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The Lean Startup#leanstartupEric Ries (@ericries)http://StartupLessonsLearned.com
Entrepreneurship = AwesomeIt is the best time in the history of the world to be an entrepreneurCosts are falling in all industriesBarriers are being destroyedDisruption and chaos are everywhere
Why build a startup?Only entrepreneurship combines these three elementsChange the worldBuild an organization of lasting valueMake customers’ lives better
Most Startups Fail
Most Startups Fail
Most Startups Fail
Most Startups FailBut it doesn’t have to be that way. We can do better. This talk is about how.
What is a startup?A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Nothing to do with size of company, sector of the economy, or industry
Entrepreneurship is managementOur goal is to create an institution, not just a productTraditional management practices fail “general management” as taught to MBAsNeed practices and principles geared to the startup context of extreme uncertaintyNot just for “two guys in a garage”
The PivotWhat do successful startups have in common?They started out as digital cash for PDAs, but evolved into online payments for eBay. They started building BASIC interpreters, but evolved into the world's largest operating systems monopoly. They were shocked to discover their online games company was actually a photo-sharing site.Pivot: change directions but stay grounded in what we’ve learned. http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/2009/06/pivot-dont-jump-to-new-vision.html
Speed Winsif we can reduce the time between major iterationswe can increase our odds of success
A Tale of Two Startups
Startup #1
Stealth Startup Circa 2001
All about the team
A good plan?Start a company with a compelling long-term vision. Raise plenty of capital.Hire the absolute best and the brightest.Hire an experienced management team with tons of startup experience.Focus on quality. Build a world-class technology platform.Build buzz in the press and blogosphere.
Achieving FailureCompany failed* $40MM and five years of painCrippled by “shadow beliefs” that destroyed the effort of all those smart people.
Shadow Belief #1We know what customers want.
Shadow Belief #2We can accurately predict the future.
Shadow Belief #3Advancing the plan is progress.
A good plan?Start a company with a compelling long-term vision. Raise plenty of capital.Hire the absolute best and the brightest.Hire an experienced management team with tons of startup experience.Focus on quality. Build a world-class technology platform.Build buzz in the press and blogosphere.
Startup #2
IMVU 
IMVU 
New planShipped in six months – a horribly buggy beta productCharged from day oneShipped multiple times a day (by 2008, on average 50 times a day)No PR, no launchResults 2009: profitable, revenue > $20MM
Making ProgressIn a lean transformation, question #1 is – which activities are value-creating and which are waste?In traditional business, value is created by delivering products or services to customersIn a startup, the product and customer are unknownsWe need a new definition of value for startups
Traditional Product DevelopmentUnit of Progress: Advance to Next StageWaterfallRequirementsSpecificationDesignProblem: knownSolution: knownImplementationVerificationMaintenance
Agile Product DevelopmentUnit of Progress: A line of Working Code“Product Owner” or in-house customerProblem: knownSolution: unknown
Product Development at Lean StartupUnit of Progress: Validated Learning About Customers ($$$)Customer DevelopmentHypotheses,Experiments,InsightsProblem: unknownData,Feedback,InsightsSolution: unknown
Minimize TOTAL time through the loopIDEASLEARNBUILDDATACODEMEASURE
How to build a Lean StartupLet’s talk about some specifics. Continuous deploymentFive why’s
Continuous DeploymentIDEASLEARNBUILDLearn FasterCustomer DevelopmentFive WhysBuild FasterContinuous DeploymentSmall BatchesContinuous IntegrationRefactoringDATACODEMEASUREMeasure FasterSplit TestingActionable MetricsNet Promoter ScoreSEM
Continuous DeploymentDeploy new software quickly
At IMVU time from check-in to production = 20 minutes
Tell a good change from a bad change (quickly)
Revert a bad change quickly
And “shut down the line”
Work in small batches
At IMVU, a large batch = 3 days worth of work
Break large projects down into small batchesCluster Immune SystemWhat it looks like to ship one piece of code to production:Run tests locally (SimpleTest, Selenium)
Everyone has a complete sandbox
Continuous Integration Server (BuildBot)
All tests must pass or “shut down the line”

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2010 02 19 the lean startup - webstock 2010

  • 1. The Lean Startup#leanstartupEric Ries (@ericries)http://StartupLessonsLearned.com
  • 2. Entrepreneurship = AwesomeIt is the best time in the history of the world to be an entrepreneurCosts are falling in all industriesBarriers are being destroyedDisruption and chaos are everywhere
  • 3. Why build a startup?Only entrepreneurship combines these three elementsChange the worldBuild an organization of lasting valueMake customers’ lives better
  • 7. Most Startups FailBut it doesn’t have to be that way. We can do better. This talk is about how.
  • 8. What is a startup?A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. Nothing to do with size of company, sector of the economy, or industry
  • 9. Entrepreneurship is managementOur goal is to create an institution, not just a productTraditional management practices fail “general management” as taught to MBAsNeed practices and principles geared to the startup context of extreme uncertaintyNot just for “two guys in a garage”
  • 10. The PivotWhat do successful startups have in common?They started out as digital cash for PDAs, but evolved into online payments for eBay. They started building BASIC interpreters, but evolved into the world's largest operating systems monopoly. They were shocked to discover their online games company was actually a photo-sharing site.Pivot: change directions but stay grounded in what we’ve learned. http://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com/2009/06/pivot-dont-jump-to-new-vision.html
  • 11. Speed Winsif we can reduce the time between major iterationswe can increase our odds of success
  • 12. A Tale of Two Startups
  • 16. A good plan?Start a company with a compelling long-term vision. Raise plenty of capital.Hire the absolute best and the brightest.Hire an experienced management team with tons of startup experience.Focus on quality. Build a world-class technology platform.Build buzz in the press and blogosphere.
