity to shape their own future.</p> <p>To support them we found 31 mentors, and 4 great Teaching Assistants. The entire course – from team recruitment to the actual class sessions – was hosted online through Zoom.</p> <p>We ran the Stanford class three times, each in 5-day sessions. (The syllabus is <a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/hacking-for-recovery-syllabus">here</a>.)</p> <p>The teams were able to do <a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">customer discovery via video conferencing</a> (getting out of the building without physically getting out of the building) averaging 44 interviews in 5 days. In aggregate they interviewed 2,259 customers. But it just wasn’t the aggregate numbers that were impressive it was how much they learned in five days.</p> <p>The results?</p> <p>200 students will never be the same. Rather than bemoaning their circumstances, they decided to <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ic7NqP_YGlg&feature=youtu.be&t=310" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rise up and take their best shot</a>. Immersed in a rapid-fire hands-on experience, and surrounded by mentors and subject matter experts, every team not only changed the trajectory of their company but left having learned a methodology for high-speed business model validation to help jump-start a business idea in these chaotic times and beyond.</p> <p>The topics the teams worked on mirrored the opportunities created caused by the pandemic and sequestering. Over 40% were working on telemedicine, 28% in remote education or remote work. Other teams tackled problems in travel, small business, sustainability, etc. The 50 team concepts at Stanford fell into these categories:</p> <ul> <li>21 Health/Telemedicine</li> <li>9 Education</li> <li>5 Remote Work</li> <li>3 Travel</li> <li>3 Sustainability</li> <li>3 Small Business</li> <li>6 others</li> </ul> <p>More than 15 of the teams have already committed to continue to pursue their startup ideas and are applying to accelerators and seeking funding.</p> <p>When the sessions at Stanford were completed, we helped the University of Hawaii <span class="gmail_default">and Maui Economic Development Board <a href="https://www.stemworkshawaii.org/home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">STEMworks </a></span>launch the <a href="http://innovate2impact.hawaii.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hawaii version of Hacking 4 Recovery</a> – to rebuild the State’s economy, which has been uniquely devastated by the coronavirus lockdown. 20 teams just finished their program. With more to come. Other regions can do the same.</p> <p>Take a look at a selection of the presentations below from Stanford’s cohorts. Considering some of the teams consisted of incoming freshmen, their progress is kind of mind blowing.</p> <p>While we enabled 70 teams to start companies, what we really generated was <em>hope</em> – and a path to new opportunities.</p> <hr /> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/anticovidai-h4r-2020">AntiCovidAI </a>– a novel mobile app to detect COVID-19 symptoms. Team included Stanford undergrad, Stanford alum, DCI Fellow, Stanford staff member and a graduate student taking courses at Stanford. We had 21/50 teams focused on health/telemedicine concepts<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237704623' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/nightingale-h4r-stanford-2020">Nightingale </a>– a telemedicine platform connecting nurses to caregivers to close the home healthcare gap.<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237705275' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/diffusion-h4r-stanford-2020">Diffusion </a>– led by a Stanford Ph.D, this team is developing a sensor to prevent head and neck injuries from falls, especially for seniors in nursing homes.<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237705088' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/edusquared-h4r-stanford-2020">Edusquared–</a> this team of 4 women who just graduated high school and are entering Stanford in September created an educational subscription box for young Special Ed students. 9 of the teams worked on Education concepts.<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237704772' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/workfromanywhere-h4r-stanford-2020">Work From Anywhere </a>– the team designed a service to help people move to new locations as remote working allows employees to work from anywhere. 5 teams developed concepts related to Remote Work.<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237704859' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/eyedentify-h4r-stanford-2020">Eye-Dentify</a> – was led by a Knight Hennessy Scholar who wants to help bring eyecare to remote underserved areas. Many of the teams focused on social impact.<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237704961' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/escape-homework-h4r-stanford-2020">Escape Homework </a>– team developed an “Escape Room” platform to make remote learning for k-12 students fun and engaging. (Post class, the team wrote a blog post describing their experience in the class. Worth a read <a href="https://medium.com/@hello.escapehomework/reimagining-virtual-learning-6bdcc69fd5f0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. And they shared their page on virtual educational resources <a href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/e/2PACX-1vRJxhNbZfR42BVzwXSC3Zqzu1eaSCeNyWFAJ2ZRYDu2I9vgh_1F4w42KYDqy-U-ttTKjLqQyr4_uVdt/pub?start=true&loop=false&delayms=2000&slide=id.g531a0c2781_0_443" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.)<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237705025' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/voyage-h4r-stanford-2020">Voyage </a>– was a global travel advisory platform for pandemic information.<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237705219' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><a href="https://www.slideshare.net/sblank/parrot-h4r-stanford-2020">Parrot </a>– fun language app – crossing Duolingo with TikTok. Four rising Stanford sophomore women.<br /> <iframe src='https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/embed_code/237705347' width='468' height='384' sandbox="allow-popups allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-presentation" allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p>All 50 Stanford presentations are here: <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1stUQmVtKaFQUeHZtwZuu09RcbHorUHcb?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Session 1</a>, <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BLcQudEwpp_Wf3Y2mwEFHQ7bGqUnPJ-T?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Session 2</a> and <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BanbVVXyeeKl-C6cGZyFHPWsv1ntJ1Pm?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Session</a><a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BanbVVXyeeKl-C6cGZyFHPWsv1ntJ1Pm?usp=sharing" target="_blank" rel="noopener"> 3</a>.</p> <p>Total Stanford participants: 200 (Men 51%, Women 49%)<br /> Representing a broad cross-section of the Stanford Community:</p> <ul> <li>undergrads 25%</li> <li>graduate 14%</li> <li>Summer Session Students 10%</li> <li>Alumni 30%</li> <li>Faculty/Staff 2%</li> <li><a href="https://dci.stanford.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DCI Fellows</a> 3%</li> <li>Other/misc. 16%</li> </ul> <p>Thanks to the instructors who taught the class: Tom Bedecarre, Steve Weinstein and Pete Newell and to the guest lecturers: Mar Hershenson, Tina Seelig, and Heidi Roizen.</p> <p>In addition to the instructors, each team had mentors who volunteered their time: Jim Anderson, Adi Bittan, Teresa Briggs, Rachel Costello, Phil Dillard, Freddy Dopfel, Mimi Dunne, Dave Epstein, Eleanor Haglund, Joy Fairbanks, Susan Golden, Rafi Holtzman, Pradeep Jotwani, Phillipe Jorge, Vera Kenehan, Robert Locke, Kris McCleary, Radhika Malpani, Stephanie Marrus, Allan May, Rekha Pai,Don Peppers, Alejandro Petschankar, Kevin Ray, Heather Richman, Eric Schrader, Craig Seidel, Kevin Thompson, Wendy Tsu, Lisa Wallace. Plus another 27 subject matter experts as support.</p> <p>And when a class with a million moving parts appears seamless to the students it’s directly proportional to the amount of work behind the scenes. Without our teaching assistants who volunteered their time none of it would have happened: Head TA’s: Valeria Rincon / Jin Woo Yu and TA’s Nicole Orsak and Diva Sharma.