The Lean Startup
By Eric Ries
Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization that is dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. The Lean Startup then is one that relies on validated learning, rapid scientific experimentation, and typically goes against the grain of how a “normal” business starts out. With the lean methodology, found in lean manufacturing, companies that employ it ignore typical product development cycles, seek immediate customer feedback to pivot off of, and disregard vanity metrics which don’t really lead to growth. RIes bottles all of this up, and provides interesting examples from the world of technology to drive home his points.
“We must learn what customers really want, not what they say they want or what we think they should want.”
Thoughts
I was on a business book kick back in college. Honestly, I never read a single text book. Maybe a few chapters here or there that had truly novel content in them. I found that if I identified topics both for business and pleasure I could learn more about the world from my own reading agenda. Whether it be emotional intelligence from fictional characters, or business concepts I felt that not being tethered to a curriculum jived more with how I can maximize my learning. My favorite quote is from Mark Twain, “Don’t let schooling get in the way of your education.” The Lean Startup was one of the books I picked up to learn more about startup culture and why some win and others lose. As a consumer first I agreed with a lot of the content here because it really emphasizes a feedback loop between product development and the consumers who use it. I think this allows for a productive give and take and amplifies the relationship between product and marketing which is a sweet spot that I have always found fascinating. To learn more about this way of thinking check out this interesting read from Eric Ries.
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