The Lean Startup

Milton Friedman is famous for saying ‘Inflation is always and everywhere a monetary phenomenon…’ Observing the entrepreneurial ecosystem today, one might perceive an inflationary trend in venture capital. So many would-be entrepreneurs are deterred by an ill-gotten notion that in order to pursue any venture, they must seduce a monolithic VC and snag a multi-million dollar seed. Yet, although this trend may be real, we only notice it more and more because of the way in which media highlights those ventures that have the kind of marketing budget that can fund such PR. In reality, the Lean Startup is very much alive today and represents the vast majority of ventures out there. Moreover, they are successful!

 

How does one create a Lean Startup? For starters, stop spending months, sometimes years, polishing a product that no one is using. Instead, work rigorously to create a MVP (minimal viable product) and get it into the hands of your target customers. Stop working on that investor pitch and spending 3 days on an excel to justify why you will need an exorbitant amount of funding to ensure future cash-flows $X. This doesn’t mean that entrepreneurs should adopt a ‘just do it’ attitude with complete disregard to process and self-assessment. Lean Startups MUST place an even greater focus on working smarter (instead of harder), which translates into better project management practices. You need to be able to track your progress, analyze your milestones and maintain accountability and control of the process.

 

Venture development and project management using Agile are cyclical; Build a minimal viable product, put it into the hands of your customers, fully understand and measure their responses, and then assess those responses in order to evolve your product.