  • 17. Achieving FailureCompany failed* $40MM and five years of painCrippled by “shadow beliefs” that destroyed the effort of all those smart people.
  • 18. Shadow Belief #1We know what customers want.
  • 19. Shadow Belief #2We can accurately predict the future.
  • 20. Shadow Belief #3Advancing the plan is progress.
  • 21. A good plan?Start a company with a compelling long-term vision. Raise plenty of capital.Hire the absolute best and the brightest.Hire an experienced management team with tons of startup experience.Focus on quality. Build a world-class technology platform.Build buzz in the press and blogosphere.
  • 25. New planShipped in six months – a horribly buggy beta productCharged from day oneShipped multiple times a day (by 2008, on average 50 times a day)No PR, no launchResults 2009: profitable, revenue > $20MM
  • 26. Making ProgressIn a lean transformation, question #1 is – which activities are value-creating and which are waste?In traditional business, value is created by delivering products or services to customersIn a startup, the product and customer are unknownsWe need a new definition of value for startups
  • 27. Traditional Product DevelopmentUnit of Progress: Advance to Next StageWaterfallRequirementsSpecificationDesignProblem: knownSolution: knownImplementationVerificationMaintenance
  • 28. Agile Product DevelopmentUnit of Progress: A line of Working Code“Product Owner” or in-house customerProblem: knownSolution: unknown
  • 29. Product Development at Lean StartupUnit of Progress: Validated Learning About Customers ($$$)Customer DevelopmentHypotheses,Experiments,InsightsProblem: unknownData,Feedback,InsightsSolution: unknown
  • 30. Minimize TOTAL time through the loopIDEASLEARNBUILDDATACODEMEASURE
  • 31. How to build a Lean StartupLet’s talk about some specifics. Continuous deploymentFive why’s
  • 32. Continuous DeploymentIDEASLEARNBUILDLearn FasterCustomer DevelopmentFive WhysBuild FasterContinuous DeploymentSmall BatchesContinuous IntegrationRefactoringDATACODEMEASUREMeasure FasterSplit TestingActionable MetricsNet Promoter ScoreSEM
  • 34. At IMVU time from check-in to production = 20 minutes
  • 35. Tell a good change from a bad change (quickly)
  • 36. Revert a bad change quickly
  • 37. And “shut down the line”
  • 38. Work in small batches
  • 39. At IMVU, a large batch = 3 days worth of work
  • 40. Break large projects down into small batchesCluster Immune SystemWhat it looks like to ship one piece of code to production:Run tests locally (SimpleTest, Selenium)
  • 41. Everyone has a complete sandbox
  • 43. All tests must pass or “shut down the line”
  • 44. Automatic feedback if the team is going too fast
  • 46. Monitor cluster and business metrics in real-time
  • 47. Reject changes that move metrics out-of-bounds
  • 48. Alerting & Predictive monitoring (Nagios)
  • 49. Monitor all metrics that stakeholders care about
  • 50. If any metric goes out-of-bounds, wake somebody up
  • 51. Use historical trends to predict acceptable boundsWhen customers see a failure:Fix the problem for customers
  • 52. Improve your defenses at each levelFive WhysIDEASCode FasterLearn FasterBUILDLEARNContinuousDeploymentFive Whys RootCause AnalysisCODEDATAMeasure FasterMEASURERapid Split Tests
  • 53. Five Whys Root Cause AnalysisA technique for continuous improvement of company process.
  • 54. Ask “why” five times when something unexpected happens.
  • 55. Make proportional investments in prevention at all five levels of the hierarchy.
  • 56. Behind every supposed technical problem is usually a human problem. Fix the cause, not just the symptom.There’s much more…IDEASCode FasterLearn FasterBUILDLEARNUnit TestsUsability TestsContinuous IntegrationIncremental DeploymentFree & Open-Source ComponentsCloud ComputingCluster Immune SystemJust-in-time ScalabilityRefactoringDeveloper SandboxMinimum Viable ProductSplit TestsCustomer InterviewsCustomer DevelopmentFive Whys Root Cause AnalysisCustomer Advisory BoardFalsifiable HypothesesProduct Owner AccountabilityCustomer ArchetypesCross-functional TeamsSemi-autonomous TeamsSmoke TestsCODEDATAMeasure FasterMEASURESplit TestsClear Product OwnerContinuous DeploymentUsability TestsReal-time MonitoringCustomer LiaisonFunnel AnalysisCohort AnalysisNet Promoter ScoreSearch Engine MarketingReal-Time AlertingPredictive Monitoring
  • 57. Get Started TodayYou are ready to do this, no matter who you arewhat job you havewhat stage of company you’re inGet started now, today.
  • 60. In print: http://bit.ly/SLLbookbeta & at the Webstock booth
  • 61. Getting in touch (#leanstartup)
  • 64. Lean Startup Wellington Meetuphttp://www.meetup.com/Lean-Startup-Wellington/@davemosk @joshuavial @maximonos @andrewfantastic
  • 65. Lean Startup Wikihttp://leanstartup.pbworks.com/Rapid Split TestsIDEASCode FasterLearn FasterBUILDLEARNContinuousDeploymentFive Whys RootCause AnalysisCODEDATAMeasure FasterMEASURERapid Split Tests
  • 66. Split-testing all the timeA/B testing is key to validating your hypothesesHas to be simple enough for everyone to use and understand itMake creating a split-test no more than one line of code:if( setup_experiment(...) == "control" ) { // do it the old way} else { // do it the new way}
  • 67. The AAA’s of MetricsActionableAccessibleAuditable
  • 68. Measure the MacroAlways look at cohort-based metrics over timeSplit-test the small, measure the large