Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 7, 2008

Most of the time, the experiments you run will have a zero percent conversion rate - meaning no customers were harmed during the making of this experiment. I would aim to get no more than 1o0 clicks per day - over the course of a week or two, youll get pretty good conversion data. Measure conversion rates. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, May 14, 2009 The Lean Startup Workshop - now an OReilly Master Class My rate of posting has been much lower lately, and this is mostly due to preparations for the upcoming Lean Startup Workshop on May 29. Thank you all for your continued support, and hope to see you at an event soon.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 7, 2010

Id be honored to have you join the conversation. The Conversation - Harvard Business Review For most of us, the phrase management science conjures up a decidedly non-entrepreneurial image, and for good reason. Read the rest at The Conversation - Harvard Business Review. Id be honored to have you join the conversation.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 22, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, June 22, 2009 Pivot, dont jump to a new vision In a lean startup , instead of being organized around traditional functional departments, we use a cross-functional problem team and solution team. Thats not the goal of a lean startup. Your writing is certainly not lean.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 5, 2010

It is written in a conversational tone, doesnt take itself too seriously, and avoids extraneous fluff. Ill give them the last word: You are already skeptical of Customer Development and Lean Startups and the slew of emerging buzzwords and supple-to-the-point-of-meaningless terms. I think theyve succeeded. I think theyve succeeded.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 31, 2010

Expo Intensive rocked, the mainstream media has started writing about the Lean Startup, and - most of all - the movement continues to grow and evolve. I went to the conference thinking that I was well grounded in the basics of the Lean Startup approach and that attendance would hone the edges of that understanding.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 16, 2009

(You can see the full deck in my post on Customer Development Engineering or listen to audio from a more recent lecture ) I thought given Jims prompting it might be useful to post this excerpt. Notice that the unit of progress changes as we move from waterfall to agile to the lean startup. Anyway, thanks Jim for the great post.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 29, 2010

Traveling the past year, I have heard loud and clear that its time for the Lean Startup movement to enter its next phase. The way forward requires getting everyone together in a room, and having a conversation about where were headed. Is design important to lean startups? I know one thing for sure: I dont have all the answers.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, September 15, 2008 The one line split-test, or how to A/B all the time Split-testing is a core lean startup discipline, and its one of those rare topics that comes up just as often in a technical context as in a business-oriented one when Im talking to startups. Expo SF (May. for Harvard Business Revie.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 13, 2008

And then we would use that simple analytics system I mentioned to monitor the conversion rates of customers from each campaign. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 15, 2010

Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review Way back when the money was doled out, the team made a compelling pitch about the large market that was going to adopt their new innovative product or service. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Fostering that dialog is important.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 28, 2008

Ill exclude those non- lean startups who basically exist for the purpose of raising bigger and bigger sums of money. If you find yourself getting asked non-key questions, try to use your answers to steer the conversation back to the key questions. How does a lean start-up find the all-star team worthy of pitching? Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

For example, say that your business model calls for a 4% conversion rate – as ours did initially at IMVU. After a few months of early beta at IMVU, we discovered that our actual conversion rate was about 0.4%. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Expo SF (May. for Harvard Business Revie.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 29, 2009

I hope to show why lean and agile techniques actually reduce the negative impacts of technical debt and increase our ability to take advantage of its positive effects. Lean vs. debt In the world of physical goods, the leaner a supply chain is, the less debt is required to operate it. A similar relationship applies to technical debt.

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 7, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, April 7, 2010 Learning is better than optimization (the local maximum problem) Lean startups don’t optimize. At least, not in the traditional sense of trying to squeeze every tenth of a point out of a conversion metric or landing page. For example, I’m a big believer in split-testing.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 6, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 6, 2008 When NOT to listen to your users; when NOT to rely on split-tests There are three legs to the lean startup concept: agile product development , low-cost (fast to market) platforms , and rapid-iteration customer development. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

Lean methods present a third option: to invest in our process so that our design gets more feedback sooner and is more adaptable to changes in purpose. SBCE feels like it should fit into the lean startup nicely, but I can't quite figure out how. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 28, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Sunday, March 28, 2010 Two new scholarship programs for lean startups Thanks to the generosity of sponsors, Im pleased to be able to announce two scholarship programs for upcoming lean startup events. Now the company is growing, profitable, and proving that lean startups can scale.

