The Lean Startup

• Minimum Viable Product (MVP): Entrepreneurs should launch an MVP—a basic but functional version of a product—to quickly test assumptions about what customers want. ^{[4jwscb] [4mpmyb]}
• Build-Measure-Learn Feedback Loop: The core process involves building a product, measuring how users interact with it, and learning whether to persist with the current strategy or pivot. This iterative loop emphasizes learning over elaborate initial planning and greatly shortens the product development cycle. ^{[4mpmyb] [uz7rpq] [h4rbfr]}
• Validated Learning: Every iteration is treated as an experiment to validate (or invalidate) assumptions about customers, markets, and products, with the aim of quickly discovering what works. ^{[4jwscb] [uz7rpq] [t1h9ag]}
• Innovation Accounting: Startups should use metrics tailored to growth and validation rather than generic financial metrics ("vanity metrics"), tracking progress toward sustainable business goals and prioritizing work that moves the company forward. ^[uz7rpq]
• Pivot or Persevere: Based on what is learned, startups must decide whether to continue on the same path or pivot to a new direction supported by data and feedback. ^{[uz7rpq] [t1h9ag]}
• Universal Application: Ries argues that this approach works for organizations of any size—whether an individual or a large corporation. ^{[uz7rpq] [t1h9ag]}

• Vision: Defines startups and the importance of creating something new under extreme uncertainty. It explores "validated learning" as a new way of tracking progress beyond traditional metrics or business plans. ^{[uz7rpq] [h4rbfr]}
• Steer: Introduces the Build-Measure-Learn cycle, the MVP concept, and how to experiment scientifically with product and market assumptions. ^{[4mpmyb] [uz7rpq] [h4rbfr]}
• Accelerate: Focuses on techniques to speed up this learning process, scale up operations effectively, and promote sustainable growth based on learning and adaptation. ^[h4rbfr]

• Implemented by Companies: The Lean Startup method is used by organizations such as Dropbox, Wealthfront, and General Electric, illustrating its applicability in diverse settings—from tech startups to established enterprises. ^[4mpmyb]
• Example Workflow: A startup team launches a simplified software tool to test if users will pay for automated data analysis. User feedback reveals which features provide real value, informing the next version. Iterations continue rapidly, adapting the product to actual demand rather than assumptions.

Citations