I'm curious to have a look - I ordered mine a few weeks ago. I was a bit disappointed by Eric Ries' book - after reading "Start Small, Stay Small", I've grown even less interested in hand wavy, "big picture" business books, and want more practical advice of stuff I can do. I'm not a huge company that wants to hire Eric to help me 'get lean'. I'm one guy working alone with limited time, and really appreciate it when authors give me specific stuff I can do. The fact that he's labeling it a 'manual' gives me hope that it'll contain a lot of good stuff.
I got mine almost 2 weeks ago. Didn't read much, I skimmed through alot of it and read around 80 pages (it really is a reference, a manual, not a textbook that you can read linearly and quickly). My first impressions were:
1) it is a pretty big book;
2) So far, its text has been easier to read than "the 4 steps to epiphany";
3) IMO, its "killer feature" is NOT that it integrates Business Model Canvas content into Customer Development Model, but that it discusses and exemplifies the application of the Customer Development Model to offline businesses as well as online ones.
David we're in the same boat: i've read Rob Walling's "Start small stay small" and other stuff on the net and now I'm thinkin about this Steve Blank book, hoping it will help to develop the Customer part of the project i'm thinkin about.
For a book about startup smarts they sure are missing something very important on their site: A button to get on a list to be notified when the electronic version is out.
I have zero interest in the printed version. Lately there have been only certain books that I might consider buying in printed form. I want to buy this book but will not do so until it is available on iBooks, Kindle or ePub format. They should have had a "Want the upcoming electronic version?" button for others who share my sentiment.
I was given a free copy of this book, and I really like some of the insights it holds for first time start-ups. It provides a lot of invaluable info that help you keep your head clear in the game.
I do really wish there was a digital copy available as this thing is HUGE (think old CCIE books) and really adds weight on top of my already heavy load of laptop, ipad, and sketchbook.
He's repeatedly said he won't come out with an ebook version of any of his books. He wants people to use them like textbooks and write in notes and highlight things for future reference. He never created an ebook version of 4 Steps To The Epiphany either.
The button you want will literally never show up on that site.
I second this. In this day and age, when ebook sales have surpassed hard cover sales, it's beyond ridiculous to publish a new book without a digital version, and, oh, only in hard cover format. That makes me doubt Steve Blank's judgment, more so than anything he writes.
I saw somewhere that a kindle edition is incoming.
For the older book, he refused to publish one, because he thought that it was more like a workbook, you're supposed to dogear it, take notes on the margins, color code, put postits on the pages, carry it around with you.
Steve and his people tell me that an e-book version coming later this year, probably iBooks first then Kindle (which is harder because of the formatting limitations in ePub).
FWIW, I ordered mine from a link I got in the last thread discussing this, from the Book Repository, which sells it for 20 Euros with free worldwide shipping. For me, it was a better deal than the local Amazon.
Steve Blank is shooting himself in the foot, I think.
He's said (repeatedly?) that he won't make ebooks versions of his books because he wants people to be able to write in them, and to highlight things.
I have around 800[1] books in iBooks. I own, literally, zero, physical books. (I live nomadically and all my possessions fit in a single bag.) I don't care how great the book is-- and frankly, this book is at the top of my "want to buy list", and prior to it, the 4 steps to the epiphany was at the top of that list for FOUR YEARS.
But his reasoning is mistaken-- these features aren't unique to physical books, in fact, they exist and even work much better in e-readers.
iBooks allows you to write notes about what you're reading, and highlight things for future reference. In iBooks your notes and highlighted text along with bookmarks also sync across devices, allowing you to read it on the iPad at night and then pick up on the iPhone at work. ( I don't know if the kindle reader has similar features. )
Here's the thing, this is the customer development guy who says "Get out of the building." Yet he's not listening to his own customers! His customers are demanding ebook versions, very emphatically, and they do so on every single blog post he makes mentioning either book, he gets dozens and dozens of comments from people asking when there will be an iBooks or kindle version.
For me, his refusal to listen to his own customers kinda goes against his entire business agenda. (I think this issue is just hitting a personal blind spot of his, and I'd have to guess that he's afraid the books will be pirated if he releases them electronically. I'm not saying he's a hypocrite, but he, of all people, should be listening to his customers.)
[1] Couldn't believe this myself, so I just checked. iTunes reports 794 items. I think about %10 are ephemera (like maps in PDF format, etc). Maybe %20 are newsletters I've subscribed to over the years that are in PDF format. But its shocking how quickly ePub is being adopted as a standard. I've probably actually bought less than 100 items from the iBookstore.
