This book has been very expensive in the UK. So I wrote to someone at Steve's ranch and ordered a bunch at bulk rate, which I'll sell cheaply soon. If you're interested, please sign up at http://laughingcomputer.com.
Just read this in the last month and devoured it. I'm currently doing a lot of thinking about how to apply the ideas that drive entrepreneurship to the international development sector and the ah-ha moments from this book were incredible. Interesting to see the parallels - both sectors are trying to solve poorly defined and understood problems with new solutions, especially in the case of a new market.
I think this leads to a lot relevant lessons to be learned between the sectors - mostly international development learning from entrepreneurship. Just started a series of blog posts on this here: http://theborrowedbicycle.ca/2010/11/tech-startups-and-human...
If you want to buy this book and can't, email me from my contact info. We'll figure out a way to get it and ship it to you.
That's really whacked. It's also whacked that a kindle format isn't out. Lots of folks who would like to read this book -- and would benefit from it -- can't seem to get connected. We need to fix that.
I love his definition of a startup: "startups are a temporary organization designed to search for a scalable and repeatable business model.". Solid, concrete advice in this book - advice you can disagree with, not just apple pie advice.
Compare "Four Steps" to "do more faster", another highly recommended startup book.
First, both books have off-putting titles. I'm much more likely to buy a book called "The Customer Development Model" than anything that sounds like it's marketed to the naive or flaky: "epiphany?", "do more faster?". Can we please stay pragmatic and grounded?
Apart from that, the books are worlds apart. "Four Steps" is pragmatic and grounded. The "do more faster" book starts with an essay by Tim Ferriss, the author of "The 4-hour workweek."
As long as we're talking about Steve Blank, here's a couple of other books that I've read and liked because of things I've read on his blog/book:
* Business Model Generation, by Osterwalder & Pigneur
* Crystal Fire, by Riordan & Hoddeson
* A Radar History of World War II, by Brown
The last two book because of his "secret history of silicon valley" posts.
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I think this leads to a lot relevant lessons to be learned between the sectors - mostly international development learning from entrepreneurship. Just started a series of blog posts on this here: http://theborrowedbicycle.ca/2010/11/tech-startups-and-human...
That's really whacked. It's also whacked that a kindle format isn't out. Lots of folks who would like to read this book -- and would benefit from it -- can't seem to get connected. We need to fix that.
It was a reasonable price and shipping was actually very fast and not too expensive. Give it a shot, it's worth it.
http://steveblank.com/
Compare "Four Steps" to "do more faster", another highly recommended startup book.
First, both books have off-putting titles. I'm much more likely to buy a book called "The Customer Development Model" than anything that sounds like it's marketed to the naive or flaky: "epiphany?", "do more faster?". Can we please stay pragmatic and grounded?
Apart from that, the books are worlds apart. "Four Steps" is pragmatic and grounded. The "do more faster" book starts with an essay by Tim Ferriss, the author of "The 4-hour workweek."
As long as we're talking about Steve Blank, here's a couple of other books that I've read and liked because of things I've read on his blog/book:
* Business Model Generation, by Osterwalder & Pigneur
* Crystal Fire, by Riordan & Hoddeson
* A Radar History of World War II, by Brown
The last two book because of his "secret history of silicon valley" posts.
(E-)book that summarizes the 4 Steps into a usable reference guide, with case studies mixed in.