The Lean Startup

The Lean Startup begins with the author accepting his Startup was doomed to fail. Eric Ries reflects on his failings and shares how he learnt to fix them. He discusses the typical startup journey when launching a software business and focuses on protecting company resources by stage-releasing a Minimum Viable Product. I cannot describe it any better than Ries:

“The Lean methodology, relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.”

Net result: Minimum Input, Maximum ROI.

With lower barriers to innovation and a trigger-happy market of disruption, it is as important for large corporates as start-up businesses to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset when releasing new products. The archaic, standardised models of conducting business are rapidly falling away to innovation and disruption, and The Lean Startup offers a good insight into successfully releasing a software product, while building capital efficient companies that leverage human creativity more effectively. Great read for Salespeople, startup founders, and corporate sales leaders.