Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 7, 2008

Its common to find a hacker at the heart of almost any successful technology company. Those who have the endurance are the ones that tend to lead teams and join startups, because you just cant be successful in a startup situation without empathy. I would characterize them as intolerant but not arrogant. What a waste.

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Software Review Technical Review Part-Time VPE San Francisco 94

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 12, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, January 12, 2010 Amazing lean startup resources A year ago, there was no lean startup movement. I continue to believe that the explosion of interest in the lean startup has very little to do with me. If you are attempting to apply lean startup ideas in your own business - you are not alone.

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Lean San Francisco Wiki Startup 146

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 17, 2010

Startups are companies. Startups aspire to become big companies. Therefore, startups should have departments. Each of these benefits also exists in startups, which is why most startups are also organized in departments. I once worked at a startup with an exceptional functional department system.

Technical Review 164

Technical Review San Francisco Lean Software Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 20, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, October 20, 2008 The engineering managers lament I was inspired to write The product managers lament while meeting with a startup struggling to figure out what had gone wrong with their product development process. After all, our startup is on a fixed budget.

Software Review 164

Software Review Engineer Management Technical Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 2, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, August 2, 2008 Paul Graham on fundraising I have found no better primer on the current realities of starting a new technology company in a startup hub like Silicon Valley than Paul Grahams essays. How to Fund a Startup [link] Its obvious why investors delay. Investing in startups is risky!

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San Francisco Software Review Technical Review Continuous Deployment 125

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 22, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, March 22, 2010 The new startup arms race (for Huffington Post) The Huffington Post published an op-ed on the Startup Visa movement that Ive been working on for some time. The New Startup Arms Race Americas future prosperity depends on our ability to maintain this lead.

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San Francisco Indiana Lean Startup 121

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. First of all, why split-test?

San Francisco 166

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Continuous Deployment 166

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 8, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, August 8, 2009 Revisiting the Software Design Manifesto (and whats changed since then) My recent article on technical debt and its positive uses generated a fair bit of controversy. Let me quote an example that I used recently: Remember IMVUs initial IM add-on product?

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Software Review Design Software San Francisco 87

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 3, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, August 3, 2009 Minimum Viable Product: a guide One of the most important lean startup techniques is called the minimum viable product. I was delighted to be asked to give a brief talk about the MVP at the inaugural meetup of the lean startup circle here in San Francisco. Thanks Eric.

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San Francisco Product Lean Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, September 10, 2008 Smarticus — 10 things you could be doing to your code right now Smarticus — 10 things you could be doing to your code right now A great checklist of techniques and tools for making your development more agile, written from a Rail perspective. Expo SF (May. . Expo SF (May.

Software Review 68

Software Review San Francisco Technical Review Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 26, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, August 26, 2009 Building a new startup hub Last week, I had a unique opportunity to spend some time in Boulder at the behest of TechStars. It was a great experience to see a relatively new startup hub in action - and thriving. Their model looks like a key ingredient in the startup brew there.

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San Francisco Silicon Valley Startup Lean 113

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. First of all, the Startup Lessons Learned conference exceeded my wildest expectations. And a special thanks is due to all of our presenters, panelists, and mentors.

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San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 133

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 2, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Thursday, July 2, 2009 How to conduct a Five Whys root cause analysis In the lean startup workshops , we’ve spent a lot of time discussing the technique of Five Whys. My intention is to describe a full working process, similar to what I’ve seen at IMVU and other lean startups. First, a caveat.

San Francisco 164

San Francisco Lean Technical Review Software Review 164

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 30, 2009

Bring in an expert CEO with outstanding business credentials and startup experience to focus on relentless execution. Build a truly mainstream product. Build a world-class technology platform, with patent-pending algorithms and the ability to scale to millions of simultaneous users. Focus on quality. We can skip the chasm.

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San Francisco Lean Agile Continuous Deployment 150

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 7, 2010

for Harvard Business Review) Im excited to have just published the first of several articles on entrepreneurship for the Harvard Business Review online. The Conversation - Harvard Business Review For most of us, the phrase management science conjures up a decidedly non-entrepreneurial image, and for good reason.

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San Francisco Management Continuous Deployment Lean 119

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 11, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, February 11, 2009 The free software hiring advantage This is one of those startup tips Im a little reluctant to share, because its been such a powerful source of competitive advantage in the companies Ive worked with. Especially for a startup, not taking maximum advantage of free software is crazy.

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Software Review Software Hiring San Francisco 68

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 15, 2010

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, January 15, 2010 Two Ways to Hold Entrepreneurs Accountable (for Harvard Business Review) The next part in the series I am writing for Harvard Business Review is online. They are long-term bets on the development of a new line of business, a new technology platform, or the creation of a new market.

