The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.
Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable.
Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.
The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.
Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, “The Lean Startup” offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it's too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in a age when companies need to innovate more than ever.
Reviews
“Every so often a business book comes along that changes how we think about innovation and entrepreneurship. Eric Ries's The Lean Startup has the chops to join this exalted company.” (Philip Delves Broughton Financial Times )
“Mandatory reading for entrepreneurs… loaded with fascinating stories and practical principles” (Dan Heath, Coauthor Of Switch And Made To Stick )
“If you are an entrepreneur, read this book. If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, read this book. If you are just curious about entrepreneurship, read this book.” (Randy Komisar, Founding Director Of Tivo )
“The Lean Startup will change the way we think about entrepreneurship” (Tom Eisenmann, Professor Of Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School )
“Eric Ries has created a science where previously there was only art. A must-read for every serious entrepreneur – and every manager interested in innovation” (Marc Andreessen, Cofounder Of Andreessen Horowitz, Opsware, And Netscape )
"I know of no better guide to improve the odds of a startup's success' (Mitchell Kapor, Founder, Lotus Development Corp )
“This book is the guided tour of the key innovative practices used inside Google, Toyota, and Facebook, that work in any business” (Scott Cook, Founder And Chairman, Intuit )
About the Author
Eric Ries is an entrepreneur and author of the blog Startup Lessons Learned. He co-founded and served as CTO of IMVU, his third startup. He is a frequent speaker at business events, has advised a number of startups, large companies, and venture capital firms on business and product strategy, and is an entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School. He lives in San Francisco.
