67

Eric Ries

• Thank you 31 May, 2010, 10:49 am
  The past month has been an incredible roller coaster: #sllconf was a trending topic (briefly topping Justin Bieber before the wifi in the hotel gave out), the Web 2.0 Expo Intensive rocked, the mainstream media has started writing about the Lean Startup, and - most of all - the movement continues to grow and evolve. Having had a few weeks to recover from the adrenaline crash, I find myself full of gratitude. First of all, the Startup Lessons Learned conference exceeded my wildest expectations. I could barely keep up with the reaction in the weeks leading up to it; the transition from cynicism to hype almost caused whiplash. Sean Murphy has an excellent and comprehensive roundup of resources about the conference: all of the slides, videos, summaries, notes and write-ups are listed on his blog here. I'd like to call special attention to Kurt Carr's perspective (let's hope he finishes his five-part series): Now that I’m back in Ohio (I was one of the token foreigners in a room full of Silicon Valley residents), I have found myself reliving and rethinking much of what I saw there. It has taken me a while to integrate what I learned into my experiences but I think that I have gotten at least the MVP version of that integration completed. These posts are the result. I went to the conference thinking that I was well grounded in the basics of the Lean Startup approach and that attendance would hone the edges of that understanding. As it turned out, my thinking was short sighted at best. It’s not that I was ignorant of the fundamentals of Lean Startup thinking, but that hearing these fundamentals discussed by some very intelligent, experienced folks helped me transform and internalize that knowledge. I had really debated about whether there was any value in spending the time and money to fly to San Francisco when there was a perfectly serviceable simulcast going on in Cleveland. All I can tell the folks who attended the simulcasts is that I’m not missing either the time or the money.(You can read the rest of his posts on his blog: Introduction, Part 1, Part 2.) All video from the conference is available for free at Justin.tv here. It's in reverse-chronological order, so start with page 3 or just use Sean's handy reference.. I am grateful to everyone who helped make this event a success, especially my co-organizers Charles Hudson and David Sachs. Erin Turner helped organize the dozens of simulcast venues. All of those venues had their own local organizers who deserve our thanks as well (especially those in distant time zones who had the stamina to watch live). And a special thanks is due to all of our presenters, panelists, and mentors. You are the ones that consistently blew the audience away. One of the themes of the conference was that we all stand on the shoulders of giants. I'd like to supplement that with some personal thank-yous. Steve Blank has been a mentor to me for several years. He had the courage to speak out about the need for a rigorous theory of entrepreneurship long before that was a popular idea. When I first encountered customer development, it was considered pure lunacy by mainstream entrepreneurs and VC's. He inspired me to take a deeper look at what we all thought we understood about startups. We all owe him our thanks for persevering. His latest project, to reform the teaching of entrepreneurship worldwide, will have no less an impact. Do you know the difference between Durant and Sloan? If not, you'd better watch video of his talk ASAP. And then you can buy a t-shirt. Kent Beck is deservedly famous for his many contributions in the software industry. His characteristic humility and clear thinking were on display as he casually demolished one sacred cow after another. Although many of the non-technical folks in the room didn't understand what was happening in the moment, plenty of hackers were on high alert. By the time he was done, he had launched a new Agile Manifesto: Team vision and discipline over individuals and interactions (or processes and tools) Validated learning over working software (or comprehensive documentation) Customer discovery over customer collaboration (or contract negotiation) Initiating change over responding to change (or following a plan)And he made it seem like no big deal. Of course ideas have to evolve and change. How often do you see that level of intellectual honesty on display? Thank you, Kent. Randy Komisar is someone I am pleased to consider a friend and mentor. We were colleagues briefly at KPCB, where Randy has been working not just with individual companies, but also working to change the mindset of entrepreneurs everywhere. Unfortunately, the video of our sllconf conversation is not online (due to technical problems), but we have a physical tape backup which we are endeavoring to get online soon. In the meantime his two