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Whats the right set of materials, conversations, etc. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. ► April (11) Video update on the Startup Visa Act Lean Enterprise Institute webinar, April 28 Four myths about the Lean Startup Sneak preview, KISSmetrics (and more) Sneak preview, Grockit The Lean Startup Intensive at Web 2.0

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Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 28, 2009

I thought we were having a successful conversation. Back to my conversation with the company I met recently. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science? Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 6, 2008

Thats OK; like all lean transformations , you need to undertake this one in small steps. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Startup Visa update ► February (5) Kiwi lean startup + Australia next Why diversity matters (the meritocracy business) Beware of Vanity Metrics (for Harvard Business Rev. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

So I generally feel right at home in these conversations. Just like in the world of startups, we can start to use micro-scale pilot programs, executed in lean fashion, to gather real facts for making ROI decisions about new project investment. Each new campaign is a startup where Lean principals can be applied to maximum effect.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 8, 2009

Beyond just those who will be hearing about the lean startup for the first time, Im expecting to shake a lot of hands and have a lot of interesting side conversations. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. Expo SF (May. for Harvard Business Revie.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 24, 2009

Each of those levers -- conversion rate, action/user, msgs/action, etc. -- are important when thinking about how and why users engage with your product. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. How to build companies that matter (the lean start.

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 2, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, April 2, 2010 Interviews Robert Scoble came by my office to learn about the Lean Startup and the Startup Lessons Learned Conference on April 23. By all accounts, the conversation was a success. Show, in which we discuss Lean Startups and the upcoming Lean Startup Intensive at the Web 2.0

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 30, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, October 30, 2008 John Doerrs 10 lean startup tips I just saw video of John Doerrs talk yesterday at VentureBeat’s “How to manage your start-up in the downturn&# roundtable event. What I find remarkable about this list is how many of them apply to lean startups in good times and in bad.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 23, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, June 23, 2009 Join the lean startup discussion at Facebook on Thursday I recently agreed to join Facebook s fbFund incubator as a mentor. Part of that includes giving a presentation for the fbFund companies on the lean startup methodology. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 1, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, May 1, 2009 Lean Startup webcast post-game Wow, what an incredible turnout for webcast this morning, right on the heels of a phenomenal crowd at startup2startup last night. Its been a great twelve hours for the lean startup! wogsland : Still not understanding the "lean" aspect. What a thrill.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 11, 2008

Youll need bundles, promotions, category and segment managers, and algorithms for upsell, cross-sell, and conversion optimization. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. Amazing lean startup resources Is Entrepreneurship a Management Science?

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Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 22, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, May 22, 2009 The Lean Startup at SIPA follow-up I had wonderful time presenting at SIPA last night , and was completely exhausted by the incredible post-speech response. 2009 05 21 The Lean Startup At SIPA View more OpenOffice presentations from Eric Ries. Your support means the world to me.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 11, 2010

The Conversation - Harvard Business Review : Still, startups develop some kind of process — whether its disciplined, haphazard, bureaucratic or empowering — because building a great product depends on it. The Conversation - Harvard Business Review For Startups, How Much Process Is Too Much? Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 6, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, March 6, 2010 Startup Visa update As I write this, I am traveling at 30,000 feet on Virgin Americas excellent IAD->SFO nonstop, following an intense few days of conversations in Washington, DC about the Startup Visa. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0. Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 8, 2010

Entrepreneurs: Beware of Vanity Metrics - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review : The idea is simple. Read the rest of Entrepreneurs: Beware of Vanity Metrics at The Conversation on Harvard Business Review. Entrepreneurs: Beware of Vanity Metrics - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review : The idea is simple.

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Metrics San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 121

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

In the middle of a serious conversation on the joys of motherhood or the stress of a career you might realize that the person you’re talking to is only 15. But to your point, you can't even have a conversation with them, they have made their decisions and moved on. But it also has some drawbacks. IMVU is one great tornado.

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Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

Split-testing, like almost everything in a lean startup , requires judgment. For example, does an Extended Validation (EV) SSL certificate gain higher conversions than a standard SSL? Does having an expensive Verisign branded SSL and site logo gain higher conversion than the low-cost GoDaddy equivalent? Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Notice that cohort and conversion based metrics do not suffer from this problem. When we look at the same conversion percentage for cohort after cohort, we are effectively getting a new, independent, report card for our efforts each period. Notice that cohort and conversion based metrics do not suffer from this problem.

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 16, 2010

First, SlideShare is a fantastic product (that I use on a regular basis) and an impressive company example of Lean Startup practices in action. Second, their story illustrates a key Lean Startup idea: proving the business in micro-scale. ’&# They removed the core plan, and conversions went up. How are we doing?

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