Steve Blank

Steve Blank is the Managing Partner at M34 Capital, a seed capital fund focused on early-stage projects spun out of academic and corporate research labs. He developed the Customer Discovery framework and the Lean LaunchPad curriculum, which the National Science Foundation (NSF) adopted to train scientists and engineers through its Innovation Corps (I-Corps) program. At M34 Capital, Blank invests alongside co-founders Errol Arkilic and Monika Auger to commercialize emerging technologies by applying his Lean Startup methodologies directly to the venture capital model. Beyond his core investment activities, he publishes research analyzing defense venture capital strategies and addressing complex challenges within autonomous systems. He also shares his industry insights through podcast content and written analysis. Blank maintains a primary focus on accelerating market entry for science and engineering ventures while advancing entrepreneurship education and defense commercialization.