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He is bashing two strawmen:

1. Lean Startups aren't cheap startups

http://steveblank.com/2009/11/02/lean-startups-aren’t-cheap-...

2. Lean Startups aren't small startups.

Steve Blank based much of his methodology on his experiences running E.Piphany. E.Piphany IPO'd before reaching a 4 Billion dollar market cap:

http://news.cnet.com/IPO-Update-Kana-Communications,-E.pipha...

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Rich. I tried to distinguish between the ideas behind lean startups and the common perceptions of lean startups as portrayed in most startup blogs. It is the latter I was attacking, which is why I qualified the post at the end.

I enjoy Steve Blank's writings as much as the next guy, but will not take them as gospel. If you are going to quote the peak market cap during the bubble years you should at least note that it was mostly downhill from there, eventually being acquired for 330 million. As a CRM guy he obviously has a very strong opinion of managing your customers, but his own company could have been better-served in the long run by a stronger focus on the product development process than on the customer development process...

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