Bob Dorf

Customer Relationship Management Pioneer, Leading Strategist and co-author of The One to One Fieldbook and The Startup Owner’s Manual

Bob Dorf is one of the most recognized and knowledgeable Customer Development experts on the planet. He is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, author, and recognized adviser on various startup company strategies, including customer development and the Lean Startup concept. 

Industry Expert

As the retired founding CEO of Peppers and Rogers Group, the preeminent CRM consulting practice, Dorf is considered a leading strategist in the field of Customer Relationship Management. His work has helped conceive and implement one-to-one marketing strategies for leading organizations ranging from the American Cancer Society to Jaguar Cars, 3M, Bertelsmann, Charles Schwab, Ford, Hewlett Packard, Oracle, Prudential Securities, among others. Bob Dorf currently runs K&S Ranch’s consultancy with his business partner, co-author and friend of 20 years, Steve Blank, helping large companies and corporations deploy customer development strategies through workshops and hands-on exercises.

Books and Publications

In 1999, Dorf co-authored The One to One Fieldbook with Don Peppers and Martha Rogers. Fortune magazine raved about The One to One Fieldbook, saying “if your company is launching a customer-focused strategy…it sets the agenda.” In March, 2012, Dorf published The Startup Owner’s Manual: The Step-by-Step Guide for Building a Great Company with co-author Steve Blank. The painstakingly detailed guide is the most comprehensive, rigorous step-by-step roadmap that is guiding startup founders throughout the world. The text has been used to teach entrepreneurship at more than 50 major universities around the world. The Owner’s Manual builds on Blank’s groundbreaking Four Steps to the Epiphany, with parallel Customer Development pathways for companies in the web and mobile channels, as well as traditional physical goods and enterprise software startups; it also includes in-depth web marketing tutorials. Along with his books, Bob has also published dozens of articles including an in-depth Harvard Business Review CRM treatise.

Training and Development

Bob Dorf travels the world, helping startups, foreign governments, and major corporations learn how to effectively deploy Customer Development process through intensive 8-10 week Lean LaunchPad sessions, as workshops and hands-on consulting that he conducts repeatedly in Russia, Latin America, and the US. He teaches the Lean LaunchPad program at Columbia Business School, where he is an Adjunct Professor of Entrepreneurship, and has led training sessions at Tech de Monterrey, Mexico, Skolkovo Business School in Moscow, Moscow State University and many other Universities. Bob’s deep experience consulting to Fortune 500 companies and service, retail, and web businesses balances Steve’s VC and software-centric experience. He’s counseled dozens of nonprofits pro bono as well.

Previous Experience

Entrepreneurial from the age of 12, Bob received his last W-2 almost 40 years ago, when he left a great news editor’s job in New York at WINS Radio to launch his first major startup. Since then, he has personally founded seven companies. Bob co-founded Marketing 1to1 (later Peppers&Rogers Group) in 1993, growing it to 400+ people. As founding CEO, Dorf spearheaded major strategic customer programs at a veritable “who’s who” of companies.