Rajiv Menon - Informulate | Digital Products & Innovation Consulting

Why I love Agile

Rajiv Menon on April 15, 2016

Are you Agile? If yes, are you using the term and some ceremony without truly embracing the philosophy? It’s important to refresh your understanding of what it means to be Agile and keep striving towards ever more Agility. And if you’re not Agile, start now!

“There is room for everyone in Agile as long as you’re willing to invest in yourself and learn new ways of working.” – Scott Ambler, Creator of Disciplined Agile Delivery

It Started With A Manifesto

The Agile Manifesto is a unique document that laid out the principles and philosophy of the Agile approach. It came from a group of software professionals who understood how technology was evolving and cared deeply about the end customers. Here are the 4 core values of Agile:

Individuals and interactions over processes and tools
Working software over comprehensive documentation
Customer collaboration over contract negotiation
Responding to change over following a plan

While the aspects on the right are important and sometimes necessary, the aspects on the left should win in a fight.

What’s In It For You?

Agile principles are not just for software projects. The idea that you deliver quickly, consistently and align with the customer frequently is applicable to any kind of delivery. It will give you all-around results by:

Not going too far down a path that you then have to reverse course from thus saving money
Letting customers react to what they see, and learning about the end result together thus reducing time to market
Not having to spend time perfecting something before you know it will be used a certain way
Identifying deal breaker issues early
Allowing individuals within your team to express themselves
Continuously evolving your combined team’s working relationship into one built on trust, continuous delivery and improvement
And much more…

It’s not just what we believe and what our customers love – Agile is already the norm for development teams and projects across the world. However, only 16% of teams are truly Agile where they apply and exhibit Agile behavior across all levels of the organization. Are you leading a team but want to truly uncover the benefits of Agile for your organization? We can help.

Was this helpful? Have a follow-up question? Drop a note in the comment section below.

Ready to engineer innovation at your company? Let’s talk!

Why Are You Building A Mobile App?

Rajiv Menon on January 29, 2016

How do you decide whether you should build a native mobile app or a responsive mobile site or the flavors in between? After searching online for a tool to help organize this decision making process and not finding anything, I decided to create a “decision grid” (see below) to simplify this process. My aim is to help you make a good decision, whether you are a mobile startup, moving to mobile or a business utilizing a “mobile first” strategy. We wrote a post about the broad considerations a while ago but this post will simplify it further.

NOTE: A tick means a clear preference for that option. An asterisk means that the option would work but is not the obvious choice. No tick, of course, means that the option is not preferred if that particular criterion is important to you.

Dive Deeper

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Need help deciding whether or not mobile is right for you? Give us a holler.

Grow Thy Business: 60 Min. Validation Exercise

Rajiv Menon on January 29, 2016

Entrepreneurs, brand managers, product managers and CEO’s tend to think that their product is “revolutionary” and will spread like wildfire. However, it’s no secret that the vast majority of new products launched every year will fail. It is also clear that the #1 reason for failure is that it is a product that no one wants or cares about.

So, how do you find out if people want your product’s feature set? Apply Lean Startup!

After working with hundreds of entrepreneurs and corporate innovators around the world with Lean Startup Machine, I have seen firsthand how effective the methodology can be. I believe the key benefit is removing the guesswork about whether or not your new idea will succeed. This process, however, is not as intuitive as you would think. It’s like a muscle in that it requires practice in order to get stronger.

Want to flex those muscles? Try the exercise below.

Here’s What You’ll Need:

Printer
Sticky Notes
Sharpies
BIG energy

Exercise:

Step 1: Gather your team to brainstorm a product or feature idea that would make a significant impact. (10 min.)

Step 2: Download the Experiment Board and watch the experiment board tutorial video to get a breakdown of how to use this tool to validate/invalidate your product idea. (10 min.)

Step 3: Create your first experiment in the experiment board. (20 min.)

Step 4: Get out of the building and talk to customers. (20 min.)

Step 5: You did it! You’re now done with your first experiment. How did it go? Did you persevere out of the gate or did you need to pivot? Let us know on Twitter by using the hashtag #GrowThyBusiness or tag us @Informulate.

