The Four Steps to the Epiphany
The Four Steps to the Epiphany by Steve Blankby Steve Blank
Shares rank 18 of 24 business books by recommenders
Recommended for startup go-to-market: knowing who wants your product, what they want, and how to reach them. No critical comments were recorded.
Recommended for startup go-to-market: knowing who wants your product, what they want, and how to reach them. No critical comments were recorded.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Covers who wants the product
“You can’t sell a product if you don’t know who wants it or what they want or how to reach them.”
Comment from 1 Oct 2026 in “Ask HN: How do you get your first users for an MVP?” Seen as best startup-focused book
“The best books about this from a startup POV are by a guy named Steve Blank”
Comment from 9 Jun 2026 in “Ask HN: Do you need go-to-market strategy at early stage?” Useful section on who to involve
“Steve Blank has a nice segment on the ideal people to involve here”
Comment from 14 Jul 2026 in “Ask HN: Should I Promote My SaaS to get first 100 Customers without budget”
Other business books people recommend
The four most recommended other business books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Gervais Principleby Venkatesh Rao | 32 | 6 | 84% | 7 | — | Approved |
| The Lean Startupby Eric Ries | 32 | 6 | 84% | 5 | 10 yrs5 owners | Approved |
| Incorruptibleby Eric RIES | 23 | 11 | 68% | 4 | — | Approved |
| The Goalby Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox and Ensemble cast and Dwight Jon Zimmerman | 21 | 3 | 88% | 8 | — | Approved |
| The Four Steps to the Epiphanyby Steve BlankThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“You can’t sell a product if you don’t know who wants it or what they want or how to reach them.”
“Steve Blank has a nice segment on the ideal people to involve here”
“The best books about this from a startup POV are by a guy named Steve Blank”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.