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Entrepreneur Turned Educator

Steve Blank

Stanford Educator - E245 Lean Launchpad, E297 Hacking 4 Defense, INTLPOL 340 Technology, Innovation and Great Power Competition

Author: "Four Steps to the Epiphany" and "The Startup Owner's Manual"

Steve Blank spent 21 years in 8 high technology startups ranging from supercomputers to semiconductors to video games. In 2001 Steve moved from being an entrepreneur to teaching entrepreneurship. He created the Customer Development process and co-created the Lean Startup methodology that changed how new ventures are built and taught.

He teaches at Stanford's MS&E and International Policy departments and is a senior fellow of innovation at Columbia University. At Stanford Steve was awarded the Undergraduate Teaching Award in the department of Management Science and Engineering. In 2011 the National Science Foundation adopted his Stanford Lean Launchpad class to create I-Corps, the NSF Innovation Corps. Steve is the author of The Four Steps to the Epiphany and the Startup Owners Manual. 

Steve served on the California Coastal Commission, the public body which regulates land use and public access on the California coast. And he served on the boards of Audubon, Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) and the Ocean Protection Council Advisory Panel.