Grow Thyself: 15 Min. Power Pose Exercise

Rajiv Menon on January 29, 2016

A little preparation can go a long way. Before an important meeting or presentation is your brain firing all kinds of ideas and fears? As you get out of bed in the morning, are you anxious about the upcoming events of the day? Sure, there are big lifestyle changes and confidence building programs out there, but its always nice to start with the low-hanging fruit first. Confidence impacts everything we do and everyone wants more of it. What if there was something you could do within a few minutes that significantly boosted your self-confidence?

In this video, Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows how “power posing” can have a big impact on our daily success. I’d suggest you watch it, then read on.

We all have different versions of ourselves based on our moods. In a very real sense, the “baseline” mood you carry the most is the “you” that everyone knows. Happy Jane says and does things differently than Sad Jane. So whether you are nervous, angry or thankful – it shows. More importantly you judge yourself based on how you act/react.

Have you ever said: “Oh, I’d never be able to make that presentation”? Your attitude can be self-fulfilling.

Sure, nervous Jane wouldn’t be able to do it, but what about Happy Jane? What if it was easy to channel that happiness when you need it? Let us know how this goes for you on Twitter using the hashtag #GrowThyself or tag us @Informulate.

What Is Lean Startup & Why Should You Care?

Rajiv Menon on November 10, 2015

Let me put it simply: if any part of your job responsibilities involves problem solving, you need to learn about Lean Startup! (click to tweet) Even if it doesn’t right now, given how quickly established industries are being disrupted, there is no guarantee your job will exist 5 years from now especially if it’s repetitive (thus automatable). The future will belong to those who embrace change now.

“Companies have a choice. Disrupt themselves or die. Innovation is health insurance.“ – Tristan Kromer, Founder of TriKro

All About Innovation

This may sound mystical, even grandiose. It might seem like innovation is the exclusive privilege of startup geniuses or massive corporations. It’s not. Pitching a new idea is innovative just as creating a new product is. Packaging a new service is an innovation just as disrupting an industry is. The Lean Startup is a book by Eric Ries that simplifies the process of developing new ideas to ensure they successfully solve problems and create value.

What’s In It For You?

So why should you learn and begin implementing this way of thinking? Because it will give you immediate results. Here’s how:

by saving you time and money spent on something that will not succeed
by helping you find the right path to success quicker
by immediately arming you with the right set of questions to approach undefined problems
by helping you decide what priorities are the most important to tackle right away
by equipping you with a whole set of tools and techniques to help you innovate quicker, smarter and cheaper

Even if you don’t make all of those decisions in your organization, the learnings from the book will immediately allow you to add value in a room full of executives, product owners, and experts alike.

But don’t take my word for it. Hear it from uber-VC Marc Andreesen, Silicon Valley author/educator/entrepreneur Steve Blank, and even from non-profit organizations such as Kiva.

Also, check out our other posts on the topic:

If you can’t tell by now, I strongly advise you to “Learn Lean”.

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Ready to engineer innovation at your company?

Cognitive Biases or Who Makes Your Choices For You?

Rajiv Menon on September 23, 2014

We all think we have a pretty good idea about our strengths and weaknesses. In the longer term, we think we have a general idea where we are headed in our careers and aspirations. In the middle term, we think we have a pretty good handle on the current and future state of our projects etc. We also believe ourselves to be rational beings that make decisions based on the best information available. How much of that is really true?

If the science of psychology has anything to say about it, not much. At least for the majority of us. The Freudian school considers the human psyche to consist of 3 parts: the ID, the Ego, and the SuperEgo – each battling for control. This article should help to prepare you to listen to the separate voices arguing in your head and be better prepared to lead the discussion rather than only hearing from the victor. There are too many cognitive biases to get into, so here is a link to the lot: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases

