The Lean Startup by Eric Ries
Easily among the most recommended books within the startup world and definitely worth the read for any entrepreneur—novice or veteran.
‘The Lean Startup’ combines principles of Lean Manufacturing, Agile Development, and the Scientific Method and applies them within the framework of a startup.
But, what is a startup?
As Eric defines them, a startup is “a[ny] human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty.”
Eric defines in detail a strategic three-step feedback loop, by which all startups should evolve:
- Build
Create your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) or the simplest version of your product. - Measure
Test your product and business model with your first customers—your early adopters. - Learn
Analyze, evaluate, and form hypotheses based on the data collected within step two. Then, take these hypotheses and repeat the three-step cycle.
Everything a startup does—building ideas, measuring how customers interact with products, and learning from the data—should be focused on speeding up the feedback loop.
Here are some examples of how startups and entrepreneurs can build, measure, and learn faster:
It’s an easy read and one of the first books you should get your hands on if you’re serious about your startup.