</p> <p><strong>Lessons learned</strong></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>While we enabled 70 teams to start companies, what we really generated was <em>hope</em> and a path to new opportunities</li> <li>With the open source curriculum available <a href="https://steveblank.com/slides/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>, it’s possible for any school or region to get a version of this class ready in 8-10 weeks <ul> <li>The 5-day format of the class works well</li> <li>It can stand alone or complement the 10-week or 14-week courses</li> </ul> </li> <li>Having teaching assistants are critical to managing the admin side of marketing, recruiting, team formation, communications and overall support for the teaching team <ul> <li>Team formation requires heavy lifting of emails/team mixers/team – as well as match-making by TA’s and instructors</li> </ul> </li> <li>Having a large pool of mentors and subject matter experts is important in 5-day crash course, to support teams looking for interview subjects and contacts for customer discovery</li> </ul> </blockquote> <iframe width="100%" height="91" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F880705840&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Hacking%204%20Recovery%C2%A0-%20Time%20to%20Take%20A%20Shot&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F08%2F17%2Fhacking-4-recovery-2%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="13288a0a0e" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/" data-text="Hacking 4 Recovery - Time to Take A Shot" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F08%2F17%2Fhacking-4-recovery-2%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F08%2Fphoenix-rising.motto_.jpg&description=Hacking%204%20Recovery%C2%A0-%20Time%20to%20Take%20A%20Shot" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="Hacking 4 Recovery - Time to Take A Shot" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-26234-67d674a342300' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.5-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=26234&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-26234-67d674a342300' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-26234-67d674a342300' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/" rel="category tag">Hacking for Recovery</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/lean-launchpad/" rel="category tag">Lean LaunchPad</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/teaching/" rel="category tag">Teaching</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/08/17/hacking-4-recovery-2/#comments">1 Comment »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-26134 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-customer-development category-hacking-for-recovery category-lean-launchpad" id="post-26134"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/" rel="bookmark">What Can A Startup Do in 5 days? Watch this</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">July 14, 2020</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p>With a terrific crew of instructors, TA’s, and mentors, we successfully concluded Session 1 of our <em>Hacking 4 Recovery</em> summer series – with 20 teams sharing their final presentations last night. Slides for these presentations <a href="https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1stUQmVtKaFQUeHZtwZuu09RcbHorUHcb?usp=sharing">are in this folder</a>, and we will be editing and sharing videos of each presentation shortly.</p> <p> </p> <ul> <li><strong>Alivia</strong> – Telemedicine service bringing healthcare to middle income people in Peru</li> <li><strong>AllAboard</strong> – Remote onboarding services to help organizations establish a sense of belonging</li> <li><strong>AntiCovidAI</strong> – Mobile app for testing COVID-19</li> <li><strong>BBOM Preschool</strong> – Teaching social and emotional learning (SEL) to preschoolers</li> <li><strong>Collegiate Cost Busters</strong> – Delivering innovation to make college education more affordable to all</li> <li><strong>COVered</strong> – Crowdsourcing app to monitor risk for visiting public spaces</li> <li><strong>CoworkingSpace</strong> – Redefining coworking spaces in the post-pandemic world</li> <li><strong>Cratiso</strong> – Sourcing diverse patients for clinical trials</li> <li><strong>Florence Health</strong> – Telemedicine app to prevent hospitalization of congestive heart failure patients</li> <li><strong>HomeDoc</strong> – Central hub for connecting telemedicine platforms for nursing homes</li> <li><strong>Mango Lango</strong> – Mobile app that allows small businesses to reopen safely</li> <li><strong>MatchBook</strong> – Hiring platform structured similarly to dating apps</li> <li><strong>MemLove</strong> – Helping people grieve for lost loved ones</li> <li><strong>MUSTA</strong> – Telemedicine platform for patients in the Philippines</li> <li><strong>Remote Daily</strong> – Simplified employee feedback for small businesses</li> <li><strong>Resilience Gym</strong> – Online education and virtual reality to enhance mental health</li> <li><strong><a href="http://safe.ly/">Safe.ly</a></strong> – Mobile app for making reservations to visit your local stores safely</li> <li><strong>Sani-Team</strong> – Consulting service to help local restaurants reopen safely</li> <li><strong><a href="http://screen360.tv/">Screen360.tv</a></strong> – Cross-cultural education platform using international films</li> <li><strong>Voyage</strong> – Global travel advisory platform for pandemic information</li> </ul> <p> </p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20What%20Can%20A%20Startup%20Do%20in%205%20days%3F%20%20Watch%20this&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F07%2F14%2F26134%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="8520d4260d" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/" data-text="What Can A Startup Do in 5 days? Watch this" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F07%2F14%2F26134%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fwebclip.png&description=What%20Can%20A%20Startup%20Do%20in%205%20days%3F%20%20Watch%20this" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="What Can A Startup Do in 5 days? Watch this" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-26134-67d674a344756' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.5-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=26134&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-26134-67d674a344756' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-26134-67d674a344756' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/customer-development/" rel="category tag">Customer Development</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/" rel="category tag">Hacking for Recovery</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/lean-launchpad/" rel="category tag">Lean LaunchPad</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/07/14/26134/#comments">1 Comment »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-25915 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-covid-19-recovery category-hacking-for-recovery" id="post-25915"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/" rel="bookmark">Seven Steps to Small Business Recovery</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">May 20, 2020</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p style="text-align:center;"><em>What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.</em><br /> <em>Friedrich Nietzsche</em></p> <p>The world is a different place than it was 90 days ago. Countries traded saving lives by shutting down most of their economy. Tens of millions who had jobs are now unemployed worrying about their future. Business owners large and small are struggling to find their footing, wondering what will be the new normal when the recovery happens. For the majority of companies, the business models of the past will not return.</p> <p>Hit hardest were most small business service providers. Each day as they sheltered in place watching their bank accounts dwindle, they wondered: If I can’t perform my services, what will happen to my business? The reactions ping-ponged between uncertainty, fear, panic, anger and distress. But over the last month the reaction from a growing percentage has been resolve. Resolve to leave behind elements or services in their business that no longer work in the current environment, and determination to create new ones that do.</p> <p>A company that has its finger on the pulse of tens of thousands of small businesses is <a href="https://www.honeybook.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Honeybook</a>. They provide the software for freelancers and small businesses to manage clients and their business – proposals, billing, contracts, payments, project tracking, etc.</p> <p>Honeybook CEO <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ozalon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oz Alon</a> has had a front-row seat to how their members have pivoted, providing their services in new and creative ways, and are sharing these in a special <span lang="EN"><a href="https://www.honeybook.com/risingtide/">Rising Tide</a></span> feature on their website. Here are a few examples:</p> <p><strong>Pivot from In-person to Online</strong></p> <ul> <li>Jill Johnson, owner of <span lang="EN"><a href="https://www.thepaintmixer.com/">The Paint Mixer</a></span>, used to offer painting parties and creative adventures in her Salt Lake City studio. She started offering paint-from-home kits and hosting private parties via Zoom for team building, social hours, and birthday parties. “Our clients are loving the experience and are very grateful. I receive emails and texts, as well as social media posts daily, and it is inspiring,” Jill says.</li> <li>Regina, owner of <span lang="EN"><a href="http://www.sillysparkles.com/">Silly Sparkles</a></span>, is a children’s entertainer offering magic/puppet shows, face painting and balloon twisting at events. Since she can’t perform in person anymore, she’s switched to virtual party packages with customized entertainment for each client. “People still have birthdays, and they still want to make them special!” Regina says. “Virtual parties are a great way to serve those clients, and they’re willing to pay for it.”</li> <li>Jordan Edelson, co-founder of <span lang="EN"><a href="https://www.chicsketch.com/">Chic Sketch</a></span>, reimagined his events business as a virtual events business. His goal was to create a similar experience to their in-person events where guests are sketched live by their team of talented illustrators. Their team now does live sketching during virtual events over a video conferencing platform.</li> <li>Melissa Rasmussen of <span lang="EN"><a href="https://cateringbychefmelissa.com/">Catering By Chef Melissa</a></span> normally offers custom catering with a farm-to-table approach, but in this current business climate, she’s pivoted to offer dinner meal kits. The menu is posted on social media and on <span lang="EN"><a href="https://12ab4913-9fe3-4623-9870-02af06bca565.filesusr.com/ugd/c2dd6f_5c8e1274fcc7487286b5e9b5c7618651.pdf">their website</a></span>; customers pay their invoice online; and the meal kits are available to be picked up at their commercial kitchen or delivered for a small fee.