The Lean Startup

Quotes from The Lean Startup

“The fundamental activity of a startup is to turn ideas into products, measure how customers respond, and then learn whether to pivot or persevere.”

“Entrepreneurs are everywhere. You don’t have to work in a garage to be in a startup.”

“To improve entrepreneurial outcomes and hold innovators accountable, we need to focus on the boring stuff: how to measure progress, how to set up milestones, and how to prioritize work.”

Expert Reviews

“This book should be mandatory reading for entrepreneurs, and the same goes for managers who want better entrepreneurial instincts. Ries’s book is loaded with fascinating stories—not to mention countless practical principles you’ll dearly wish you’d known five years ago.”

~ Dan Heath, co-author of Switch and Made to Stick

“Eric has created a science where previously there was only art.  A must read for every serious entrepreneur—and every manager interested in innovation.”

~ Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, Opsware Inc. and Netscape.

“Ries shows us how to cut through the fog of uncertainty that surrounds startups. His approach is rigorous; his prescriptions are practical and proven in the field. The Lean Startup will change the way we think about entrepreneurship.  As startup success rates improve, it could do more to boost global economic growth than any management book written in years.”

~Tom Eisenmann, Professor of Entrepreneurship, Harvard Business School

“If you are an entrepreneur, read this book. If you are thinking about becoming an entrepreneur, read this book.  If you are just curious about entrepreneurship, read this book.  Starting Lean is today’s best practice for innovators.  Do yourself a favor and read this book.” 

~ Randy Komisar, founding director of TiVo and author of the bestselling The Monk and the Riddle

Who should read this book

• Aspiring entrepreneurs looking to bring their innovative ideas to market.
• Product managers aiming to refine their development processes and validate customer needs.
• Innovation teams within established companies seeking to foster a startup-like culture.
• Business educators and mentors wanting to teach effective startup methodologies.

Publisher’s Note

Most startups fail. But many of those failures are preventable. The Lean Startup is a new approach being adopted across the globe, changing the way companies are built and new products are launched.

Eric Ries defines a startup as an organization dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty. This is just as true for one person in a garage or a group of seasoned professionals in a Fortune 500 boardroom. What they have in common is a mission to penetrate that fog of uncertainty to discover a successful path to a sustainable business.

The Lean Startup approach fosters companies that are both more capital efficient and that leverage human creativity more effectively. Inspired by lessons from lean manufacturing, it relies on “validated learning,” rapid scientific experimentation, as well as a number of counter-intuitive practices that shorten product development cycles, measure actual progress without resorting to vanity metrics, and learn what customers really want. It enables a company to shift directions with agility, altering plans inch by inch, minute by minute.

Rather than wasting time creating elaborate business plans, The Lean Startup offers entrepreneurs – in companies of all sizes – a way to test their vision continuously, to adapt and adjust before it’s too late. Ries provides a scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups in an age when companies need to innovate more than ever.