A disciplined approach to experiments. Define hypotheses, design MVPs and learn before you scale.
It codified the build-measure-learn loop. Every product person should read this early in their career.
It’s the foundation for lean, fast-moving teams building new things.
For entrepreneurs, innovators, and managers in both startups and large organizations who want to develop products and businesses more efficiently and with less risk. It's ideal for those seeking to apply scientific experimentation to business development.
Validated learning is your fastest path to product-market fit.
MVPs are for learning, not scaling.
Experimentation is your core operating system.
Eric Ries
2011
Introduction
Eric Ries’s The Lean Startup introduces a systematic approach to innovation under conditions of uncertainty. Drawing from lean manufacturing principles and agile development, Ries provides entrepreneurs with tools to adapt, learn, and achieve sustainable growth. The book advocates continuous innovation through scientific experimentation, rapid prototyping, and iterative learning to optimise resources and reduce waste.
Ries argues that startups are not just products but institutions requiring unique management methods tailored for uncertainty. Entrepreneurs must adopt a scientific and disciplined approach to decision-making.
Startups exist to learn how to build sustainable businesses. This is achieved through validated learning, a measurable process of testing hypotheses and iterating based on data rather than intuition or assumptions.
At the core of the Lean Startup is the Build-Measure-Learn cycle:
Startups require new metrics to track progress, focusing on learning milestones instead of traditional business metrics. This helps entrepreneurs decide whether to persevere with their strategy or pivot.
The MVP is a simplified version of a product that allows entrepreneurs to test assumptions quickly and cheaply. It helps validate hypotheses about customer needs without committing significant resources.
Ries introduces the concept of the pivot, a strategic shift in the product or business model based on feedback. Startups must know when to persevere or pivot to avoid pursuing flawed strategies.
Frequent, small updates enable rapid iteration and minimise downtime, allowing startups to respond to customer feedback in near real-time.
The Lean Startup emphasises actionable metrics over vanity metrics. For example, instead of focusing on website traffic, startups should track user engagement or conversion rates to measure meaningful progress.
While tailored for startups, Ries’s principles apply to organisations of all sizes. For example, established corporations can adopt Lean Startup methods to foster innovation within departments or new product lines.
Ries illustrates Lean principles through real-world examples, such as Intuit's use of rapid experimentation to launch new products. Startups like Dropbox also demonstrate the power of MVPs to validate demand before scaling.
Ries concludes that entrepreneurial success is not about luck or innate talent but can be engineered through disciplined practices. The Lean Startup provides a framework to navigate uncertainty, achieve sustainable growth, and continuously innovate.
The Lean Startup is an essential guide for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, and innovators aiming to create value while minimising waste in the journey toward building successful businesses.
Design experiments that answer specific questions with minimum time and resources to maximise learning velocity without over-investing in unproven ideas.
Compare two versions of a page, email, or feature to determine which performs better using statistical methods that isolate the impact of specific changes.
Structure experiments around clear predictions to focus efforts on learning rather than random changes and make results easier to interpret afterward.
Track your user journey through Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Referral, and Revenue to identify which stage constrains growth most.
Achieve the state where your product solves a genuine, urgent problem for a defined market that's willing to pay and actively pulling your solution in.
Group customers by acquisition period to compare behaviour patterns and identify which acquisition channels and time periods produce the best long-term value.