Let’s pick one of the more insidious ones to get into more detail: Confirmation bias. This is when we employ Blink-style intuitive methods to arrive at a decision about something but since the decision making process was short circuited (implicit) we don’t know if it was scientifically valid or that it took into consideration all the information available. This is fine when you are in a dark alley and a guy wants you to get into a van because he has a TV to sell you (low reward, needing immediate response). But when you are making longer term decisions you need to be explicit about how you arrived there. Yet, we don’t. How many of us write down pros and cons in a spreadsheet when we buy a used car or, even if we do, follow a point system that covers various attributes such as maintenance and resale value, instead of being swayed by the paint job or a sales pitch? In a work environment, things are required to be a little more explicit and detailed, so we do employ project management tools, and status reports. But how often do we find ourselves underestimating tasks when the project is behind schedule and we’re hoping to catch up? Or end up arguing in a meeting primarily because we don’t like the person we are arguing against? These are instances of biases where we have made up our mind, and are simply rationalizing that decision by employing our best dialectic skill. These may seem innocuous but once you have stated an opinion in public, fear arise. Of being proven wrong or being seen as weak (due to vacillation), and we are soon painted into a corner.

Confirmation bias is especially disastrous when it affects decision makers with little external accountability such as startup founders. We make decisions based on our own past experience and what we hope the outcome will be. Hope is a powerful thing, leading founders to make the big leaps of faith needed to launch any enterprise. But, as is so often the case, our greatest strengths are also our most dangerous weaknesses. That leap of faith is also invoked when doubling down on losing bets (insert favorite founder-blunder here). At one of our meetups, we played a game (albeit slightly contrived) to illustrate this point to our members. It was quite revealing how exactly to script it played out (as below).

So what can we do? Well, the first step is to never rule out the possibility that you might be wrong. But, unchecked, that could lead to self-doubt and analysis-paralysis. An alternative is the Scientific Method or its popular, current exponent – The Lean Startup approach. By clearly listing our assumptions, experiments and success criteria before starting out we can prevent rationalization and “moving the goal post” later on. The idea is not to negate your human qualities of detecting patterns, creativity, and applied experience but having a scientific approach to balance them against the human frailities of over confidence, the need to be right, and other biases.

Before you lead others, you must lead yourself. So make sure your insecurities and weaknesses aren’t leading you. Good luck!

8 Reasons That Lean Startup Will Rule The World

Rajiv Menon on February 3, 2014

Well, it works. Yes, startups are risky. Per Eric Ries: A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. So it should be no surprise that the majority of startups fail. What is the best outcome under those circumstances? To optimize the path to finding product-market fit, and if its not going to happen – then minimize the cost of finding that out. Lean startup has proven its efficacy at doing just that.
It is a much needed concept. In product development circles, lean startup makes all of the pieces of the puzzle connect. Managing stakeholders, pivoting direction, questions about how much to invest and in what, answering the why questions – all of these have been treated as unrelated, thorny issues in a business. When I first read about The Lean Startup, it was like a light bulb went off. It captured so much of my own best practices at Informulate, and also added some critical pieces I was looking for. I know a lot of product development folks feel the same: it fills a clear need.
Lean startup is holistic. One of the criticisms of Lean Startup is that it is not bringing anything new to the table other than a buzzword. I disagree – though the Scientific method, Lean philosophy, Agile, Customer Development concepts, analytics driven decision-making etc. existed before, The Lean Startup concepts brings unrelated disciplines together into a cohesive package that is greater than the sum of its parts. Plus: evangelists of existing methodologies can easily identify with The Lean Startup and this accelerates its adoption curve.
Startup founders are the new rock stars of today. Young people today are looking to emulate famous entrepreneurs such as Mark Zuckerberg or Larry Page who built massive fortunes starting from their dorm rooms. This romance is powerful and bears witness to the explosion of startup related meetups, contests, hackathons, etc. that fuel this fire. There is a huge demand to enter entrepreneurship, and any methodology that can quicken the maturation of newbie entrepreneurs will have a readymade following. This the cultural milieu into which The Lean Startup was born.
The pace of disruption is exponential. Innovation continues to accelerate at a rapid pace. Every year a multitude of new businesses and products come to market and are quickly adopted. Data is much more accessible, barriers to entry have dropped, million+ networks are established routinely… In such a fast paced environment, there is high uncertainty. Traditional businesses that have existed for decades or centuries are being shunted aside. Every business needs to behave as a startup. Again, a perfect environment for The Lean Startup to take root.
Lean startup methodologies are largely sector-agnostic It can be effectively applied by any enterprise, non-profit, or government agency. Previous methodologies never really grew the sector whence it was spawned but the Lean Startup has quickly grown beyond its inception in software based startups. There are many ways to learn too. Keep reading this blog, attend a conference, join a linkedIn or meetup group or take a class.
Globalization is now unstoppable Startup culture is being exported all over the world, and along with it Lean Startup principles are being studied and applied everywhere too.
There is a lot of capital available to chase ideas. This is a time of Quantitative Easing and large corporate cash reserves – Major companies, venture capitalists, angel investors, foundation funding, startup incubators, crowdfunding, etc. show that there is a lot of money chasing the next big thing/s. A high supply of entrepreneurs coupled with lots of funding means that this is probably the best time in history for startups.

