The lean startup –

Eric Ries
Prof. Paulo Feldmann
2
 Lean Startup

“The Lean Startup method is about how to

drive a startup-how to steer, when to turn,
and when to persevere-and grow a
business with maximum acceleration.”
http://theleanstartup.com/principles
 What Is The Lean Startup
Methodology?

A method for developing businesses and products first proposed in

2008 by Eric Ries that can shorten the product development cycle
by adopting a combination of business-hypothesis-driven
experimentation, iterative product releases, and validated
learning in order to meet early needs of customers and reduce
market risk by avoiding spending money where the outcome is
uncertain.
 3 Myths About The Lean
Startup
Myth 1:
Lean means cheap. Lean Startup try to
spend as little money as possible.

Truth:
The Lean Startup method is not about
cost, it is about speed.
 3 Myths About The Lean
Startup
Myth 2:
It won’t work for my business. It’s only
for tech / web companies.

Truth:
Any company, regardless of industry, can
use the Lean Startup methodology to
reduce uncertainty about what your
customers really want.
 3 Myths About The Lean
Startup
Myth 3:
It only works for small, bootstrapped
companies.

Truth:
The Lean Startup method is used in
Fortune 500 companies and in capital-
intensive large scale projects.
 5 Principles of The Lean
Startup
• Entrepreneurs are everywhere
• Entrepreneurship is management
• Validated Learning
• Build – Measure – Learn
• Innovation Accounting
 The Lean Startup Principles
• Entrepreneurs are everywhere (even
in well-established firms).
• Entrepreneurship is management
(but different from managing traditional
firms).
• Validated learning (about customers).
• **Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop.
• Innovation accounting (using
** http://theleanstartup.com/principles
actionable metrics – mostly about
 5 Principles of The Lean
Startup
Principle #1
Entrepreneurs are everywhere

You don’t have to work for or launch a startup venture to be an

entrepreneur. You don’t have to work in a garage to be in a startup.

Anyone who works for a company that creates new products and
services under conditions of extreme uncertainty is an entrepreneur.
Entrepreneurship is the context in which you operate.
 5 Principles of The Lean
Startup
Principle #2
Entrepreneurship is management

Launching a new product or service is inherently risky full of

uncertainty. Managing that risk and uncertainty is the job of the
entrepreneur.
 5 Principles of The Lean
Startup
Principle #3
Validated Learning

Startups exist to learn how to build a sustainable business. Learning

is the unit of progress. Learning can only be done by
experimentation. Validated learning is the process of testing
every element element the vision, to determine whether the
vision is sustainable.
 5 Principles of The Lean
Startup
Principle #4
Build – Measure – Learn

The fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into

products or services, measure how customers respond, and
then learn whether to pivot or persevere. All successful
startup processes should be geared towards accelerating this
feedback loop.
 5 Principles of The Lean
Startup
Principle #5
Innovation Accounting

Focused on defining, measuring, and communicating

progress so that assumptions can be validated, and the
product or service moves closer towards sustainability.
Differs from traditional accounting which is focused on
measuring established products for sustainable products.
 Accelerating Build – Measure –
Building Faster Learn
•Minimum Viable Product
Measuring Faster
•Customer Liaison
Learning Faster
•Customer Advisory Board
•Avoid Vanity Metrics
 MVP
In product development, the Minimum Viable
Product (MVP) is a strategy used for fast and
quantitative market testing of a product or product
features. It is an iterative process of idea
generation, prototyping, presentation, data
collection, analysis and learning.
 An MVP Example
Why is Dropbox more popular than
other programs with
similar functionality?
•Well, let’s take a step back and think
about the sync problem and what the
ideal solution for it would do:
– There would be a folder.
– You’d put your stuff in it.
– It would sync.
 What Is Pivot?
• Pivot: A change to business model
component based on customer feedbacks.
A pivot is not a failure.
• Pivot is a structured course correction
designed to test a new fundamental
hypothesis about the product, strategy,
engine of growth, etc.