The Lean Startup movement is not only a buzzword. This true multifaceted philosophy excites the minds of many entrepreneurs and all who are involved in the startup world.
What do you need to know about this concept? Let’s figure it out.
Let’s start with the Lean Startup definition. The Lean Startup approach is about building new businesses according to the idea that entrepreneurs must investigate, experiment, test, and iterate as they develop products.
The idea about Lean startups was originally described in the early 2000s. The Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, Steve Blank, and Eric Ries developed and promoted it and then the theory evolved into a methodology around 2010.
The Lean Startup concept seems contradicting in comparison with long-held principles about how teams should maintain launching a new business.
According to the traditional idea, entrepreneurs should develop a multiyear business plan, then using it for raising money to fund product development activities. This traditional approach instructs entrepreneurs to develop their product in “stealth mode”.
The Lean method proposes to start any business by searching for an appropriate business model and then testing ideas. Here it’s rather important to adjust customers feedback as moving forward.
The Lean management philosophy calls up entrepreneurs to continually engage in developing hypotheses that they then test among customers to get their feedback. The feedback is used for re-engineering their products.
Lean startup advocates Agile concepts adapted from the world of software development. This startup method requires developing a minimum viable product (MVP) that they can test. It advocates for entrepreneurs to adjust their products based on customer feedback.
This question was asked by Steve Blank in his article of the same name. He wrote it 5 years ago and now the article is still relevant and popular among entrepreneurs all over the world.
The author claims that Lean startup practices look good not only for young tech ventures. Large companies have also begun to successfully implement them. The Lean Startup movement makes the process of starting a company less risky.
Traditional methods highlighted creating a business plan as the first thing every founder must do. Steve defines three things about the business plan:
The Lean approach includes 3 essential principles:
The feedback that a startup gets can be qualitative (which product options you like and which don’t) or quantitative (how many customers use the product, the number of registered users).
Understanding what helps create a working business for a startup is much more important than awards and media attention.
The “create-evaluate-learn” feedback loop lies at the heart of the concept of an economical startup. The most important idea about startup management is to strive to reduce the feedback cycle time. All elements of this cycle deserve attention equally.
The history of the Lean methodology began with several publications that helped to popularize the concept.
The most recognized the book “The Lean Startup” by Eric Ries.
This highly acclaimed book for new startups is considered to be one of the core business books that revolutionized the business environment over this last decade. The author has combined everything to the core basic principles of being Lean and Agile in response to customer feedback.
According to Ries, there are two main reasons for startup failures:
He proposes a very dynamic and structured book that mainstreams the Lean approach that is aimed to change the way companies are built and new products are launched.
The Lean Startup concept will foster companies that are more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively, the author suggests. The book will open your eyes to things you may have not realized before.
If you want to read more books about the Lean Startup methodology, feel free to study the following books:
Many business success stories have the following path: inspiration – a brilliant idea – a struggle – a dizzying leap – team gathering -deals – and success.
Act wisely and apply the Lean Startup concept, studying the experience of others. You will definitely avoid unnecessary expenses, and grow your business using this outstanding and winning method.