</li> <li>Florist Robin Smith of <span lang="EN"><a href="https://www.rhapsodyinblooms.com/">Rhapsody in Blooms</a></span> started offering virtual floral design classes. She either ships class supplies (including the flowers and a vessel) directly to participants or arranges no-contact pickups. All students have exactly the same products to work with and join a Zoom call to attend the class.</li> </ul> <p><strong>The Seven-Step Small Business Pivot Process</strong><br /> Honeybook CEO Oz Alon observed that there was a pattern to these pivots. Regardless of the type of service they were offering or the kind of businesses they had, they took the same seven steps:</p> <ol> <li><strong>Create an MVP, Minimal Viable Product or MVS, Minimum Viable Service</strong>—Assess your current business model. What capabilities and current services do you have? Then think about what the market needs right now and how you can adjust your services to meet those needs. What is it that people will grab out of your hands? Create an MVP or MVS to start.</li> </ol> <p><span lang="EN">Alexander Osterwalder</span><span lang="EN"> co-creator of the </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoAOzMTLP5s"><span lang="EN">business model canvas</span></a>, suggests a playbook of business model moves you can make:</p> <blockquote> <p style="text-align:left;"><strong>Shelter in place as a market opportunity<br /> </strong>What new value propositions (products/services) can you offer to those stuck at home or to those who need to operate with new social distancing rules?</p> <p><strong>Resource pivots<br /> </strong>How can you use/repurpose your existing resources for new offerings?</p></blockquote> <blockquote><p><strong>Delivery/Distribution Channel innovation<br /> </strong>Can you move to digital/online, extending your reach and potential customers?</p></blockquote> <blockquote><p><strong>Opportunity to buy/acquire<br /> </strong>Are there resources (people/physical assets) that others are abandoning that you can now get?</p></blockquote> <p style="padding-left:40px;">Jill Johnson, The Paint Mixer owner, suggests taking a look at the assets you already have. “Our pivot happened pretty quickly,” she says. “I knew as soon as our surrounding counties started to mandate closure that the business would be in trouble if I didn’t try something. After a good cry (and a glass of whiskey), I met with my team to talk ideas and short-term solutions. I looked around the studio and decided to use what we had. We offer painting parties and creative adventures. With the stock in our studios I took photos of what could be a potential ‘create-at-home kit.’”</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">Regina, owner of Silly Sparkles, seconds working with what you have as a starting point for a Minimum Viable Service. She says before you invest money in new equipment, it’s important to be resourceful. “When you use what you have, you’ll quickly learn what works for you and what doesn’t,” she says. “For my first virtual show, I only had magic props, green fabric for a green screen and a laptop. I didn’t need to invest a lot of money in a green screen because what I had worked just fine. I did, however, need to invest in a better mic.”</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">2. <strong>Customer discovery</strong>— While you might have come up with a great Minimum Viable Service, it’s just a series of guesses and assumptions. The next step is to validate the problem/need with customer discovery, by asking your existing customer base if they would be interested in your new service. You can do a poll on social media or send out an email blast to get a sense, then use video conferencing to do deep dives on real interest and intent to buy. Jill says, “We did a soft rollout with our mailing list to see if there was any interest, and there was!”</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">3. <strong>Rapid testing</strong>—Don’t spin your wheels trying to perfect your new service. Get it in the hands of your customers as soon as you can to test product/market fit. “Don’t spend energy building it. Create one, take a photo and try it with your current list. Then, when demand is apparent, build like crazy,” Jill says.</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">If you want to get started testing your idea quickly, consider giving it away for free at first. “It’s easy to get overwhelmed,” Regina says. “Instead of complicating the process, just jump in and try something! Start by offering a free, live magic show to family and friends. You’ll learn so much from this test run and it will give you momentum.”</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">4. <strong>Refine your offering</strong>—Another key part of rapid pivoting is a fast feedback loop. Constantly ask for feedback and act on it—improve on what’s working and tweak what’s not. Jill says, “The first 6 weeks I hand-delivered every package in the neighboring areas. I would text to let [customers] know it was outside and that I would love feedback. This touch allowed direct contact with every consumer.”</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">While customer feedback is great, also consider getting feedback from your peers. “Once you’ve started simple and tried a test run, it’s time to learn about how to improve your process,” Regina says. “Send out a recording of your first rough performances to other performers who have already been doing virtual parties. You’ll most likely receive insightful feedback. With some minor tweaks, you can upgrade your show significantly.”</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;"><strong>5. Market on all your channels</strong>—Share about your new offering everywhere your audience is, whether that’s your website, email list, or on social media. Jordan Edelson of Chic Sketch shares about his new business offering on Instagram, driving customers to a specific landing page to learn more. The landing page also includes <span lang="EN">a </span><span lang="EN"><a href="https://youtu.be/_I20TUbBzz4">YouTube</a></span><span lang="EN"> video </span> of an actual live event to help potential clients see how the service works.</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">Don’t forget to keep both your offering and your messaging simple. “Make it fun, make it accessible and make it easy for your clients to buy,” Jill advises.</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">6. <strong>Rely on tried-and-true tools</strong>—While some parts of your business may need to be altered, others may still work just fine, including tools, processes and frameworks that help you run and scale your business. Continue to rely on these to make pivoting business easier.</p> <p style="padding-left:40px;">7. <strong>Share with the community</strong>—If your new service works, be sure to share this knowledge with your community, whether that’s on Facebook groups or in virtual meet-ups. In case anyone else has tried something similar, you can get feedback to refine your service. If it didn’t work, sharing with your community is still valuable as you may swap stories that may inspire you to go a different direction entirely.</p> <p><strong>What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger</strong><br /> Shelter in place is a mass extinction event for many industries. Not every business will survive. But what will emerge are businesses that diversified their offerings better positioned to withstand future volatility by providing complementary channels and offerings. And they’re opening up new ways service providers can scale to more customers.</p> <p>“I think our Paint Mixer business is changed forever,” Jill Johnson says. “For the first time we now have a service that allows us to reach a national audience way beyond our local area. It will also allow us to create more classes that people can join virtually. I don’t think this is a short-term solution at all, but an entirely new direction that we have to take.”</p> <p>Jordan Edelson of Chic Sketch observes, “There has been a paradigm shift in consumer behaviors, especially in their adoption and emotional acceptance of virtual video conferencing. The world changed overnight, and it has opened a door for our new service.”</p> <p><strong>Lessons Learned</strong></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>The Seven-Step Small Business Pivot Process <ul> <li>Create an MVP or MVS, Minimum Viable Service</li> <li>Do Customer Discovery</li> <li>Rapidly test your idea</li> <li>Refine your offering</li> <li>Market on all your channels</li> <li>Rely on tried-and-true tools</li> <li>Share with the community</li> </ul> </li> <li>Carpe Diem – seize the day</li> </ul> </blockquote> <p>We’re going to be holding a series of 5-day <a href="https://h4r.stanford.