Any assumption that an entrepreneur makes about their customers and markets is nothing but a guess, says serial entrepreneur Steve Blank. But how can one prove a working hypothesis? It goes beyond soliciting friends for feedback in the dorm room. Successful ventures locate real customers in the field, solicit their feedback, and deeply analyze the customers whose problems they hope to solve. 

When listing his first two lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs, Verma says you must love what you're doing, and you must listen to the customer. The customer is always right, he adds. 

Roizen talks about the importance of customers. She shares a story where an entrepreneur identified a problem, took time to develop a solution, and got real customers to pay him to make the product. 

Mohr Davidow Ventures partner Erik Straser offers insight on the unfolding sector of new energy technologies, and discusses how it will be affected by an economy in credit crisis. He unveils the market's high level of industrial innovation, and offers students of entrepreneurship sound advice on finding the next crest in grand socioeconomic opportunity. 

Ninety-percent of Silicon Valley's start-ups fail not because of faulty product, but because they don't tap the right market and they don't know their customer. Well-seasoned serial entrepreneur Steve Blank drafts a new model for plotting the path between good idea and market success.