Eric Ries

The Lean Startup

From earlier notes:

  • Validated learning - point of a startup is in part to learn about a new idea
  • Build, measure, learn - turn ideas into product, learn what customers like, pivot or not
  • Innovation accounting
  • Build, measure, turn feedback loop (design in reverse)
    1. ID your leap of faith assumptions: value and growth
      • How to validate you are adding value and can grow?
        • Fb had high engagement and super fast vital growth. That was always going to be valuable, just a question of how much
      • Need to design your org to constantly test the most critical assumptions
    2. Build mvp
      • All about learning fastest way possible
      • Head start, stealth mode, etc aren’t much of an advantage
      • Only way to win long term is to iterate through build measure turn process faster and better than anyone else
    3. Innovation accounting:
      • How to tell if you’re screwing around or making real progress / learning
      • Value driver, business model, growth driver - know and testthese
      • Traditional accounting doesn’t work for startups, nor do most milestone metrics
    • If you are professing from baseline metrics to ideal as you learn, persevere. If not, pivot
    • Test directly all the time - eg use Google click purchases to get new customers and see which changes move the needle
    • Need to use cohort analysis not absolute metrics, which hide truths
    • Split testing (a/b) is almost always useful in product development
    • Kanban - must validate stories and investigate the learning before you can start new stories
      • Understanding and validation and split tests are built in, rather than tacked on after the fact
    • Learning milestones:
    1. Pivot or not
      • Determine your metrics up front.
      • Zoom in pivot (feature), platform pivot, customer segment pivot , business volume pivot, engine of growthpivot, value capture pivot, channel pivot
  • Small batches are actually more efficient
  • choose an engine of growth - viral, paid, or sticky
  • Building an adaptive organization
    • Constantly improving
    • Training new employees
  • 5 whys
    • About getting around blame to root causes
    • Engineers expected to make changes on day 1 - production system shouldn’t be so fragile that this is risky
    • Proportional responses
  • Engine of growth - mustbe via previous customers through
    • Word of mouth
    • Side effect of usage
    • Repeat purchase
    • Sustainable ads (
  • Viral coefficient