Lean startup is perfectly placed at the knee of the adoption curve, and has already had some big successes under its belt. The next couple of years will likely see it becoming the de facto approach to product development. So, are you in?

Are you an insecure founder?

Rajiv Menon on January 23, 2014

Or are you working for an insecure founder? Take this 5 point quiz to figure it out. I should know, I was one. And when I was there, admitting it was really hard. So let’s dive in – ask yourself these questions (or answer for your founder) and add up your points.

1) Sharing your idea with others: Startups spawn competition. Warren Buffet famously invests in companies that have a “”moat” against competition. So how do you react to this challenge? Do you continue to share despite risks (0 points), or go into stealth mode until the product is ready (2 points)?

2) Building a better product: As we look across the marketplace, most successful products that capture and maintain market share are full featured. Despite the fact that products may have grown in a specific niche, it appears that the really successful ones were able to broaden their appeal by having something for every type of user. They leveraged their scale to build their moat. So do you risk going to market and pitching a lightweight product (0 points), or hedging your bets by having multiple feature sets (2 points)?

3) Dealing with Negative Nancys: Optimism and self-belief are what builds things. Complainers and naysayers suck all the air out of the room. You may find these kinds of investors, team members, even early users who cannot see the potential but are quick to dismiss. Do you allow the negativity to impact your momentum (0 points) or do you protect your team that is busy creating (2 points)?

4) Envisioning the future: Founders without vision are like bats without sonar – they fly into walls. It is your vision that drives the team, that pulls that future possibility into the present. People depend on you to know what the future is like. Doubt, uncertainty, changing your mind, etc. are behaviors that show you aren’t sure and this could be dangerous to team spirit. Do you protect your team from the fear of failure (2 points) or do you share your fears hoping for support and risk employee turnover (0 points)?

5) Order versus entropy: Teams perform at high efficiency when plans are clear, output is measurable, problems are predictable and solutions are known. Who wants to work at a place where the goals change every day? How will your team members know whether they meet expectations? You can simplify things for the team by taking out the variability. You can find the shortest path to the next feature set without disrupting the current product version or existing customers. Do you ensure the efficiency of the team by creating a high performance sandbox (2 points) or do you disrupt their workdays by experimenting on possible customer needs (0 points)?

Total up your scores, the results are coming shortly.

But before we do that, to set the record straight, this is not about stress, exhaustion, uncertainty, bi-polarity, personal hang ups, fear of failure etc. Those are par for the course for any founder. Here we are talking about a specific aspect: irrational insecurity about the approach which afflicts a large number of first time founders, and some just never shake it off. This can destroy businesses and leave permanent scars.

And here are the results:

1) 8-10: You are insecure. Admit it, and then work to get better. You may think that putting your own money on the line, quitting your day job, etc. demonstrates your security and self belief. It doesn’t. In some cases that may show desperation if you cannot find others to fund/ally with you. You, your product, and your team need to engage openly and fearlessly with the world (customers, investors, team) with warts and all. The good news is that if your team learns and grows as a result of being constantly challenged then there is a future, else there isn’t.