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hacking for the Recovery</a> classes for businesses searching for the new normal at Stanford this summer. If you’re affiliated with Stanford, find out more or sign up at <a href="https://h4r.stanford.edu" rel="nofollow">https://h4r.stanford.edu</a><br /> <iframe width="100%" height="91" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F825653758&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe></p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Seven%20Steps%20to%20Small%20Business%20Recovery&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F05%2F20%2Fseven-steps-to-small-business-recovery%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="0463b324b0" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/" data-text="Seven Steps to Small Business Recovery" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F05%2F20%2Fseven-steps-to-small-business-recovery%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fs0.wp.com%2Fi%2Fwebclip.png&description=Seven%20Steps%20to%20Small%20Business%20Recovery" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="Seven Steps to Small Business Recovery" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-25915-67d674a346ec8' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.5-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=25915&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-25915-67d674a346ec8' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-25915-67d674a346ec8' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/covid-19-recovery/" rel="category tag">Covid-19/Recovery</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/" rel="category tag">Hacking for Recovery</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/20/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery/#comments">8 Comments »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-25927 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-covid-19-recovery category-hacking-for-recovery" id="post-25927"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/" rel="bookmark">Hacking 4 Recovery</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">May 18, 2020</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/phoenix-rising-1.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="25961" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/phoenix-rising-3/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/phoenix-rising-1.jpg?fit=2083%2C2083&ssl=1" data-orig-size="2083,2083" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"1"}" data-image-title="Phoenix Rising" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/phoenix-rising-1.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/phoenix-rising-1.jpg?fit=468%2C468&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-25961" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/phoenix-rising-1.jpg?resize=100%2C100&ssl=1" alt="" width="100" height="100" /></a>We’re holding a series of 5-day online classes at Stanford where teams will learn how to develop new business models for an economy that’s getting back to work and on the road to recovery.</p> <p> </p> <p>Sign up at <a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">http://h4r.stanford.edu</a></p> <hr /> <p>The post-pandemic world will be a very different place. The Covid-19 virus has upended traditional ways of doing business, travel, education, entertainment, healthcare, etc. How do these institutions reconfigure and reinvent themselves? What new businesses and services will emerge? <a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hacking 4 Recovery</a> provides students with the tools to understand the new normal and to build innovative solutions for recovery.</p> <hr /> <p><strong>Out of crisis – Opportunity<br /> </strong>Do you have a startup idea or new technology that you’d like to learn how to bring to market in the post-pandemic economy? Or perhaps you would like to join a team creating a new business, or reinventing an existing business, and learn the lean startup techniques that will be critical to our recovery.</p> <p><strong>Stanford’s Lean LaunchPad<br /> </strong><a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hacking 4 Recovery</a> is a 5-day version of the <a href="https://vimeo.com/108950853" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lean LaunchPad</a> / <a href="https://vimeo.com/175258417" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hacking For Defense</a> / <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/i-corps/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">National Science Foundation I-Corps</a> curriculum that’s trained tens of thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators. This class offers students a unique online opportunity to build the future with the Stanford University instructors who have inspired a generation of entrepreneurs.</p> <p>The first 5-day class will be aimed at “Finding New Business Models” for businesses to adapt and pivot to find new customers, new markets, new products and new services to win in the recovery. Additional 5-day-long classes will explore Health, Travel and Hospitality, Food Service, Entertainment and Education.</p> <p><strong>Course Description<br /> </strong>This course provides real world, hands-on learning on what it’s like to actually start a company or to find a new business model for an existing one. This class is not about how to write a business plan. It’s not an exercise on how smart you are in a classroom, or how well you use the research to size markets.</p> <p>This class combines theory with a ton of hands-on practice. Our goal, within the constraints of a virtual classroom and a limited amount of time, is to give you a framework to test a business model.</p> <p>You will be virtually “getting your hands dirty” by talking to customers, partners and competitors as you encounter the chaos and uncertainty of how a startup (or a restart) actually works.</p> <p>You’ll practice evidence-based entrepreneurship as you learn how to use a <em>business model</em> to brainstorm each part of a company and formulate their hypothesis. Next, you’ll use <em>customer development</em> to virtually get out of the classroom and talk to 10-15 customers/ partners each day to validate whether your assumptions are correct, and to see whether anyone other than you would want/use your product or service. Finally, based on the customer and market feedback you gathered, you will use <em>agile development</em> to build Minimal Viable Products (incremental and iterative prototypes) to show prospective customers each day to see if customers would actually buy and use. Each day will be a new adventure outside the classroom as you test each part of your business model and then share the hard earned knowledge with the rest of the class.</p> <p><em>This class is team-based</em><strong>.</strong> (We’ll help Individuals without a team find a place on one.) Working and studying will be done in teams. <u>You will be admitted as a team</u>. <em>Teams must submit a proposal for entry before the class begins.</em> Projects must be approved <em>before the class</em>.</p> <p>The teams will self-organize and establish individual roles on their own.</p> <p><strong>Hacking 4 Recovery Instructors and Team</strong></p> <ul> <li><a href="https://steveblank.com/about/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Blank</a>, <a href="http://www.tinaseelig.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tina Seelig</a>, <a href="https://profiles.stanford.edu/sweinstein" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Steve Weinstein</a>, <a href="https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/faculty-research/faculty/tom-bedecarre" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tom Bedecarré</a>, <a href="https://www.pear.vc/mar" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Mar Hershenson</a>, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/petenewell/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pete Newell</a></li> <li>Mentors, advisors and subject matter experts to support the teams</li> </ul> <p><strong>Class Dates<br /> </strong>Five <a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hacking 4 Recovery</a> 5-day online classes will be offered this summer:</p> <ul> <li>First session: Monday, June 29<sup>th</sup> to Friday, July 3rd at 4-7pm Pacific</li> <li>Second session: Monday, July 13<sup>th</sup> to Friday, July 17th at 4-7pm Pacific</li> <li>Third session: Monday, August 3<sup>rd</sup> to Friday, August 7th at 4-7pm Pacific</li> <li>Fourth session: TBD</li> <li>Fifth session: TBD</li> </ul> <p><strong>Find Out More – Info Sessions<br /> </strong>We’ll be offering a series of information sessions describing the class, expectations and the application process.</p> <p><strong>May 21 </strong> 4:00 PM PDT Information session<br /> <strong>May 28</strong> 12:00 PM PDT Information session</p> <p>Signup at the website at <a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu/">http://h4r.stanford.edu</a></p> <p><strong>Who Can Attend?<br /> </strong><a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Hacking 4 Recovery</a> is open to Stanford undergraduate and graduate students, as well as all Stanford faculty, staff and alumni. Students visiting Stanford for the summer are also invited to apply for this free course, (if they are registered for at least one Summer Session course (3-unit minimum).</p> <p>The class is team-based. Priority is given to <em>teams</em> of 3 to 5. We will hold team formation mixers and help you find additional team members or teams to join.</p> <p><strong>June 4 </strong>4:00 PM PDT Team formation mixer and Q&A<strong><br /> </strong><strong>June 11 </strong> 12:00 PM PDT Team formation mixer and Q&A<br /> <strong>June 18 </strong> 4:00 PM PDT Team formation mixer and Q&A<br /> <strong>June 25</strong> 4:00 PM PDT Team formation mixer and Q&A</p> <p>Signup at the website at <a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu/">http://h4r.stanford.edu</a></p> <p><strong>Summer Startup Accelerators<br /> </strong>Students who take the Hacking 4 Recovery class will have an opportunity to be apply for affiliated summer startup accelerators and incubators, including Pear VC, Stanford Venture Studio, H4XLabs and others.</p> <p><strong>For More Information<br /> </strong>For more information or to apply online, please check out our Hacking 4 Recovery website at <a href="http://h4r.stanford.edu/">http://h4r.stanford.edu</a> or email us at hacking4recovery@gmail.com</p> <p>Join this class and help restart our economy.