I even offered to do this book for free via LiberWriter on some blog post of his, in order to have an eBook version.
Perhaps the "problem" is that in business terms, it doesn't really matter: he's already set for life in terms of money, so he's simply not concerned about customers in terms of hustling for money. So he thinks the paper version is superior and is going to stick by his guns.
[+] [-] sudonim|14 years ago|reply
The first button is $39.99 + $5 shipping.
The second button is $26.40 + free shipping.
Here's an image to show you which link does what: https://img.skitch.com/20120330-bumpat24ar3dg3um252k59ndfd.p...
[+] [-] davidw|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rcamera|14 years ago|reply
1) it is a pretty big book;
2) So far, its text has been easier to read than "the 4 steps to epiphany";
3) IMO, its "killer feature" is NOT that it integrates Business Model Canvas content into Customer Development Model, but that it discusses and exemplifies the application of the Customer Development Model to offline businesses as well as online ones.
[+] [-] badclient|14 years ago|reply
Eric's book seemed more like marketing material for lean targeted at big cos who have no idea what it is.
[+] [-] sayemm|14 years ago|reply
I'm just not very read-up on their backgrounds, but which companies have they started and successfully built? Anyone know?
Are they currently working on any big idea now? I think it would be really interesting to see them try to apply their own theories into practice.
[+] [-] Ecio78|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] robomartin|14 years ago|reply
I have zero interest in the printed version. Lately there have been only certain books that I might consider buying in printed form. I want to buy this book but will not do so until it is available on iBooks, Kindle or ePub format. They should have had a "Want the upcoming electronic version?" button for others who share my sentiment.
[+] [-] lowglow|14 years ago|reply
I do really wish there was a digital copy available as this thing is HUGE (think old CCIE books) and really adds weight on top of my already heavy load of laptop, ipad, and sketchbook.
[+] [-] dchuk|14 years ago|reply
The button you want will literally never show up on that site.
[+] [-] ianpurton|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] picardo|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ovi256|14 years ago|reply
For the older book, he refused to publish one, because he thought that it was more like a workbook, you're supposed to dogear it, take notes on the margins, color code, put postits on the pages, carry it around with you.
[+] [-] waderoush|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] carsonm|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ovi256|14 years ago|reply
http://www.bookdepository.com/Startup-Owners-Manual-Steve-Bl...
[+] [-] Ecio78|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] l1ghtm4n|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] lnanek|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] nirvana|14 years ago|reply
He's said (repeatedly?) that he won't make ebooks versions of his books because he wants people to be able to write in them, and to highlight things.
I have around 800[1] books in iBooks. I own, literally, zero, physical books. (I live nomadically and all my possessions fit in a single bag.) I don't care how great the book is-- and frankly, this book is at the top of my "want to buy list", and prior to it, the 4 steps to the epiphany was at the top of that list for FOUR YEARS.
But his reasoning is mistaken-- these features aren't unique to physical books, in fact, they exist and even work much better in e-readers.
iBooks allows you to write notes about what you're reading, and highlight things for future reference. In iBooks your notes and highlighted text along with bookmarks also sync across devices, allowing you to read it on the iPad at night and then pick up on the iPhone at work. ( I don't know if the kindle reader has similar features. )
Here's the thing, this is the customer development guy who says "Get out of the building." Yet he's not listening to his own customers! His customers are demanding ebook versions, very emphatically, and they do so on every single blog post he makes mentioning either book, he gets dozens and dozens of comments from people asking when there will be an iBooks or kindle version.
For me, his refusal to listen to his own customers kinda goes against his entire business agenda. (I think this issue is just hitting a personal blind spot of his, and I'd have to guess that he's afraid the books will be pirated if he releases them electronically. I'm not saying he's a hypocrite, but he, of all people, should be listening to his customers.)
[1] Couldn't believe this myself, so I just checked. iTunes reports 794 items. I think about %10 are ephemera (like maps in PDF format, etc). Maybe %20 are newsletters I've subscribed to over the years that are in PDF format. But its shocking how quickly ePub is being adopted as a standard. I've probably actually bought less than 100 items from the iBookstore.
[+] [-] davidw|14 years ago|reply
Perhaps the "problem" is that in business terms, it doesn't really matter: he's already set for life in terms of money, so he's simply not concerned about customers in terms of hustling for money. So he thinks the paper version is superior and is going to stick by his guns.
[+] [-] lclaude01|14 years ago|reply
[+] [-] rwillystyle|14 years ago|reply