Lean Startup

Lean Startup is an offshoot of the Lean discipline that is specifically oriented towards digital innovation. It is based on the idea that the most efficient innovation is the one that focuses on solving a real user demand and that the biggest loss is creating a product or service that no one needs. Did you know Dropbox, Zappos, and Slack all used Lean Startup to develop their business? These companies were able to execute a rapid pace of innovation that allowed them to seemingly erupt overnight. 

Lean Startup takes advantage of the Scientific Method to create business models. This experimentation-based approach ensures that failure is as “quick and cheap” as possible. In other words, Lean Startup doesn’t waste time or money investing in an idea without first exploring and determining its viability. In this way, the likelihood of failure is understood and has already been taken into consideration before resources are used in making the idea a reality.

The Lean Startup method consists of 3 stages:

• Build. Start with a vision, a business idea with some initial hypotheses, and then build something fast and cheap that allows for experimentation.
• Measure. Evaluate the results to validate or nullify the initial hypotheses.
• Learn. Based on the data obtained, decide whether to move forward as is, revise the hypotheses, or discard the idea all together.