The lean startup: How to stay lean when your company takes off

The Lean Startup concept, developed by Eric Reis roughly two years ago, has been embraced by the startup community. And though I think it’s the best and most consistent framework available for entrepreneurs to methodically evaluate their ventures, what happens when you get a product into the market that customers actually want and your business starts to grow? Does the “lean” focus end there?

So far, there isn’t enough data to show what happens next. … Continue Reading

Lean startups vs. fat startups

While the traditional definition of lean startup is one that moves fast, venture capitalist and serial entrepreneur Mark Suster says a better definition is one that’s tied to size and funding levels. There’s nothing wrong with being lean as you look for a strong product and market fit, he says in this Entrepreneur Thought Leader Lecture given at Stanford University, but once you find one, it’s a smart idea to get fat with funding – … Continue Reading

5 reasons start-ups are entering a golden age

(Editor’s note: Scott Albro is CEO of Focus.com. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

Are start-ups entering a new golden age?

Ask a venture capitalist or banker that question and you’ll probably get “no” for an answer – and given the lack of recent IPOs, as well as the changes we’re seeing in the venture industry, that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Ask an entrepreneur, though, and a very different picture emerges. That’s because today’s … Continue Reading

Atari: The original lean startup

(Editor’s note: Sylvie Leotin is the president at Atelier Leotin, a boutique consultancy firm. A modified version of this story originally appeared on her blog.)

Long before the words “lean startup” crossed anyone’s lips, Atari was leading the charge for what has become one of today’s most popular entrepreneurial philosophies.

The forerunner in the video game world used a disciplined approach to testing new products and ideas. It followed lean manufacturing principles applied to innovation … Continue Reading

Welcome to the new startup order

(Editor’s note: Brant Cooper is an independent startup consultant specializing in customer development and marketing. He submitted this story to VentureBeat.)

The difficulty of assessing change is knowing where you are on the curve.  At any moment in time, there’s a tendency to believe you have witnessed change, rather than are currently experiencing it.

It is, of course, impossible to predict what long-term changes the explosion of entrepreneurship will bring to the startup ecosystem. … Continue Reading

What comes after the minimally viable product?

(Editor’s note: Dharmesh Shah is a serial software entrepreneur and the founder and CTO of HubSpot, which provides marketing software for small businesses. This column originally appeared on his blog. )

One of the key parts of Eric Ries lean startup movement is the concept of a “minimally viable product”.  The MVP is a product that has the minimum set of features needed to learn what the market wants.  The idea behind the MVP is … Continue Reading

Lean startups aren’t cheap startups

(Editor’s note: Dharmesh Shah is a serial software entrepreneur and the founder and CTO of HubSpot, which provides marketing software for small businesses. This column originally appeared on his blog. )

One of the key parts of Eric Ries lean startup movement is the concept of a “minimally viable product”.  The MVP is a product that has the minimum set of features needed to learn what the market wants.  The idea behind the MVP is … Continue Reading