2) 5-7: You are tending towards insecurity. Understand how your insecurity is detrimental to success. Read The Lean Startup, or at least understand its concepts. You have a choice: live in a perceived perfect world where everything falls into place and you experience success, OR get kicked in the teeth a few times by going out and exposing yourself and the team to shocks, but quietly believing in yourself to learn and grow from it to emerge stronger.

3) 2-4: You have some room for improvement. The decisions you make, and the culture you create is often as important as the product and the vision you have. Engaging your team, empowering them to understand higher level business objectives and trusting them to perform in changing conditions builds that culture. Keep working towards that.

4) 0-1: Congratulations, you are perfect! All the wealth and success in the world is yours… maybe. Having the right mindset is great but so is doing the hard work of implementing Lean Startup and letting the data speak. Keep improving your ability to tune out your confirmation bias, use your team’s creativity to think of new value propositions and hypotheses to test and most important of all – engage and understand your customer really, really well.

God speed you on your travels!

Picture courtesy of Thomas P. Röthlisberger

Lean Startup – 9 concepts to get you started

Rajiv Menon on January 16, 2014

So you’ve heard about the Lean Startup and are curious. If you don’t have a basic primer on it, go here. I’m serious! If you don’t understand the philosophy then review that before you jump into some techniques. I’ll wait.

Okay, now that you understand the basic principles let’s move forward with my pick of the top 9 concepts/techniques. I’ve tried to arrange it in decreasing order of ease of adoption, but your mileage may vary:

Small batches/Agile: A lot of software development outfits have already adopted Agile as their preferred approach. Awareness of Agile is pervasive at this point, but implementation of Agile still covers a wide spectrum of rigor. Agile in the Lean Startup context not only means the delivery of features but also thinking of feature set as an experiment, accompanied by analytics to validate whether the expected customer adoption/usage actually happened. Lean Startup also challenges Agile teams to deliver at unprecedented speeds of multiple releases per day.
5 Whys: When you go fast, you also accelerate problems. But how do we choose between possible future problems to preempt? Lean Startup advises NOT to invest too much in preemptive solutions, rather be ready to move quickly when breakages DO happen. Then use the 5 Whys technique to dig 5 or more levels deep into the root cause of the issue, and fix it such that the problem does not recur. This involves asking Why there was a failure, and repeatedly asking Why to each answer that is presented. It is important to not punish the team for breakages caused by quick movement, rather to hold them accountable to prevent a recurrence.
Get out of the building: Strategic decisions must hinge on firsthand understanding of customers. Big investment decisions being predicated on assumed customer behavior without validation is the cause of much wasted capital. Heavy customer development/validation at every stage of product development is essential to stay on course to delivering end user value. This should not be viewed as an expensive, time consuming distraction but really used as a gate that approves further investment. This must be qualitative but also quantitative in generating usage metrics both before, during, and after launch.
MVP: You know we can’t talk about LeanStartup without its single biggest buzzword. 🙂 The term seems so… definite and succinct but everyone’s personal definition of Minimum and Viable varies. What narrows it down is how you define your hypotheses. Minimum Viable Product is what you build as you test out your core Growth and Value hypotheses. There are many creative ways to validate the hypotheses that minimize effort in building features such as Video MVP, Wizard of Oz MVP, Concierge MVP etc. Best designed MVPs are the result of Clarity (in terms of the hypotheses) and Creativity (to find the shortest path to validate).
Build-Measure-Learn: The 2nd most famous buzzword is the Build Measure Learn loop. Once we accept that we aren’t going to get it right the first time, we need to force decision makers to think in terms of hypotheses (ideas), experiments (product), analytics (data) and iteration (loop). Measure behavior not feedback. Do not think of startups as a one big launch with a single boolean outcome, but a series of experiments EACH with discrete boolean outcomes.
Pivot v Persevere: Again, this is an aspect that demands judgment and intuition. If you have constructed your hypotheses and set up your experiments right, your data should be clear on whether you need to Pivot or Persevere. There are many types of Pivot such as the zoom-in pivot, customer segment pivot, platform pivot, etc. It takes courage and mental preparation to let the data speak and prepare for a Pivot. Remember that a Pivot is not about giving up, but about continuing to strive for a better product-market fit. Also, remember that persevering should be considered if data indicates that experimental results were significantly skewed by data, lack of marketing, or other factors that could be influenced by just improving basic product and marketing quality.
Innovation accounting: Innovation accounting is about looking beyond traditional dollars/cents and volume metrics to really understand customer behavior. Once you establish a baseline of analytics with the MVP, each experiment/pivot should be associated with what the expected outcome/improvement in metrics is. This will talk to whether a current strategy is working or whether a pivot is needed. This means ignoring vanity metrics like number of downloads, hits etc. and focusing on conversion rates, retention rates, referral rates etc.
Innovation sandbox: Innovation sandbox is an area of the organization that is seeking to implement/understand Lean Startup techniques. This is NOT a skunkworks model of getting free passes or preferential treatment at the expense of the rest of the organization but more as an advance guard that educates and brings the rest of the team forward with it. The team should be cross-functional and with the intent to disseminate ideas and include feedback.
Adaptive organization: This is the term Eric Ries uses when describing an organization that has fully embodied Lean Startup principles. Progress is measured using Innovation Accounting, experiments translate into Validated Learning Milestones, etc. A comfort level is built for traditional “failures” as the focus is on learning. An “Immune System” is built for the organization where all team members deeply understand the new values of the organization and are empowered to ask questions/propose experiments and follow through. Management understands that innovation is no longer the purview of specific types of industry/business but given the rate of disruption is mandated upon all organizations.

