Notes From The Lean Startup By Eric Ries

Reference:
   http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/
   http://steveblank.com
   http://venturehack.com
   http://angel.co

Contents:
1. Vision ~
2. Steer ~
3. Accelerate ~

Appendix:
Lean_startup_for_final_post.ppt pdf slides ~

========================================================================

1. Vision ~

Five Principles Of Lean Startup:
 1. Entrepreneurs are everywhere: small startup or big companies
 2. Entrepreneurship is management: Startup is an instituition, 
    not just product.
 3. Validated Learning: Learn how to build sustainable business.
    Validate the learning by running frequent experiments.
 4. Build-Measure-Learn: 
       . Turn ideas into products
       . Measure how customers respond
       . Learn whether to pivot or persevere
    Accelerate the feed-back loop.

  The lean-manufacturing concept originated from Toyoto.

 Important Question:
  Which of our efforts are value-creating and which are wasteful ? ^

The Audacity Of Zero ~
  With no profit, your company may be still very valuable.
With small profit, there is less hope for ever making it big.
Companies tend to postpone the release to avoid this! But should not?

Think Big, Start Small ~
  Like zappos -- odd sized shoes.

For long-term change, experiment immediately:
  . You can experiment at smaller level to validate your ideas before
    investing too much on implementation.

An Experiment is a product ~

2. Steer ~

  First release MVP - Minimum viable product.
  Strategy is based on assumptions -- sometimes you need leaps of faith!

  Analogs and Anitlogs ~
  People will listen to music using earphones - 
       Analog: walkman Vs Iphone
  People may not pay for music -
       Antilog: Napster Vs Iphone

  Leap of Faith: Apple decided that they will pay for music 
                 (given the price is fair and it is easy to pay).

Innovation Accounting ~
   Startup to evaluate progress rigorously. 

Toyoto's principle: Go and see it yourself!

Two Extremes ~
   Just-do-it types plunge into action right away.
   Analysis-paralysis types endlessly plan and refine.
   The answer to balance between two is : MVP - Minimum viable product.

Case Study: Groupon ~

   Just started by changing a wordpress blog and introduced MVP to
   offer group coupons (discounts). It was later bought for 1 Billion $.

Strategy of Video For MVP ~
   Just creating how-to-use video for drop-box product (even before
   development) created huge amount of audience.

Strategy Vs Competition ~
   Big companies have too many good ideas. Their challenge lies in 
   prioritization and execution -- these challenges give a startup hope
   of surviving.

   The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.

Adapt ~
   . Be tolerant of first mistake.
   . Never allow the same mistake to be repeated.

How to nurture disruptive innovation ~
 

========================================================================

Appendix:

A. Lean_startup_for_final_post.ppt pdf slides ~

Myths Vs Truth ^

  . The Lean Startup method is not about cost, it is about speed.
  . It is not just for small startups, applies to large capital firms too.
  . The Lean Startup applies to all companies that face uncertainty about 
    what customers will want

What is Startup ? ^
A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or 
service under conditions of extreme uncertainty uncertainty.
Nothing to do with size of company, sector of the economy, or industry.

Entrepreneurship is Management ^

* Our goal is to create an institution, not just a product
* Traditional management practices fail
   . management as taught to MBAs
* Need practices and principles geared to the startup context of 
  extreme uncertainty
   . Not just for two guys in a garage

The Pivot ~

 What do successful startups have in common?
  . They started building BASIC interpreters, but evolved into the
    world's largest operating systems monopoly
  . They were shocked to discover their online games company was actually 
    a photo-sharing site

* Pivot: change directions but stay grounded in what we have learned *

Speed Wins ~
    If we can reduce the time between major iterations We can increase 
    our odds of success

Case Study: IMVU ~

  Shipped in six months a horribly buggy beta product
   . Charged from day one
   . Shipped multiple times a day (by 2008, on average 50 times a day)
   . No PR, no launch
   . Results 2009: profitable, revenue > $20MM

Making Progress ~
   In a lean transformation, question #1 is  which
   activities are value-creating and which are waste?
   In traditional business, value is created by delivering
   products or services to customers
   In a startup, the product and customer are unknowns
   We need a new definition of value for startups

Agile Product Development ~
   Involves iterations of small releases and improvements.

 ================= End of Slides ===================================