Startup Lessons Learned

JANUARY 19, 2009

Fundamentally, lean startups do more with less, because they systematically find and eliminate waste that slows down value creation. I want to talk specifics, and when you come right down to it, most technology startups dont have a very interesting cost structure. As a mentor of mine always says, "Startups dont starve, they drown."

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 14, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, April 14, 2009 Validated learning about customers Would you rather have $30,000 or $1 million in revenues for your startup? In an early-stage startup especially, revenue is not an important goal in and of itself. Let’s start with a simple question: why do early-stage startups want revenue?

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Startup Lessons Learned

APRIL 26, 2009

Its a force that allows startups to build products at parity with much larger companies - cheaper and much faster. Its a key lean startup concept. We combined three tactics: extensive use of free software, an open platform for user-generated content, and leveraged distribution channels. Leveraged distribution channels.

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Startup Lessons Learned

AUGUST 24, 2009

In other words, they are facing conditions of extreme uncertainty, just like startups. But, as any startup can tell you, this opens up a tremendous set of opportunities for the rest of us. Mass blasts of information are ineffective, because the broadcast channels are suffering from information overload (even in social media).

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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. If this was a startup, Id be asking it of a sample of customers even more often, because getting a regular tracking result is helpful for informing your decision loop.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 19, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Saturday, September 19, 2009 Support the Startup Founders Visa with a tweet Its been an exhilarating first day here in Washington DC for the Geeks on a Plane tour. We can remedy it by creating a special visa for startup founders. Its actually part of a lean startup story.

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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. Early this year, SlideShare launched custom channels. How are we doing?

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 31, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Tuesday, March 31, 2009 The Lean Startup workshop coming soon I am currently gearing up for my talk tomorrow at the Web 2.0 As you can tell from recent posts, Ive been experimenting with different formats and channels to try and find the best way to help. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 15, 2009

I promised to post the slides for my highly abbreviated version of the lean startup presentation, so here they are. 2009 09 08 The Lean Startup Gov 2.0 whorunsgov : Eric Ries: Startups fail not because the technology works, but because no one wants the tech. dhinchcliffe : Lean startups go faster. Startup=Experiment.

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Startup Lessons Learned

JULY 31, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, July 31, 2009 A new way to recruit for (and find) startup jobs In my work, I come across a lot of great startups. Similarly, I get pinged by many colleagues, friends, and fans who are looking to find a job with a startup. Great startups are always hiring, if the fit is right.

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Startup Lessons Learned

OCTOBER 7, 2008

The App Store is a channel for customer acquisition. As the channel gets more and more crowded, just launching an app in the store is getting worse and worse as a strategy for each new entrant. On the web, we have many of these channels: SEM, SEO, world of mouth, PR and viral. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

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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. . Expo SF (May.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 13, 2009

Lessons Learned by Eric Ries Friday, March 13, 2009 Dont launch Heres a common question I get from startups, especially in the early stages: when should we launch? In fact, in most situations its a bad idea for startups to synchronize these events. Most startups arent so fortunate. My answer is almost always the same: dont.

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 18, 2008

There are other models, in other distribution channels. As the AppStore becomes increasingly saturated one of the goals of the socialDeck platform is to create an alternative distribution channel -- a way to drive installs of casual games outside of the AppStore oligopoly. The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

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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.&# A successful startup strives for this latter case. Founders struggle with this question.

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Startup Lessons Learned

MARCH 24, 2009

When I work with startups on improving engagement, I really try to emphasize the importance of their most powerful lever: positioning. As notification channels get stuffed full of these messages, customers tune them out (or platforms have to put in place dramatic limits on access). The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0.

Metrics 88

Metrics San Francisco Lean Viral 88

Startup Lessons Learned

NOVEMBER 22, 2008

It is an essential lean startup tool that combines seemingly irreconcilable attributes: it provides operational, actionable, real-time feedback that is truly representative of your customers experience as a whole. Use whatever communication channel you normally rely on for notifying your customers. Even just 10 might be enough.

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.Net Operations San Francisco Lean 158

Startup Lessons Learned

FEBRUARY 12, 2009

(a guide for hackers) (This post was inspired by a conversation with Nivi from Venture Hacks , but is otherwise not his fault) There has been a proliferation of frameworks and metaphors lately that are designed to help startups avoid the all-too-common fatal mistake of failing to find a market. Is a market a set of paying customers?

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Startup Lessons Learned

SEPTEMBER 11, 2009

They are largely invisible in the normal channels where customer service and community management pays attention. As a founder of a company, there is nothing more painful than to see your most loyal and devoted customers suffering. It has channels to speak to but they continue to be closed and frankly rather rude.

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