</p> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Hacking%204%20Recovery&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F05%2F18%2Fhacking-4-recovery%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="31fe2aa766" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/" data-text="Hacking 4 Recovery" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F05%2F18%2Fhacking-4-recovery%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F05%2Fphoenix-rising-1.jpg&description=Hacking%204%20Recovery" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="Hacking 4 Recovery" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-25927-67d674a349c4c' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.5-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=25927&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-25927-67d674a349c4c' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-25927-67d674a349c4c' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/covid-19-recovery/" rel="category tag">Covid-19/Recovery</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/" rel="category tag">Hacking for Recovery</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/05/18/hacking-4-recovery/#comments">3 Comments »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-25792 post type-post status-publish format-standard hentry category-covid-19-recovery category-hacking-for-recovery" id="post-25792"> <h2><a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" rel="bookmark">Customer Discovery In the Time Of the Covid-19 Virus</a></h2> <div class="postinfo"> Posted on <span class="postdate">April 7, 2020</span> by steve blank </div> <div class="entry"> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/techcrunch.png?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="25826" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/techcrunch/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/techcrunch.png?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1" data-orig-size="225,225" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="TechCrunch" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/techcrunch.png?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/techcrunch.png?fit=225%2C225&ssl=1" class="alignleft wp-image-25826" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/techcrunch.png?resize=75%2C75&ssl=1" alt="" width="75" height="75" /></a>A version of <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2020/04/07/managing-customer-discovery-when-you-cant-leave-the-house/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">this article appeared in TechCrunch</a>.</p> <p>With in-person classes canceled, we’re about to start our online versions of <a href="https://vimeo.com/175258417">Hacking for Defense</a> and <a href="https://hacking4oceans.ucsc.edu/">Hacking for Oceans</a> (and <a href="http://h4oceans.ucsd.edu/">here</a>). The classes are built on the <a href="https://hbr.org/2013/05/why-the-lean-start-up-changes-everything" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lean Startup</a> methodology: Customer Discovery, Agile Engineering and the Business/Mission Model Canvas. So how do our students get out of the building to talk to customers to do Customer Discovery when they can’t get out of the building? How do should startups do it?</p> <p>—-</p> <p><strong>Reminder: What’s the Point of Talking to Customers</strong>?<br /> Talking to customers seems like a simple idea, but most founders find it’s one of the hardest things they have to do. Founders innately believe they understand a customers problem and just need to spend their time building a solution. We now have a half a century of data to say that belief is wrong. To build products that people want and will really use, founders first need to validate the problem/need, then understand whether their solution solves that problem (i.e. finding product/market fit). Finally to have a better chance of a viable enterprise, they need to test all the other hypotheses in their business/mission model (pricing, demand creation, revenue, costs, etc.)</p> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/getting-out-of-the-building-1.png?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="25807" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/getting-out-of-the-building-2/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/getting-out-of-the-building-1.png?fit=3831%2C592&ssl=1" data-orig-size="3831,592" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="Getting out of the building" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/getting-out-of-the-building-1.png?fit=300%2C46&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/getting-out-of-the-building-1.png?fit=468%2C72&ssl=1" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-25807" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/getting-out-of-the-building-1.png?resize=468%2C72&ssl=1" alt="" width="468" height="72" /></a>The key principles of customer development are:</p> <ol> <li>There are no facts inside the building so get the heck outside</li> <li>All you have are a series of untested hypotheses</li> <li>You can test your hypotheses with a series of experiments with potential customers</li> </ol> <p><a href="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sci-method.jpg?ssl=1"><img data-recalc-dims="1" loading="lazy" decoding="async" data-attachment-id="25587" data-permalink="https://steveblank.com/2020/02/26/how-to-raise-money-its-a-journey-not-an-event/sci-method/" data-orig-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sci-method.jpg?fit=1222%2C1605&ssl=1" data-orig-size="1222,1605" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="sci method" data-image-description="" data-image-caption="" data-medium-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sci-method.jpg?fit=228%2C300&ssl=1" data-large-file="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sci-method.jpg?fit=468%2C615&ssl=1" class="aligncenter wp-image-25587" src="https://i0.wp.com/steveblank.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/sci-method.jpg?resize=190%2C250&ssl=1" alt="" width="190" height="250" /></a>Now with sheltering-in-place the new normal, we’ll add a fourth principle:</p> <ol start="4"> <li><em>In-person interviews are not the only way to test your hypotheses</em></li> </ol> <p><strong>Reminder: What’s the Point of Physically Getting Out of The Building</strong>?<br /> One of the reasons for interviewing people in person is to <em>engage in a dialog that lets you be sure you </em>understand the problem you are solving and <em>measure customers’ reactions to </em>the minimal viable products you put in front of them.</p> <p>There’s a rule of thumb that says, “If you can see their pupils dilate and can tell they’re checking not their watch,” it’s a valuable interview. The gold standard are in-person interviews where you can not only do all of that, and get to see what’s on their desks, the awards on their walls, the books on their shelves, and other ephemera that may give you clues about their interests and behavior. But today, with the Covid-19 pandemic that’s no longer possible. So the next best thing is a Video Teleconference.</p> <p><strong>Video Teleconferencing is Your Virtual Friend<br /> </strong>Video (via <a href="https://zoom.us" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Zoom</a>, <a href="https://www.skype.com/en/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Skype</a>, <a href="https://gsuite.google.com/products/meet/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Google Hangouts</a>, <a href="https://products.office.com/en-us/microsoft-teams/group-chat-software" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Microsoft Teams</a>, etc.) with enough resolution to see someone’s facial expressions – is more than an adequate substitute, and in some cases better – as it allows you to connect to more people in a shorter period of time. When we first taught the National Science Foundation Innovation Corps 11 years ago, the first 75 teams did Customer Discovery this way. (More advanced tools for remote user testing like <a href="https://validately.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Validately</a>, <a href="https://www.usertesting.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Usertesting</a>, <a href="https://lookback.io" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lookback</a>, etc. are worth checking out.)</p> <p>Our classes require students to talk to 100 Customers/Beneficiaries in 10 weeks. Before the pandemic, customers were found where they worked or played. Today, while some may still be at work, most will be sheltering at home, and almost all have more time on their hands than before. (You certainly do! Given you’re not traveling to customer interviews, you ought to be able to do <em>more</em> than 100 interviews.)</p> <p><strong>Getting a Meeting in the Midst of Chaos<br /> </strong>Don’t assume potential interviewees are answering their work phones<strong>. </strong>And if they’re working at home, they may have a different email address<strong>. </strong><em>Don’t</em> use the same opening email pitch you did before the virus. Your email should recognize and acknowledge the new normal. (i.e. Hello, my name is xx. I know this must be a crazy time for you. I’m a student/PI at xx University. All our classes have gone online. I’m investigating whether [problem x] would be valuable to solve today or when the world returns to normal. Would you be willing to speak to me?)</p> <p>One upside is that you may now be able to get access to people who normally have a cloud of administrative gatekeepers around them. If you have a solution that is relevant to their business in this uncertain time, reach out to them.