The Lean Startup

A great book full of anecdotes and ideas/concepts to consider while you are building the scaffolding of your startup. If you are looking for clear recipes about how to navigate the startup landscape (what to do now, next), the book by itself is not enough, but it is by not doubt the one that connects them all: the ideas of costumer development promoted by Steve Blank, its continuous interaction with agile development (with methodologies such as extreme programming or SCRUM) to improve the value proposition while finding product-market fit and the framework where hypothesis/lessons/facts about the rationale of creating/delivering/capturing value are stated, the business model canvas created by Alexander Osterwalder.

At the core of the lean methodology we find the scientific method. One of the kernel lessons is to use it to validate ideas in every step taken before, during and after the creation of the startup. In this regard, I saw lot of confusing comments about science and its relationship with the book contents. “The lean startup” is not about describing the act of creating a startup as a science (which it's not) but about how to move through a complex/uncertain process and use the scientific method (validated for centuries) to make progress: generate hypothesis, create experiments to evaluate those hypothesis, run the experiment, then redefine the hypothesis according to the new findings. Based on this idea, Eric proposes the cycle build-measure-learn as a way to explore the complex and uncertain landscape of starting a new venture. He mentions that management (understood as human systems engineering) is at the core of building a startup and that it can be implemented in such a way that reduces risk and uncertainty. He then goes to present all of the ideas of the cycle build-measure-learn and management in detail, with stories occupying a central spot in every chapter (these were after all, the most valuable lessons taken from the book).

I recommend it, specially if you think you have what it takes to be an entrepreneur and want to bring more light to your understanding of the basics of the startup life as it did for me.

Just like most business/self-help books, I get bored of the name-dropping and the long-drawn-out points. Make your point, back it up, move on.

1. Learn to adapt quickly
Start ups are difficult and you can't fully depend on traditional methods always to steer you where you want to go. Chaos–the “just do it”–mentality doesn't work either. Learn to fail, analyze, and implement changes quickly.
From Herve's review: “The main and most convincing lesson from Ries is that because start-ups face a lot of uncertainty, they should test, experiment, learn from the right or wrong hypotheses as early and as often as possible. They should use actionable metrics, split-test experiments, innovation accounting. He is also a big fan of Toyota lean manufacturing.”

From Andy's review:
2. Put out a ‘MVP'. As fast as possible, put out a ‘minimum viable product' and see if anyone is willing to buy it. If you spend forever making the product the best it could possibly be, you may end up with a cool product that no one actually wants or is willing to pay for. Throw the product out there, then improve it bit by bit.

3. Avoid ‘vanity metrics.' Anyone can generate hype and a short-lived interest in just about any product. Real, sustainable success is driven not by hype but by discovering something that people actually want or need, offering it to them, and then continually innovating the product based on a greater understanding of what people want/need.

4. Be lean. Learn from Toyota's manufacturing and respond quickly to customer feedback to provide monthly, weekly, or even daily iterations of your product. Again: don't build it and expect people to come—especially if you're only going to build once a year. Constantly iterate.

Quotes:

“it's the boring stuff that matters most.”

“Remember if we're building something that nobody wants, it doesn't much matter if we're doing it on time and on budget.”

“Customers don't care how much time something takes to build. They care only if it serves their needs.”

The Lean Startup is a must-read for anyone looking to navigate the complexities of entrepreneurship with clarity and efficiency. One of the standout ideas is the “Five Whys” method—a simple but powerful technique to uncover the root cause of problems. However, Ries cautions that it's essential not to let the process turn into a blame game. The key is to dig deeper without looking for grand-scale answers that may derail focus.

The concept of small testing units and the emphasis on minimal viable products (MVPs) really resonated with me. Ries encourages businesses to test ideas quickly and efficiently, creating a cycle of learning that can drive growth. This approach helps companies avoid overcommitting to untested products and focus on real customer needs.