Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

This may sound crazy, coming as it does from an advocate of c harging customers for your product from day one. Their product definition fluctuates wildly – one month, it’s a dessert topping, the next it’s a floor wax. In fact, this company hasn’t shipped any new products in months. What’s going on?

Customer 167

Customer San Francisco Lean Hockey Stick 167

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Announce a new product, start its PR campaign, and engage in buzz marketing activities. Marketing launch) Make a new product available to customers in the general public. Product launch) In todays world, there is no reason you have to do these two things at the same time. Establish credibility with potential partners.

San Francisco 168

San Francisco PR Lean Early Stage 168

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. The store determines which products sit on which shelves, and which yours sits next to. There are other models, in other distribution channels.

Distribution 74

Distribution San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment 74

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 19, 2009

One, which is described in great detail in the Mythical Man-Month (in finding that link, I discovered that today is coincidentally the exact 11th anniversary of my first purchasing that book: Jan 19, 1998), is that as you add people to a team or project, there is an increase in communications overhead that makes everyone slightly less productive.

Lean 140

Lean Hiring San Francisco Continuous Deployment 140

Startup Lessons Learned

JUNE 5, 2009

Sometimes an early negative result from an experiment is a harbinger of doom for that product, and means it should be abandoned. Imagine a general manager that has read The Innovator’s Dilemma and related books, and is therefore trying hard to help her organization make a transition to a new product category via disruptive innovation.

San Francisco 102

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment Startup 102

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 4, 2009

Today, Id like to spend some time on two techniques: the problem presentation and learning what channels of information reach customers. Every product ultimately is satisfying a need in the customers who buy it or use it. Products that dont solve satisfy any need for any customers tend to die out quickly. Thats an early adopter.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 24, 2009

These decisions are critical to the success of any high-engagement product, and they take place entirely inside the minds of customers. As notification channels get stuffed full of these messages, customers tune them out (or platforms have to put in place dramatic limits on access). Its the ultimate high-engagement product.

Metrics 88

Metrics San Francisco Lean Viral 88

Startup Lessons Learned

DECEMBER 14, 2009

A great product enables customers, developers, partners, and even competitors to exchange their unique currencies in combinations that lead to financial success for the company that organizes them. Let’s look at some examples: In a traditional business, customers pay money for a physical artifact (a product) or a service.

Customer 156

Customer San Francisco Viral Lean 156

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. If your company is using minimum viable product , you’ve probably said the same thing yourself. Early this year, SlideShare launched custom channels.

San Francisco 167

San Francisco Lean Analytics Continuous Deployment 167

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, September 11, 2009 The cardinal sin of community management Once you have a product launched, you will the face the joys – and the despair – of a community that grows up around it. They are largely invisible in the normal channels where customer service and community management pays attention.

Community 158

Community Management Lean Software Review 158

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

In my presentation this morning, I emphasized three key areas: reducing the personal cost of failure for entrepreneurs, innovation-friendly legal reforms, and access to the digital means of production (slides from my White House presentation are available at the end of this post). Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n.

San Francisco 150

San Francisco Founder DC Washington 150

Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 31, 2009

As you can tell from recent posts, Ive been experimenting with different formats and channels to try and find the best way to help. That survey is the minimum viable product! Case Study: Continuous deployment makes releases n. Combining agile development with customer developm. And you bought it! Expo SF (May.

Lean 68

Lean San Francisco Continuous Deployment DC 68

Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

g2s The very abbreviated version of Customer Development (channeling Steve Blank ). Kent Beck keynote, "To Agility, and Beyond" Six streaming locations Interviews ► March (7) New conference website, speakers, agenda Two new scholarship programs for lean startups Speed up or slow down? once it launches. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 92

San Francisco DC Washington Lean 92

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 22, 2008

You could conduct an in-person usability test, which is very useful for getting a view of how actual people perceive the totality of your product. The tracking survey asks one simple question: How likely are you to recommend Product X to a friend or colleague? is usually asked on a 0-10 point scale. Even just 10 might be enough.

.Net 158

.Net Operations San Francisco Lean 158

Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 11, 2009

Those who have tried to build apps that exist just as glorified landing pages or marketing channels have generally failed. And, most importantly, you have several reliable communciation channels to talk to them including including email, profile notifications, feed items and status messages. Expo SF (May.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Social Network Lean Continuous Deployment 68

Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2008

Take a look at The App Store after the gold rush - FierceDeveloper : According to a recent BusinessWeek feature , the flood of new games, productivity tools and related iPhone software is making it difficult for the vast majority of apps to crack the consumer consciousness. The App Store is a channel for customer acquisition.

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Retention SEM 68

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 12, 2009

To wit: achieving product/market fit , getting customer validation , making something people want , things that matter , and of course the many excellent books on the topic, of which Ill mention just two of the best, Crossing the Chasm and The Innovators Dilemma. In fact, you cant go through traditional channels at all. Tough sell.

San Francisco 89

San Francisco Continuous Deployment Ruby Lean 89

Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 31, 2009

They may not have an open req for a specific job, but if the right amazing person walks in the door, they will always find something productive for them to do. Id be happy to make it better (regular readers will recognize joblink as a minimum viable product ). Maybe location-specific "channels"? Function-specific?

San Francisco 68

San Francisco Lean Startup Continuous Deployment 68