</p> <p><strong>Find Out How Their World Has Changed<br /> </strong>In addition to the standard customer discovery and validation questions (how they did their job, what pains they had around current solutions, etc.) you need to understand:</p> <ul> <li>What were their needs/problem/solution/industry pre-Covid 19?</li> <li>What is it like now?</li> <li>Have there been regulatory changes? Customer behavior changes?</li> <li>What do they think it will be like when the recovery comes?</li> <li>Will their problem/solution be the same or do they think it may change?</li> </ul> <p><strong>Presenting Your Minimal Viable Product (MVP) Online<br /> </strong>An MVP is an experiment. It’s what you can show a potential customer/ user/ beneficiary/partner that will get you the most <em>learning</em> at a point in time. You build MVP’s to validate the need/problem, then to validate product/market or mission/solution fit and finally the rest of the business/mission model canvas. You can use wireframes, PowerPoints slides, simulated screenshots, storyboards, mockups or demo’s. The rest of the canvas might be validated with pricelists, spreadsheets, etc. (Alex Osterwalder and David Bland’s new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1119551447/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1119551447&linkCode=as2&tag=wwwsteveblank-20&linkId=842109a9cbb4880fabdf04edf7a5e15d" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Testing Business Ideas</a> is a great help here.)</p> <p>Given that you are now presenting over video, you are going to be trying to communicate a lot of information in a small window on a computer screen. On-line MVP building and delivery will need to become an art form. Rather than doing every demo of your MVP live, consider 1) recording it 2) highlighting the key points.</p> <ul> <li>Break your MVP demo into <1 minute segments. Edit the video to illustrate each of your points, This allows customers/beneficiaries to interrupt and ask questions and allows you to jump to different parts of the demo.</li> <li>If you would normally have your potential customer hold, feel or use the product, make sure you demo someone doing that. Take the time to zoom in.</li> <li>As you show your MVP, split the screen so you can see the customer’s reaction as the demo unfolds.</li> <li>Practice, practice, practice the delivery of MVP’s. First it needs to be built and practiced, then the smaller parts for delivery need to be practiced. Anticipate questions and prepare your answers to them.</li> <li>Ask if you can record the session. If not, make sure a team member is online to take notes.</li> <li>Remember – at this point you’re testing hypotheses – not selling.</li> </ul> <p><strong>Validate the Rest of Business/Mission Model Components<br /> </strong>A common mistake in building a startup is testing <em>only</em> product/market (mission/solution) fit. But other business/mission model components must be tested and validated, too. How can you test demand creation hypotheses during shelter in place for the Covid-19 virus? Important ideas you’ll want to consider: Are potential customers beneficiaries now reachable in new ways? How can you test distribution/deployment? Are they the same now? Will they be the same after the recovery? Which changes are temporary? Which are permanent?</p> <p><strong>Your Business Model and the World Have Changed<br /> </strong>If you’re business model still looks like your original assumptions a month ago, you’ve been living under a rock. Every part of your business model – not just product and customer – will change now. Recognize that in the post pandemic world, the map of surviving competitors will change, regulations will be changed, distribution channels may no longer be there, the reimbursement environment will be different, etc.</p> <p>Ask everyone you interview, “What’s changed since the Covid-19 virus? What will the world look like after?” (Be specific. Ask questions not just about product, but about every other part of your business model.</p> <p><strong>Some Discovery Can’t Be Done Now<br /> </strong>The reality is that some discovery and validation can’t be done right now. If you need to talk to people on the front-line of the Covid-19 fight (e.g. first responders, health care workers, delivery, network, remote work, telemedicine), ask yourself if your solution is relevant to making people healthier, safer, more effective? If it is, then keep at it.</p> <p>If not, don’t be tone deaf. In the midst of the crisis, testing ideas for businesses that are shutting down (travel, hospitality, etc.,) or from employees who are worried whether they’ll have a job will not work. Even if you have great new ideas for when recovery comes, most responses you’re going to get will be framed in the moment.</p> <p>If so, consider putting your project on hold or find another problem to solve. Be conscientious about not taking people away from the important work required on the front line of this fight.</p> <p><strong>Lessons Learned</strong></p> <blockquote> <ul> <li>Customer Discovery and Validation can be easily done via video teleconferencing</li> <li>Recognize that many potential interviewees are working from home</li> <li>Break your MVP demos into small pieces, leaving time for people to respond</li> <li>Adjust your questions to understand how customers’ situations have been changed by the pandemic</li> <li>Some Customer Discovery can’t be done now</li> </ul> </blockquote> <iframe loading="lazy" width="100%" height="91" scrolling="no" frameborder="no" src="https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F794158675&width=false&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=false&show_comments=false&color=false&show_user=false&show_reposts=false"></iframe> <div class="sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled"><div class="robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-official sd-sharing"><h3 class="sd-title">Share this:</h3><div class="sd-content"><ul><li class="share-print"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-print sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" target="_blank" title="Click to print" ><span>Print</span></a></li><li class="share-email"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-email sd-button" href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Customer%20Discovery%20In%20the%20Time%20Of%20the%20Covid-19%20Virus&body=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F04%2F07%2Fcustomer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus%2F&share=email" target="_blank" title="Click to email a link to a friend" data-email-share-error-title="Do you have email set up?" data-email-share-error-text="If you're having problems sharing via email, you might not have email set up for your browser. You may need to create a new email yourself." data-email-share-nonce="3e873a0a16" data-email-share-track-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/?share=email"><span>Email</span></a></li><li class="share-facebook"><div class="fb-share-button" data-href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" data-layout="button_count"></div></li><li class="share-twitter"><a href="https://twitter.com/share" class="twitter-share-button" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" data-text="Customer Discovery In the Time Of the Covid-19 Virus" >Tweet</a></li><li class="share-linkedin"><div class="linkedin_button"><script type="in/share" data-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" data-counter="right"></script></div></li><li class="share-reddit"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-reddit sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/?share=reddit" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Reddit" ><span>Reddit</span></a></li><li class="share-jetpack-whatsapp"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-jetpack-whatsapp sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/?share=jetpack-whatsapp" target="_blank" title="Click to share on WhatsApp" ><span>WhatsApp</span></a></li><li class="share-pinterest"><div class="pinterest_button"><a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F04%2F07%2Fcustomer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus%2F&media=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2020%2F04%2Ftechcrunch.png&description=Customer%20Discovery%20In%20the%20Time%20Of%20the%20Covid-19%20Virus" data-pin-do="buttonPin" data-pin-config="beside"><img data-recalc-dims="1" src="https://i0.wp.com/assets.pinterest.com/images/pidgets/pinit_fg_en_rect_gray_20.png?w=468" /></a></div></li><li class="share-telegram"><a rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" data-shared="" class="share-telegram sd-button" href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/?share=telegram" target="_blank" title="Click to share on Telegram" ><span>Telegram</span></a></li><li class="share-tumblr"><a class="tumblr-share-button" target="_blank" href="https://www.tumblr.com/share" data-title="Customer Discovery In the Time Of the Covid-19 Virus" data-content="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" title="Share on Tumblr"data-posttype="link">Share on Tumblr</a></li><li class="share-pocket"><div class="pocket_button"><a href="https://getpocket.com/save" class="pocket-btn" data-lang="en" data-save-url="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/" data-pocket-count="horizontal" >Pocket</a></div></li><li class="share-end"></li></ul></div></div></div><div class='sharedaddy sd-block sd-like jetpack-likes-widget-wrapper jetpack-likes-widget-unloaded' id='like-post-wrapper-6599589-25792-67d674a34d80e' data-src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/?ver=14.5-a.3#blog_id=6599589&post_id=25792&origin=steveblank.com&obj_id=6599589-25792-67d674a34d80e' data-name='like-post-frame-6599589-25792-67d674a34d80e' data-title='Like or Reblog'><h3 class="sd-title">Like this:</h3><div class='likes-widget-placeholder post-likes-widget-placeholder' style='height: 55px;'><span class='button'><span>Like</span></span> <span class="loading">Loading...