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Hockey Stick San Francisco Entrepreneur Lean 105

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 10, 2009

It’s also not a new technique here, we’ve been practicing continuous deployment for years; far longer than I’ve been a member of this startup. Code reviews and pairing Great practices. They’ll increase code quality, prevent defects and educate your developers. If a feature worked, wed keep it.

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Continuous Deployment San Francisco Software Review Lean 123

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 27, 2010

One of the sayings I hear from talented managers in product development is, “good enough never is.&# And, most importantly, it helps team members develop the courage to stand up for these values in stressful situations. Over time, such teams either explode due to irreconcilable differences or dramatically slow down.

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Software Review 167

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 17, 2008

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, November 17, 2008 The four kinds of work, and how to get them done: part one Ive written before about some of the advantages startups have when they are very small, like the benefits of having a pathetically small number of customers. Playing with new technologies. Seeing whats possible.

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San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 88

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

In other words, they are facing conditions of extreme uncertainty, just like startups. The other revels in the world as we all know it will be someday: limitless distribution enabled by new technologies, the importance of collaborative filters, and on-demand availability of all content for end-users.

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San Francisco Lean Technical Review Distribution 113

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. I joined a financial services tech startup in 1999. It was a disaster.

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Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Software Review 60

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 20, 2009

So when we start checking in code more often, release more often, or conduct more frequent design reviews, we can actually do a lot to make those steps dramatically more efficient. Luckily, I now have the benefit of a forthcoming book, The Principles of Product Development Flow. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

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San Francisco Software Review Continuous Deployment Development Team Review 161

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 6, 2008

They take things like unit testing, design documents and code reviews more seriously than any other company Ive even heard about. In many startup situations, ask yourself "Do I really need to accurately know when this project will be done?" The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup?

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Agile San Francisco Software Review Continuous Deployment 76

Software By Rob

AUGUST 5, 2010

Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed. You’re a startup founder, whether actual or aspiring. The problem is that the premise of all of them – whether true or false – is irrelevant to you as a startup founder. You’re a constant learner; a student of life.

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Founder Startup Software Review Software 78

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 5, 2009

Due to an interaction effect between your hardware, solar flares, and quantum flux, this virus will crash your computer and erase your hard drive sometime soon. Managing these situations is hard for any company, but potentially lethal for a startup. There are just so many ways for a startup to fail.

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San Francisco Architecture Lean Continuous Deployment 133

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

Many of them have really cool products shipping or about to be released, and I wholeheartedly agree with my friends at the iFund that the next generation of applications is going to be amazing. From a technical point of view, its amazing. All I see is a name, an icon, a price, the developers name, and a review star-rating.

Distribution 74

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 74

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 22, 2009

That data is completely consonant with the people I know who are successful technologists today, and similar patterns are documented in each recent wave of technology innovation. There would be no Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, or countless other job-creating tech companies today if early computers required corporate authorization to use.

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Programming San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 143

Software By Rob

NOVEMBER 16, 2009

Join nearly 6,000 startup entrepreneurs by subscribing to my RSS feed. Geoffrey Moore Author of Crossing the Chasm and four other books, Geoffrey Moore has been thinking about high-tech product development longer than most of have been doing anything on a computer. Follow me Startups for the Rest of Us.

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Software Review Software San Francisco RSS 47

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 15, 2009

Of all the tactics I have advocated as part of the lean startup , none has provoked as many extreme reactions as continuous deployment , a process that allows companies to release software in minutes instead of days, weeks, or months. Under continuous deployment, as soon as code is written, it’s on its way to production.

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Continuous Deployment Software Review San Francisco Lean 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 12, 2009

Since then, PHP (as part of the LAMP stack ) has really been the dominant development platform, at least in the free software and startup worlds. And yet I keep returning to PHP as a development platform, as have most of my fellow startup CTOs. Given that startups depend on superstars to survive, why stick with PHP?

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PHP Software Review Ruby San Francisco 166

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

I think this is one of your better posts this year, because you are addressing a risk that you face AFTER some early success, when your guard is down and you are more inclined to believe that you know what you are doing and therefore do not need to be as diligent at framing your hypotheses and how you plan to verify them.

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Community Management Lean Software Review 158

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 16, 2009

This is a great example of lean startup thinking. Its design goals arent geared towards efficiency in terms of technical costs. The system would monitor their data and if it looked within norms gradually offer the release to a small number of new users (who had no prior expectation of how the product should work).

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Continuous Deployment San Francisco Software Review Lean 68