The Lean Startup — Eric Ries

Summary in 15 minutes. What a startup really is, and why traditional business plans fail new ventures. The heart of the method: build something small fast, measure what customers do, and learn. When to change course, how to work in small batches, and how to find the root of a problem. The three engines of sustainable growth, and the lean method in a small business on a tight budget. You’ve finished reading. Now put your own idea through its first experiment.

Key ideas of "The Lean Startup"

The Starting Point

What a startup really is, and why traditional business plans fail new ventures.

1. What Is a Startup?: Building something new under extreme uncertainty
2. Validated Learning: The real measure of progress

Build, Measure, Learn

The heart of the method: build something small fast, measure what customers do, and learn.

1. A Shoe Business Without Shoes: Start with an experiment
2. The Minimum Viable Product: Just enough to learn, and no more
3. The Right Metrics: Numbers that flatter vs. numbers that decide

Moments of Decision

When to change course, how to work in small batches, and how to find the root of a problem.

1. Pivot or Persevere: Change the strategy, not the vision
2. The Magic of Small Batches: Finish one at a time
3. The Five Whys: Getting to the root of a problem

Growth and Reality

The three engines of sustainable growth, and the lean method in a small business on a tight budget.

1. The Three Engines of Growth: Where will new customers come from?
2. Lean on a Shoestring: A smart start with little capital

Put It to Work

You’ve finished reading. Now put your own idea through its first experiment.

1. The 7-Day Lean Plan: One task a day. Tick it off when done.
2. One-Page Cheat Sheet: The whole book at a glance
3. Final Word — Evidence, Not Guesswork: Make friends with uncertainty

From the free first chapter

Eric Ries offers a simple definition: a startup is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. A tech company in a garage counts. So does a new division inside a big corporation, or a new online shop down the street, as long as nobody yet knows for sure what customers want.

When they finally sat down with customers, the core assumption fell apart. People didn’t want to drag their existing friends into a new tool; they wanted a place to meet new people. Much of those six months’ work went in the bin.

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