</span></div><span class='sd-text-color'></span><a class='sd-link-color'></a></div> <p class="postinfo"> Filed under: <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/covid-19-recovery/" rel="category tag">Covid-19/Recovery</a>, <a href="https://steveblank.com/category/hacking-for-recovery/" rel="category tag">Hacking for Recovery</a> | <a href="https://steveblank.com/2020/04/07/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus/#comments">21 Comments »</a> </p> </div> </div> <div class="browse"></div> </div> </div></div> <div class="sidebar"> <ul> <li><h2>Calendar</h2> <ul> <li><table id="wp-calendar" class="wp-calendar-table"> <caption>March 2025</caption> <thead> <tr> <th scope="col" title="Monday">M</th> <th scope="col" title="Tuesday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Wednesday">W</th> <th scope="col" title="Thursday">T</th> <th scope="col" title="Friday">F</th> <th scope="col" title="Saturday">S</th> <th scope="col" title="Sunday">S</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="5" class="pad"> </td><td>1</td><td>2</td> </tr> <tr> <td>3</td><td>4</td><td>5</td><td>6</td><td>7</td><td>8</td><td>9</td> </tr> <tr> <td>10</td><td>11</td><td>12</td><td>13</td><td>14</td><td id="today">15</td><td>16</td> </tr> <tr> <td>17</td><td>18</td><td>19</td><td>20</td><td>21</td><td>22</td><td>23</td> </tr> <tr> <td>24</td><td>25</td><td>26</td><td>27</td><td>28</td><td>29</td><td>30</td> </tr> <tr> <td>31</td> <td class="pad" colspan="6"> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table><nav aria-label="Previous and next months" class="wp-calendar-nav"> <span class="wp-calendar-nav-prev"><a href="https://steveblank.com/2024/12/">« Dec</a></span> <span class="pad"> </span> <span class="wp-calendar-nav-next"> </span> </nav></li> </ul> </li> <li id="linkcat-697967627" class="linkcat"><h2>Customer Development</h2> <ul class='xoxo blogroll'> <li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/sblank" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Customer Development Methodology – slides</a></li> <li><a href="http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/search?q=%22customer+development%22" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Eric Ries on Customer Development</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Four-Steps-Epiphany-Steven-Blank/dp/0976470705" rel="noopener" title="My book about Customer Development and more" target="_blank">Four Steps to the Epiphany – the book</a></li> <li><a href="http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2048" rel="noopener" target="_blank">Stanford Entrepreneurial Leadership Talks by Steve Blank</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/startuplessonslearned/lean-startup-presentation-to-maples-investments-by-steve-blank-and-eric-ries-presentation" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Lean Startup by Eric Ries & Steve Blank – slides</a></li> </ul> </li> <li id="linkcat-697967628" class="linkcat"><h2>Secret History of Silicon Valley</h2> <ul class='xoxo blogroll'> <li><a href="http://www.slideshare.net/sblank/secret-history-of-silicon-valley-rev-4-dec-09" rel="noopener" target="_blank">The Secret History of Silicon Valley – Dec 2009 slides</a></li> <li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZTC_RxWN_xo" rel="noopener" title="Recorded at the Computer History Museum Nov. 20, 2008" target="_blank">The Secret History of Silicon Valley – video</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div id="footer"> <p><a href="https://wordpress.com/?ref=footer_custom_powered">Powered by WordPress.com</a>. WP Designer.</p> </div> </div> </div>  <meta id="bilmur" property="bilmur:data" content="" data-customproperties="{"woo_active":"0"}" data-provider="wordpress.com" data-service="atomic" data-site-tz="America/Los_Angeles" > <script defer src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/js/bilmur.min.js?m=202511"></script> <div id="jp-carousel-loading-overlay"> <div id="jp-carousel-loading-wrapper"> <span id="jp-carousel-library-loading"> </span> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-overlay" style="display: none;"> <div class="jp-carousel-container">  <div class="jp-carousel-wrap swiper-container jp-carousel-swiper-container jp-carousel-transitions" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageGallery"> <div class="jp-carousel swiper-wrapper"></div> <div class="jp-swiper-button-prev swiper-button-prev"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskPrev" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="8" y="6" width="9" height="12"> <path d="M16.2072 16.59L11.6496 12L16.2072 7.41L14.8041 6L8.8335 12L14.8041 18L16.2072 16.59Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskPrev)"> <rect x="0.579102" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div> <div class="jp-swiper-button-next swiper-button-next"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskNext" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="8" y="6" width="8" height="12"> <path d="M8.59814 16.59L13.1557 12L8.59814 7.41L10.0012 6L15.9718 12L10.0012 18L8.59814 16.59Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskNext)"> <rect x="0.34375" width="23.8822" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div> </div>  <div class="jp-carousel-close-hint"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskClose" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="5" y="5" width="15" height="14"> <path d="M19.3166 6.41L17.9135 5L12.3509 10.59L6.78834 5L5.38525 6.41L10.9478 12L5.38525 17.59L6.78834 19L12.3509 13.41L17.9135 19L19.3166 17.59L13.754 12L19.3166 6.41Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskClose)"> <rect x="0.409668" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </div>  <div class="jp-carousel-info"> <div class="jp-carousel-info-footer"> <div class="jp-carousel-pagination-container"> <div class="jp-swiper-pagination swiper-pagination"></div> <div class="jp-carousel-pagination"></div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-title-container"> <h2 class="jp-carousel-photo-caption"></h2> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-icons-container"> <a href="#" class="jp-carousel-icon-btn jp-carousel-icon-info" aria-label="Toggle photo metadata visibility"> <span class="jp-carousel-icon"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskInfo" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="2" y="2" width="21" height="20"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M12.7537 2C7.26076 2 2.80273 6.48 2.80273 12C2.80273 17.52 7.26076 22 12.7537 22C18.2466 22 22.7046 17.52 22.7046 12C22.7046 6.48 18.2466 2 12.7537 2ZM11.7586 7V9H13.7488V7H11.7586ZM11.7586 11V17H13.7488V11H11.7586ZM4.79292 12C4.79292 16.41 8.36531 20 12.7537 20C17.142 20 20.7144 16.41 20.7144 12C20.7144 7.59 17.142 4 12.7537 4C8.36531 4 4.79292 7.59 4.79292 12Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskInfo)"> <rect x="0.8125" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> </span> </a> <a href="#" class="jp-carousel-icon-btn jp-carousel-icon-comments" aria-label="Toggle photo comments visibility"> <span class="jp-carousel-icon"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="maskComments" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="2" y="2" width="21" height="20"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M4.3271 2H20.2486C21.3432 2 22.2388 2.9 22.2388 4V16C22.2388 17.1 21.3432 18 20.2486 18H6.31729L2.33691 22V4C2.33691 2.9 3.2325 2 4.3271 2ZM6.31729 16H20.2486V4H4.3271V18L6.31729 16Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#maskComments)"> <rect x="0.34668" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> <span class="jp-carousel-has-comments-indicator" aria-label="This image has comments."></span> </span> </a> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-info-extra"> <div class="jp-carousel-info-content-wrapper"> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-title-container"> <h2 class="jp-carousel-photo-title"></h2> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-comments-wrapper"> <div id="jp-carousel-comments-loading"> <span>Loading Comments...</span> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-comments"></div> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-container"> <span id="jp-carousel-comment-form-spinner"> </span> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-post-results"></div> <form id="jp-carousel-comment-form"> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" class="screen-reader-text">Write a Comment...