The Lean Startup
by Eric Ries
"The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries advocates for a systematic, scientific approach to creating and managing successful startups. It emphasizes the importance of rapid experimentation, validated learning, and agile product development to efficiently discover what customers really want. By implementing the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop, entrepreneurs can reduce waste and adapt their business strategies to achieve sustainable growth.
27 curated highlights from this book
Key Insights & Memorable Quotes
Below are the most impactful passages and quotes from The Lean Startup, carefully selected to capture the essence of the book.
The only way to win is to learn faster than anyone else.
A startup is a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.
Validated learning is the process of demonstrating empirically that a team has discovered valuable truths about the present and future of a startup’s product.
The Lean Startup method is about learning what customers really want and will pay for, not what you think they should want.
Build-Measure-Learn is the feedback loop that drives the Lean Startup methodology.
Start small, learn quickly, and use that knowledge to build a better product.
Metrics are important, but they are not the only thing that matters.
Entrepreneurship is management.
Success is not delivering a feature; success is learning how to solve the customer’s problem.
A startup is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.
Validated learning is the process of demonstrating empirically that a team has discovered valuable truths about the future of a product.
You must learn what customers really want, not what you think they should want.
The goal of a startup is to figure out the right thing to build—the thing customers will actually pay for and use.
Build-Measure-Learn is not just a cycle; it’s a feedback loop that drives innovation.
Start small, learn quickly, and iterate until you find a sustainable business model.
Metrics should guide you, not define you.
The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do.
The Lean Startup methodology is about learning what customers really want.
Validated learning is a process of demonstrating progress when one is embedded in the uncertainty of the startup.
The MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.
What we need is not a plan but a process.
Measure what matters.
The goal of a startup is to learn what customers really want.
If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late.
Start small, learn fast, and iterate.
Innovation accounting enables you to focus on the boring stuff.