books, The Monk and the Riddle and Getting to Plan B are both a must-read. There are so many more people to thank: Sarah Milstein and the Web 2.0 Expo team for their tireless efforts to give us a fantastic stage in San Francisco (my keynote and Steve Blank's are both online), Steve Lohr at the New York Times for two great pieces on the Lean Startup concept (The Rise of the Fleet-Footed Start-Up and What Start-Ups Can Teach Big Companies), Pui-Wing Tam of the Wall Street Journal for exposing the larger movement to a mainstream audience (with minus points for calling me a guru), Harvard Business School professor Tom Eisenmann who has helped behind the scenes, conference sponsors (especially Steve Anderson), Mark Graban and the Lean Enterprise Institute, my comrades-in-arms and fellow-bloggers (you know who you are, including David Binetti for correcting my spelling), and my family and friends who have supported/put up with me during this intense roller coaster. Most of all, I wanted to say a huge thank you to all of you: readers, entrepreneurs, agents of change. I get more credit than I deserve for being in the right place and the right time, putting your aspirations and frustrations into words. Together, I believe we are changing the face of entrepreneurship. If that's true, it's primarily due to your hard work, building companies and testing new ideas. Entrepreneurship is the life-blood of our global civilization. We all owe you. Thank you. google_protectAndRun("ads_core.google_render_ad", google_handleError, google_render_ad); Ad unblocked, will come back on page reloadTo unblock this ad, click left button in the bar above
• Philosophy Helps Start-Ups Move Faster (WSJ on the Lean Startup) 20 May, 2010, 10:13 am
  The Wall Street Journal covers the Lean Startup movement in today's paper. Although the article is a bit me-centric, I think they did a good job capturing the fact that this is more than just the bloggers and writers, but represents a shift in thinking among entrepreneurs all over the world. The article includes comments from Kevin Dewalt and Drew Houston. Even Marc Andreessen weighs in. I think this means we've officially diffused our first major misunderstanding (that lean means cheap and small) - congratulations. Apparently, the article is in today's print edition (in the Bay Area section), but I'm in the wrong time zone to see it. Here's an excerpt: Philosophy Helps Start-Ups Move Faster - WSJ.com Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and venture capitalists often churn out how-to business books and fancy themselves as management gurus, but few see their methodologies adopted. Eric Ries is experiencing something different. ..."Eric is espousing a different way to build companies," says Kevin Dewalt, 40, an entrepreneur in Arlington, Va., who has organized three Lean Startup meetings for Beltway entrepreneurs since October 2009. All the events sold out, says Mr. Dewalt, adding, "We've realized entrepreneurship is a unique management science.' Mr. Ries's Lean Startup philosophy aims to help new companies make speedier decisions by taking a more disciplined approach to testing products and ideas and using the resulting customer feedback.
• The Lean Startup Intensive is tomorrow at Web 2.0 Expo 2 May, 2010, 12:26 pm
  I'm extremely excited that tomorrow is the Lean Startup Intensive at Web 2.0 Expo. This is basically your last chance to sign up, and if you do so, the fine folks at TechWeb have offered me a last minute 25% discount code that you can use: websf10lean25. The agenda for the day is below. As you can see, this is a new collection of speakers and case studies, in an intimate venue, which should allow maximum dialog between presenters and attendees. Session 1 9:00-10:15 Eric Ries: Welcome & Introduction to Lean Startup 9:00-9:30 Steve Blank: Customer Development 9:30-10:15 AM Break 10:15 - 10:45 Session 2 10:45-12:00 Sean Ellis: Product/Market Fit & the Startup Pyramid 10:45-11:30 Matt Brezina: Xobni case study, "The 5 stages of Xobni's growth and 5 pivots along the way" 11:30-12:00 Lunch 12:00 - 1:00 Session 3 1:00-2:15 Dave McClure: Startup Metrics 1:00-1:35 Dan Martell & Ethan Bloch: Flowtown Case Study 1:35-1:55 David Binetti: Votizen Case Study 1:55-2:15 PM Break 2:15 - 2:45 Session 4 2:45-4:00 Panel: Investing in the era of the lean startup 2:45-3:45 - Moderator: Dave McClure - Panelists: Ann Miura-Ko, Josh Kopelman, Jeff ClavierHiten Shah & KISSmetrics team: Case study 3:45-4:15 Joint session with the Applied Communilytics Intensive (including Q&A with Eric Ries, Sean Power, and Alistair Croll) 4:15-5:00  I hope you'll join us. If you do, please come say hello. PS. For those of you planning to attend the full Web 2.0 Expo, I'll also be presenting a keynote on the main stage on Tuesday at 4:45pm: "The Lean Startup: Innovation Through Experimentation. Not Just for Startups Anymore."