That’s it in a nutshell. One thing to remember as you start getting deeper into LeanStartup is that there is a rapidly growing ecosystem out there. Many well-received books and workshops have sprung up such as:

Running Lean by Ash Maurya
Lean UX
Lean Analytics
The Startup Owner’s Manual
UX for Lean Startups
Lean Enterprise
Lean Startup Machine
Lean Launch lab
Lean Monitor
Many others upcoming 🙂 Given the huge interest in Lean Startup, things are going to get very busy.

Although, there is great value being created, you should know how to find and apply it. There are risks as you approach the broader ecosystem of Lean techniques. While The Lean Startup itself is generally applicable and pushes concepts and thinking, the derivations push finer grained tools and techniques such as the Lean Canvas, the Javelin board etc. This tightening of focus may start to exclude certain types of products/services that do not fit nicely into the tools. While I still think Lean StartUp as an approach applies to almost every organization you can think of, you have to use your judgment on which derived tool/technique applies to your business situation. But remember: you can’t pre-judge based on theory! You have to practice it to really understand it, so invest the time to get deeper. It is worth it.

At Informulate, the Lean Startup helps us address existential questions on finding/creating value for customers. Stay tuned for our upcoming posts as we dive deeper into Running Lean.

Haven’t read The Lean Startup? Then read this.

Rajiv Menon on January 7, 2014

Lean Startup is a methodology/movement taking over the startup universe. Lean Startup Conferences, startup weekends, numerous meetups, LinkedIn groups, blogs, podcasts and most business incubators worldwide inundate us with Lean Startup evangelization. As with most buzzwords, it has grown to where people talk about it – without really understanding it. To that end, this is our multi-part attempt to share the most important aspects of this terminology in some depth. In this first part, we will cover the basics.

So What Is It About?

Lean Startup, at its core, attempts to answer the quintessential question: Why build anything? Not just what to build, or how to build. It is a compilation of various components of business – strategy, marketing, analytics, experimentation, expectation setting, execution, etc. It engenders and overlaps approaches such as Customer Development, Agile Methodology, Lean Manufacturing, and is really an application of the Scientific Method. I like how the author Eric Reis has boiled all of these elements down into an actionable set of principles and practices. He targets starters within large enterprises with his message too, but for the sake of this series, I will begin by focusing on startups.

Why Do We Need It?

Traditional entrepreneurs are faced with analysis overload. They are burdened with extensive planning, forecasting, market research, etc. that fosters large investments with a “build it and they will come” approach. At the other end of the spectrum, management-averse startups build with little planning, rely completely on intuition and often don’t have a deep understanding of their customers. Founders have gazed into the abyss with, usually, little more than a hunch on what to do next. Such tactics usually result in disaster.

