Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

What matters is proving the viability of the company’s business model, what investors call “traction.&# Of course this is not at all true of many profitable small businesses, but they are not what I mean by startups.) And what of the product development team? Every board meeting, the metrics of success change.

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 18, 2010

That process involves rapid hypothesis testing, validated learning about customers , and a disciplined approach to product development. What differentiates them is their disciplined approach to determining when to spend money: after the fundamental elements of the business model have been empirically validated.

Lean 167

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment Startup 167

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 21, 2010

This is equally true of a packaged good in a grocery store, an ecommerce website, a non-profit social service or a variety of government programs. Most businesses – large and small alike – are typically excluded by this context. Most businesses – large and small alike – are typically excluded by this context.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco Startup Lean Continuous Deployment 168

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 15, 2010

For software companies especially, scaling distribution and development is comparatively cheap. We have to continually invent new categories of products, new platforms, and new business models – all extremely risky bets. For software companies especially, scaling distribution and development is comparatively cheap.

IPO 166

IPO San Francisco Lean Silicon Valley 166

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 7, 2009

I spent some time with his company before the conference and discussed ways to get started with continuous deployment , including my experience introducing it at IMVU. Moreover, approaching the problem from the direction that I had intuitively is a recipe for never reaching a point where continuous deployment is feasible.

Continuous Deployment 131

Continuous Deployment San Francisco Software Review Lean 131

Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 16, 2010

It requires separating the product launch from the marketing launch (see Dont Launch ) as well as other staple Lean Startup tactics: minimum viable product, split-testing, customer development and the pivot. That is customer development. That is the essence of proving the business in micro-scale.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Analytics Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

MAY 17, 2009

Identify a profitable business model faster and cheaper than your competitors. Continuously discover what customers want to buy before building or making follow-on investments in new features. The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development ► June (3) What is a startup? for Harvard Business Revie.

Lean 60

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 60

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 9, 2009

No business model, either. All my products and ideas focus on early cash and a business model that works from the first day. So, the idea of starting without a business model is good ? It doesn't matter what business model you have thought about, in the early day. And Google?

San Francisco 94

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 94

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Monday, December 14, 2009 Business ecology and the four customer currencies Lately, I’ve been rethinking the concept of “business model&# for startups, in favor of something I call “business ecology.&# Constructing a working business model is a form of ecosystem design.

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Do some Customer Development instead. You have to know your business model. Most startups launch before theyve figured out what business theyre in. Hold yourself and your PR agency accountable for developing a high level of understanding of these questions ahead of time. for Harvard Business Revie.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

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. Thats what business is designed to do.

San Francisco 128

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Agile 128

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 28, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Wednesday, January 28, 2009 Refactoring yourself out of business Let me start out by saying I am a big fan of refactoring , the ongoing process of changing code so that it performs the same behaviors but has more elegant structure. Its an essential discipline of good software development, especially in startups.

San Francisco 79

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 79