• Video update on the Startup Visa Act 29 April, 2010, 10:58 am
  The Startup Visa Act continues to gain momentum on Capitol Hill, thanks to grassroots support of all of you. Without lobbyists or PACs, we're getting the word out in DC and nationwide that we have an opportunity to act - this year - to create jobs right here in America by supporting entrepreneurship and innovation. As bills in both chambers of Congress pick up supporters and co-sponsors, it's more important than ever for citizens who care about this issue to call, write, and tweet their representatives. On our most recent trip to DC, the Startup Visa team produced two new videos to encapsulate our work to date, and hopefully inspire future action. They feature two of the rock stars of the Startup Visa team, Shervin and Brad, looking like, well, rock stars. Please take a look and, if you're as inspired as I am, please take a moment to help spread the word, embed these videos, or take another action outlined below. Thanks! Shervin Pishevar, activism at 30,000 feet. "My big belief in the Startup Visa Act: Entrepreneurship is very much representative and symbolic of what America's all about." Brad Feld, the Startup Visa Act. "When you think bout the economic stress and economic crisis we've been going through in this country, and you think about future economic growth, there's no question that entrepreneurship and innovation is a huge driver of future success." Want to get involved? We have a list of ways on the StartupVisa website: Go to our campaign page & tweet your support NOW! (
• Lean Enterprise Institute webinar, April 28 26 April, 2010, 6:57 pm
  I can barely write, as I'm still recovering from the amazing but overwhelming Startup Lessons Learned conference last Friday (great summary here). I'll follow up with a more detailed post later, but for now let me just say: thank you to everyone who participated, spoke, sponsored or helped organize. It exceeded my expectations totally. Want to learn more about lean startups? Want to talk about applying the lessons beyond software, internet, and small companies? The Lean Enterprise Institute, the official keepers of lean, are hosting a free webinar on Wednesday, April 28. Details are below. This will be a unique cross-cultural meeting between entrepreneurs and traditional lean experts. I believe we have much to learn from each other. 920 people from over sixty countries have already signed up to attend - help us break 1000 by registering here. Lean mindsets and methods for innovation in any company a free webinar featuring: Eric Ries April 28, 2010 at 2:00 PM EDT The "Lean Startup" is the application of lean thinking to the process of innovation in startup companies — defined as a type of business where both the problem (customer need) and the solution (product) are unknown. Traditional product development efforts often invest millions of dollars and years of time into one fixed product concept that is assumed to meet known customer needs — creating a high level of risk that the "waste of overproduction" occurs and creating a product that customers reject. The "Lean Startup" methodology, instead, tests new ideas early and cheaply, with early and frequent customer feedback. Critical to product success is creating a learning feedback loop that's company-wide, continuously testing new ideas so that idea failure doesn't have to equal company failure. Iterating more quickly is the key to success rather than having the one initial perfect concept. Since successful startups grow into larger mature companies, how do the lessons from "Lean Startups" apply? How can businesses of all shapes and sizes use lean methods to be innovative and disruptive? Where a startup is a high uncertain opportunity in a highly uncertain business, how can more stable businesses use these methods for their new uncertain products or ideas? How do familiar lean manufacturing mind sets and philosophies for quality management, training, and problem solving contribute to innovation? Specifically, you will learn:How to define "value" in an innovation setting What is a "minimum viable product" and why is that preferable to big batch development? How to create a blame-free development culture that encourages learning, root cause problem identification, and improvement How a process focus can lead to discipline, not bureaucracy How to apply the right learnings from "Lean Startups" to a non-startup environment Who Should Attend: This webinar is designed for a broad audience: everyone who is interested in learning how companies with unknown problems and solutions can use rapid P-D-C-A cycles to better understand and meet customer needs. This is intended for anybody who is working on new innovations, whether that means continuous improvement at the front lines, or new product development in a mature manufacturing company.I hope you'll join us. More information is available here.