</label> <textarea name="comment" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-textarea" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-comment-field" placeholder="Write a Comment..." ></textarea> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-submit-and-info-wrapper"> <div id="jp-carousel-comment-form-commenting-as"> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field">Email</label> <input type="text" name="email" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-email-field" /> </fieldset> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field">Name</label> <input type="text" name="author" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-author-field" /> </fieldset> <fieldset> <label for="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field">Website</label> <input type="text" name="url" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-field jp-carousel-comment-form-text-field" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-url-field" /> </fieldset> </div> <input type="submit" name="submit" class="jp-carousel-comment-form-button" id="jp-carousel-comment-form-button-submit" value="Post Comment" /> </div> </form> </div> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-image-meta"> <div class="jp-carousel-title-and-caption"> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-info"> <h3 class="jp-carousel-caption" itemprop="caption description"></h3> </div> <div class="jp-carousel-photo-description"></div> </div> <ul class="jp-carousel-image-exif" style="display: none;"></ul> <a class="jp-carousel-image-download" href="#" target="_blank" style="display: none;"> <svg width="25" height="24" viewBox="0 0 25 24" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"> <mask id="mask0" mask-type="alpha" maskUnits="userSpaceOnUse" x="3" y="3" width="19" height="18"> <path fill-rule="evenodd" clip-rule="evenodd" d="M5.84615 5V19H19.7775V12H21.7677V19C21.7677 20.1 20.8721 21 19.7775 21H5.84615C4.74159 21 3.85596 20.1 3.85596 19V5C3.85596 3.9 4.74159 3 5.84615 3H12.8118V5H5.84615ZM14.802 5V3H21.7677V10H19.7775V6.41L9.99569 16.24L8.59261 14.83L18.3744 5H14.802Z" fill="white"/> </mask> <g mask="url(#mask0)"> <rect x="0.870605" width="23.8823" height="24" fill="#FFFFFF"/> </g> </svg> <span class="jp-carousel-download-text"></span> </a> <div class="jp-carousel-image-map" style="display: none;"></div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <script type="text/javascript"> window.WPCOM_sharing_counts = {"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2020\/08\/17\/hacking-4-recovery-2\/":26234,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2020\/07\/14\/26134\/":26134,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2020\/05\/20\/seven-steps-to-small-business-recovery\/":25915,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2020\/05\/18\/hacking-4-recovery\/":25927,"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/2020\/04\/07\/customer-discovery-in-the-time-of-the-covid-19-virus\/":25792}; </script> <div id="fb-root"></div> <script>(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = 'https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&appId=249643311490&version=v2.3'; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));</script> <script> document.body.addEventListener( 'is.post-load', function() { if ( 'undefined' !== typeof FB ) { FB.XFBML.parse(); } } ); </script> <script>!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');</script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function () { var currentScript = document.currentScript; // Helper function to load an external script. function loadScript( url, cb ) { var script = document.createElement( 'script' ); var prev = currentScript || document.getElementsByTagName( 'script' )[ 0 ]; script.setAttribute( 'async', true ); script.setAttribute( 'src', url ); prev.parentNode.insertBefore( script, prev ); script.addEventListener( 'load', cb ); } function init() { loadScript( 'https://platform.linkedin.com/in.js?async=true', function () { if ( typeof IN !== 'undefined' ) { IN.init(); } } ); } if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', init ); } else { init(); } document.body.addEventListener( 'is.post-load', function() { if ( typeof IN !== 'undefined' ) { IN.parse(); } } ); } )(); </script> <script type="text/javascript"> ( function () { // Pinterest shared resources var s = document.createElement( 'script' ); s.type = 'text/javascript'; s.async = true; s.setAttribute( 'data-pin-hover', true ); s.src = window.location.protocol + '//assets.pinterest.com/js/pinit.js'; var x = document.getElementsByTagName( 'script' )[ 0 ]; x.parentNode.insertBefore(s, x); // if 'Pin it' button has 'counts' make container wider function init() { var shares = document.querySelectorAll( 'li.share-pinterest' ); for ( var i = 0; i < shares.length; i++ ) { var share = shares[ i ]; var countElement = share.querySelector( 'a span' ); if (countElement) { var countComputedStyle = window.getComputedStyle(countElement); if ( countComputedStyle.display === 'block' ) { var countWidth = parseInt( countComputedStyle.width, 10 ); share.style.marginRight = countWidth + 11 + 'px'; } } } } if ( document.readyState !== 'complete' ) { document.addEventListener( 'load', init ); } else { init(); } } )(); </script> <script id="tumblr-js" type="text/javascript" src="https://assets.tumblr.com/share-button.js"></script> <script> ( function () { var currentScript = document.currentScript; // Don't use Pocket's default JS as it we need to force init new Pocket share buttons loaded via JS. function jetpack_sharing_pocket_init() { var script = document.createElement( 'script' ); var prev = currentScript || document.getElementsByTagName( 'script' )[ 0 ]; script.setAttribute( 'async', true ); script.setAttribute( 'src', 'https://widgets.getpocket.com/v1/j/btn.js?v=1' ); prev.parentNode.insertBefore( script, prev ); } if ( document.readyState === 'loading' ) { document.addEventListener( 'DOMContentLoaded', jetpack_sharing_pocket_init ); } else { jetpack_sharing_pocket_init(); } document.body.addEventListener( 'is.post-load', jetpack_sharing_pocket_init ); } )(); </script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-carousel-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var jetpackSwiperLibraryPath = {"url":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/jetpack\/_inc\/build\/carousel\/swiper-bundle.min.js"}; var jetpackCarouselStrings = {"widths":[370,700,1000,1200,1400,2000],"is_logged_in":"","lang":"en","ajaxurl":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-admin\/admin-ajax.php","nonce":"106caab9ca","display_exif":"1","display_comments":"1","single_image_gallery":"1","single_image_gallery_media_file":"","background_color":"black","comment":"Comment","post_comment":"Post Comment","write_comment":"Write a Comment...","loading_comments":"Loading Comments...","image_label":"Open image in full-screen.","download_original":"View full size <span class=\"photo-size\">{0}<span class=\"photo-size-times\">\u00d7<\/span>{1}<\/span>","no_comment_text":"Please be sure to submit some text with your comment.","no_comment_email":"Please provide an email address to comment.","no_comment_author":"Please provide your name to comment.","comment_post_error":"Sorry, but there was an error posting your comment. Please try again later.","comment_approved":"Your comment was approved.","comment_unapproved":"Your comment is in moderation.","camera":"Camera","aperture":"Aperture","shutter_speed":"Shutter Speed","focal_length":"Focal Length","copyright":"Copyright","comment_registration":"0","require_name_email":"0","login_url":"https:\/\/steveblank.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Fsteveblank.com%2F2020%2F08%2F17%2Fhacking-4-recovery-2%2F","blog_id":"1","meta_data":["camera","aperture","shutter_speed","focal_length","copyright"]}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type='text/javascript' src='https://steveblank.com/_static/??-eJyVzMEKgzAQBNAfMm7FgHgo/ZSSJouurms0WcS/bw96lXqcGeZt0fhZMkqGyNqRJBgwR+dHeJN4+ChxAO/WWRPyuZmzKCeSckjF9heTiTGYzjHjul+leyzTiAkWRcXeSfgBx/81PavGPmzVNrX9AiMUV4U='></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="jetpack-stats-js-before"> /* <![CDATA[ */ _stq = window._stq || []; _stq.push([ "view", JSON.parse("{\"v\":\"ext\",\"blog\":\"6599589\",\"post\":\"0\",\"tz\":\"-7\",\"srv\":\"steveblank.com\",\"hp\":\"atomic\",\"ac\":\"2\",\"amp\":\"0\",\"j\":\"1:14.5-a.3\"}") ]); _stq.push([ "clickTrackerInit", "6599589", "0" ]); /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://stats.wp.com/e-202511.js" id="jetpack-stats-js" defer="defer" data-wp-strategy="defer"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="sharing-js-js-extra"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var sharing_js_options = {"lang":"en","counts":"1","is_stats_active":"1"}; /* ]]> */ </script> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://steveblank.com/wp-content/plugins/jetpack/_inc/build/sharedaddy/sharing.min.js?ver=14.5-a.3" id="sharing-js-js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" id="sharing-js-js-after"> /* <![CDATA[ */ var windowOpen; ( function () { function matches( el, sel ) { return !! ( el.matches && el.matches( sel ) || el.msMatchesSelector && el.msMatchesSelector( sel ) ); } document.body.addEventListener( 'click', function ( event ) { if ( ! event.target ) { return; } var el; if ( matches( event.target, 'a.share-facebook' ) ) { el = event.target; } else if ( event.target.parentNode && matches( event.target.parentNode, 'a.share-facebook' ) ) { el = event.target.parentNode; } if ( el ) { event.preventDefault(); // If there's another sharing window open, close it. if ( typeof windowOpen !== 'undefined' ) { windowOpen.close(); } windowOpen = window.open( el.getAttribute( 'href' ), 'wpcomfacebook', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=600,height=400' ); return false; } } ); } )(); var windowOpen; ( function () { function matches( el, sel ) { return !! ( el.matches && el.matches( sel ) || el.msMatchesSelector && el.msMatchesSelector( sel ) ); } document.body.addEventListener( 'click', function ( event ) { if ( ! event.target ) { return; } var el; if ( matches( event.target, 'a.share-telegram' ) ) { el = event.target; } else if ( event.target.parentNode && matches( event.target.parentNode, 'a.share-telegram' ) ) { el = event.target.parentNode; } if ( el ) { event.preventDefault(); // If there's another sharing window open, close it. if ( typeof windowOpen !== 'undefined' ) { windowOpen.close(); } windowOpen = window.open( el.getAttribute( 'href' ), 'wpcomtelegram', 'menubar=1,resizable=1,width=450,height=450' ); return false; } } ); } )(); /* ]]> */ </script> <iframe src='https://widgets.wp.com/likes/master.html?ver=20250316#ver=20250316' scrolling='no' id='likes-master' name='likes-master' style='display:none;'></iframe> <div id='likes-other-gravatars' role="dialog" aria-hidden="true" tabindex="-1"><div class="likes-text"><span>%d</span></div><ul class="wpl-avatars sd-like-gravatars"></ul></div> </body> </html>