Title: The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company
Authors: Steve Blank; Bob Dorf
Publication date (EN): March 2012 (K&S Ranch; subsequently distributed by Wiley/O’Reilly)
Pages (EN): 608. Includes >100 charts/diagrams and 77 checklists.
Value for PMs & founders (problem it solves)
A field-tested playbook to de-risk product/market by running Customer Development before scaling: capture hypotheses on a business model canvas, validate with customers, then scale demand and org once the model is proven.
Summary
Walks through the four Customer Development steps—Customer Discovery, Customer Validation, Customer Creation, Company Building—with practical tools (interview guides, metrics, funnel math, GTM patterns). The book popularizes the Customer Development Manifesto (e.g., “No facts inside your building”, pair with Agile, iterate/pivot).
3 community-reported takeaways (with sources)
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Search vs. execute—treat early stages as hypothesis testing; only then scale. Driverless Crocodile
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Get out of the building—talk to customers and validate with evidence. Steve Blank
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Actionable format—77 checklists and >100 visuals to operationalize the method. Amazon
Buy online (international)
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Wiley / O’Reilly listing — current distribution (same content as prior release). O’Reilly
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Amazon (US) — 608-page edition. Amazon
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Barnes & Noble (US) — hardcover/paperback. bobcat.library.nyu.edu
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Bookshop.org — indie bookstores. DivByZero
Author of Impact Factories / Co-founder of Shy Robotics and Product Whys / Head of Product at Dassault Systèmes / Engineer passionate about innovation and entrepreneurship
Full bibliography here