• Four myths about the Lean Startup 18 April, 2010, 6:50 pm
  Myth: Lean means cheap. Lean startups try to spend as little money as possible. Truth: The Lean Startup method is not about cost, it is about speed. Lean Startups waste less money, because they use a disciplined approach to testing new products and ideas. Lean, when used in the context of lean startup, refers to a process of building companies and products using lean manufacturing principles applied to innovation. That process involves rapid hypothesis testing, validated learning about customers, and a disciplined approach to product development. Myth: The Lean Startup methodology is only for Web 2.0/internet/consumer software companies. Truth: The Lean Startup methodology applies to all companies that face uncertainty about what customers will want. This is true regardless of industry or even scale of company: many large companies depend on their ability to create disruptive innovation. Those general managers are entrepreneurs, too. And they can benefit from the speed and discipline of starting with a minimum viable product and then learning and iterating continuously. Myth: Lean Startups are small bootstrapped startups. Truth: There’s nothing wrong with raising venture capital. Many lean startups are ambitious and are able to deploy large amounts of capital. What differentiates them is their disciplined approach to determining when to spend money: after the fundamental elements of the business model have been empirically validated. Because lean startups focus on validating their riskiest assumptions first, they sometimes charge money for their product from day one – but not always. Myth: Lean Startups replace vision with data or customer feedback. Truth: Lean Startups are driven by a compelling vision, and they are rigorous about testing each element of this vision against reality. They use customer development, split-testing, and actionable analytics as vehicles for learning about how to make their vision successful. But they do not blindly do what customers tell them, nor do they mechanically attempt to optimize numbers. Along the way, they pivot away from the elements of the vision that are delusional and double-down on the elements that show promise.
• Sneak preview, KISSmetrics (and more) 17 April, 2010, 12:37 pm
  Hear the CEO of KISSmetrics give a sneak preview of what he'll be presenting at the Startup Lessons Learned conference on April 23 (we're less than a week away!): Conference updates continue to pour in: Want to see more preview videos? Take a look at our new sneak-preview site, sponsored by KISSmetrics. We've updated our list of simulcast locations (see below). Thanks to volunteer organizers around the world, the conference is now available on every continent (well, except Antarctica) and in almost fifty cities. Most of these events are free, but they do require that you RSVP. An up-to-date list of simulcast locations is always available at http://sllconf.com/streaming. Our sponsors continue to support the conference as well as deserving entrepreneurs. Three premier early-stage venture investors have joined forces to sponsor the event: Baseline, Floodgate, and First Round Capital. In addition to supporting their portfolio companies in coming to the event, they also have taken the additional step of underwriting a limited number of discounted tickets that are available to the general public. The latest batch, sponsored by First Round, is available here. Thanks again to all of our amazing sponsors, volunteers and staff who are working very hard to make this event a reality. Africa Cape Town, South Africa http://sllconf-capetown.eventbrite.com Asia Tokyo, Japan http://startuplessonslearnedtokyosimulcast.eventbrite.com Europe Barcelona, Spain http://www.eventbrite.com/event/638921030 Birmingham, UK http://sll-birmingham-uk.eventbrite.com/ Bucharest, Romania http://sllconf-bucharest.eventbrite.com/ Budapest, Hungary http://sllbudapest.eventbrite.com Cambridge, UK http://startuplessonslearnedcam.eventbrite.com Copenhagen, Denmark http://sllconf2010copenhagen.eventbrite.com Delft, Netherlands http://sllconf-delft.eventbrite.com Edinburgh, Scotland http://www.eventbrite.com/myevent?eid=652392323 Gothenburg, Sweden http://gotsllconf.eventbrite.com/ London, UK http://www.meetup.com/agile-entrepreneurship/calendar/12944310/ Madrid, Spain http://www.eventbrite.com/event/640820712 Munich, Germany http://www.eventbrite.com/event/650629049 Timisoara, Romania http://www.meetup.com/The-Timisoara-Agile-Software-Meetup-Group/ Vienna, Austria http://at.amiando.com/sllconfstream.html North America Atlanta, GA http://atlantasll.eventbrite.com Austin, TX http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/13090413/ Boise, ID http://sllconf-boise.eventbrite.com/ Boston, MA http://www.meetup.com/Lean-Startup-Circle-Boston/calendar/13093640/ Boston/Cambridge, MA http://dplc-lessons.eventbrite.com/ Boulder, CO http://sllconf-boulder.eventbrite.com/ Chicago, IL http://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/13056515/ Cleveland, OH http://startuplessonslearneduniversitycircle.eventbrite.com Cleveland, OH