Here is a list of some common problems faced by startups:

Wrong attribution of risk: Startups think their risk is around quality and/or functionality risk but really their biggest risk is that the solution itself is misguided or non-monetizable.
Mishmash of concepts: Applications go after conflicting user demographics or try to please too broad an audience. Customer usage paradigms are not well understood, and this leads to an inconsistency of experience.
Feature overdose: Founders are so convinced that their first launch will guarantee success that they want the best, most feature-filled release up front. This is an inappropriate expenditure of resources.
Lack of expectation setting: What kills a lot of startups is not thinking beyond the initial launch. They tend to approach it with an all or nothing approach, putting all resources into one basket rather as a process that will take many iterations.
HiPPOs: Highest paid individuals make the decisions based on their own experience/intuitions and little market/customer validation. This is a big risk.
Lack of taking measurements or not knowing what to measure. In order to know whether you are headed in the right direction analytics and metrics are essential. Vanity metrics (number of downloads, number of hits, etc.) must be replaced with actionable metrics suited to the particular application.
Analysis Paralysis: In an effort to fend off intuition based decision making, managers may spend an inordinate amount of time theorizing about the markets, competitors, pricing, etc. and burn a lot of budget with little to show for it.

What Are Some Basic Premises?

So we understand the problems faced, and we also know that the vast majority of startups fail. So the Lean Startup approach aims to improve your chances but if failure is imminent, then it minimizes the effort you expend in the process. In other words, “fail fast, succeed faster”. In order to do that, we espouse some principles:

A Startup is not a business. Not yet anyway. From Steve Blank: “A startup is a temporary organization designed to search for a repeatable and scalable business model.” Knowing this means you understand that it is not about a product, and that it could take many iterations to get there.
Expectations must be set to treat all activities as a set of experiments targeted at gleaning insights and learning. All features need usage data to confirm/reject the hypotheses.
True learning and insight only comes from customer interaction, behavior observation and their measurement. Theory, secondhand knowledge or debate is overrated.
Care must be taken to think about what the relevant hypotheses are. Experiments can be conducted relatively inexpensively. Be creative and audacious in finding the shortest paths to hypothesis validation.
The faster the cycle of building, measuring and learning, the faster the startup can move on to becoming an enterprise. Therefore, build in the smallest increments of value, have your metrics ready and roll out quicker.
Progress is to be measured in terms of how much learning has been validated, and whether a pivot of strategy is needed. Ignore vanity metrics, embrace actionable metrics.
Success is gleaning customer insights and delivering solutions that address them – faster than your competitors do. Intuition, creativity, experience and perseverance very much have a place, but they are not allowed to be stumbling blocks that prevent pivots, where warranted.

Where It Came From.

Entrepreneuer, academician and author Steve Blank wrote the best seller “The Four Steps of the Epiphany,” in 2005. This inspired Eric Ries (Blank’s former student). He is the author of the best seller, “The Lean Startup,” published in 2011. Ries developed the philosophy in 2008 and trademarked the term. He described the philosophy as an application of lean thinking. That and other origins of this methodology, complemented Agile Practices, and a host of other influences.

What It Isn’t.

A boilerplate process that guarantees success. You may or may not succeed, but at least you won’t waste too many resources to find that out. Once you have achieved Product/Market fit, be prepared to burn through resources quickly to capture the market.

The Takeaway?

Many think that startup risks stem from execution deficiencies, quality issues, cost of development, funding shortfalls, etc., but the critical risk is “product to market fit,” a/k/a working on the wrong thing.

My 2 cents.

The Lean Startup concept has a lot to offer startups as well as larger enterprises. The essence is this: Knowing what is worth building. You do that by constant customer validation / experimentation and breaking cognitive biases. At Informulate we employ a variety of tools and practices that derive from this philosophy that are high value to our clients. We will get into those in more detail in following posts.

How Does The Lean Startup Accomplish Its Principles?**

Read our next post. :p

And now that you know this, go read the book!

Picture courtesy of Nathan Cooke.