http://sllsimulcastcleveland.eventbrite.com/ Grand Rapids, MI http://startupgr.eventbrite.com/ Los Angeles, CA http://www.meetup.com/Los-Angeles-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/13082783/ Monterrey, NL México http://www.eventbrite.com/event/654293008 Montreal, QC Canada http://leanstartupmontreal.eventbrite.com New York, NY http://dplny-lessons.eventbrite.com New York, NY http://www.meetup.com/lean-startup/calendar/13102326/ New York, NY http://sllnyc.eventbrite.com Omaha, NE http://sllconf-omaha.eventbrite.com Providence, RI http://sllconfprovidence.eventbrite.com Provo, UT http://wsg-lsc.eventbrite.com Raleigh, NC http://www.meetup.com/lsc-rtp/calendar/13161035/ Redmond, WA http://www.eventbrite.com/event/648075411 San Juan, PR http://startups.eventbrite.com Toronto, ON http://startuplessons-toronto.eventbrite.com Twin Cities, MN http://www.meetup.com/Twin-Cities-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/12849312/ Vancouver, BC Canada http://sllyvrsimulcast.eventbrite.com/ Washington DC http://www.meetup.com/DC-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/13068744/ Oceania Sydney, Australia https://s.eventarc.com/event/view/597/entry/startup-lessons-learned-simulcast-conference Wellington, New Zealand http://www.meetup.com/Lean-Startup-Wellington/calendar/12624714/ South America Belo Horizonte, Brazil http://sllconf-bhz.eventbrite.com/ Buenos Aires, Argentina http://buenosairessll.eventbrite.com/ Florianópolis, SC, Brazil http://www.meetup.com/Floripa-Startups/calendar/13090194/ Santiago, Chile http://sllsantiago.eventbrite.com
• Sneak preview, Grockit 14 April, 2010, 12:28 pm
  Hear the CEO of Grockit give a sneak preview of what he'll be presenting at the Startup Lessons Learned conference on April 23:
• The Lean Startup Intensive at Web 2.0 Expo SF (May 3, 2010) 12 April, 2010, 5:41 am
  I'm discovering the truth of the old saying, "when it rains, it pours." I keep waiting for the tide of interesting people, opportunities, and ideas to ebb - but so far it has done nothing but accelerate. Thank you all so much. Just one year ago, I gave my first big conference talk at the 2009 Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. I had no idea what to expect, and the response was truly humbling. So I am particularly excited that the Lean Startup is a big part of this year's Web 2.0 Expo. Steve Blank and I are both giving keynotes in the main conference track. And for those who want more than just the overview, we're offering the Lean Startup Intensive on the first day of the conference: May 3, 2010. We've built the Intensive into an all-star program designed to give a comprehensive overview of the methodology, taught by its leading practitioners. Unlike the conference on April 23, the Intensive does not assume any prior knowledge of lean startups, and is designed for a wide audience. Anyone who's thinking of attending the Expo will get something out of it. I believe it will be the first time each of the following speakers will be presenting a full session back-to-back: Steve Blank, Dave McClure, Sean Ellis, Hiten Shah, Dan Martell, as well as an investing panel which we'll announce soon. Here's an excerpt from the official program: “A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.” All entrepreneurs face the same fundamental challenges: How do we know if we’re making progress? How do we know if customers will want the product we’re building? And, if they do, how do we know what kind of value we can create with it? But because every startup also strives to become an institution, answering these questions requires more than just disciplined thinking at the whiteboard. It requires the coordination of many different people, working in concert to answer them. In other words, it requires management.[...] This event brings together the leading thinkers and practitioners of the Lean Startup movement. The goal is to provide a complete introduction to the theory as well as a grounding in advanced techniques that you can put to immediate use. This program is designed for people who have a stake in creating great products: engineers, designers, product managers, marketers and businesspeople—from companies of any size. And, of course, for present or future entrepreneurs who are hoping to do more than punch a lottery ticket. Read the rest here... I'm incredible excited about the lineup, and think it'll provide the world's first comprehensive introduction to these ideas. If you're thinking of attending the Web 2.0 Expo, I hope you'll consider spending your first day with us.  To sweeten the deal, we also have a special 25% discount code which you can use for either the Intensive itself or for a whole Expo pass. The code is websf10ls25 and can be redeemed here. And there are still a (very) few application spots open for a complete conference pass scholarship; details are available here. So yes, there are two major lean startup events coming up in San Francisco in the next month. Both are going to be amazing, so take your pick. And, as always, if you do decide to stop by, please say hello and let me know you're a reader. I'm looking forward to meeting you.
• Conference streaming, sponsors, discounted tickets 8 April, 2010, 11:42 pm
  Simulcasting in twenty cities worldwide leads today's news for the Startup Lessons Learned conference on April 23. Thanks to the generosity of new sponsors, we also have a handful of heavily-discounted tickets available. Discounted Hotel Rate Traveling to SF for the conference? We have a special hotel rate of $189 a night at the Westin where the event is being held. However, this discount expires this Monday, April 12: be sure to reserve your room before then. Streaming Our simulcast program has expanded to five continents (so far). We have a new section of the website devoted to remote viewing, which is located here. More locations are being added as we can confirm them. If you'd like to host a simulcast, please sign up here. A complete list of locations is below. Most events are free, but they all require that you RSVP in advance. Special thanks to our streaming sponsor Justin.tv for handling the actual broadcasts. Africa Cape Town, South Africa http://sllconf-capetown.eventbrite.com Asia Tokyo, Japan http://startuplessonslearnedtokyosimulcast.eventbrite.com Europe Barcelona, Spain http://www.eventbrite.com/event/638921030 Birmingham, UK http://sll-birmingham-uk.eventbrite.com/ Delft, Netherlands http://sllconf-delft.eventbrite.com/ London, UK http://www.meetup.com/agile-entrepreneurship/calendar/12944310/ Madrid, Spain http://www.eventbrite.com/event/640820712 North America Austin, TX http://www.meetup.com/Austin-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/13090413/ Boston, MA http://www.meetup.com/Lean-Startup-Circle-Boston/calendar/13093640/ Boulder, CO http://sllconf-boulder.eventbrite.com/ Chicago, IL http://www.meetup.com/Chicago-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/13056515/ Montreal, QC http://leanstartupmontreal.eventbrite.com New York, NY http://dplny-lessons.eventbrite.com/ Provo, UT http://wsg-lsc.eventbrite.com/ Twin Cities, MN http://www.meetup.com/Twin-Cities-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/12849312/ Vancouver, BC http://sllyvrsimulcast.eventbrite.com/ Washington DC http://www.meetup.com/DC-Lean-Startup-Circle/calendar/13068744/ South America Buenos Aires, Argentina http://buenosairessll.eventbrite.com/ Florianópolis, SC, Brazil http://www.meetup.com/Floripa-Startups/calendar/13090194/ Sponsors We are enormously grateful to our latest conference sponsors: KISSmetrics, Microsoft BizSpark and Baseline Ventures. Microsoft will be making scholarships available to companies in their BizSpark program; stay tuned for details. Discounted Tickets As part of their sponsorship, Baseline is offering discounted tickets to their portfolio companies. However, in an additional act of generosity, Baseline's Steve Anderson has asked us to make discounted tickets available to the general public as well. He's footing the bill for a block of half-price tickets which are available now on a first come, first served basis. You can get those tickets here, while they last. (And, if you feel so moved, you can leave Steve a thank-you message; he's @standers on Twitter.) And, don't forget, full ticket scholarships are also available from IMVU. The application form is here.