Are you tired of reading dry, boring business books that put you to sleep before you even get to Chapter 2? Well, fear not, because we’ve got a treat for you! In this post, we’re going to take a humorous approach to Eric Ries’ “Lean Startup” and show you how to apply its principles to your own business.
First things first, let’s define what a lean startup is. In a nutshell, it’s a way of building and growing a business that emphasizes speed, agility, and experimentation. The idea is to test your assumptions early and often, and use customer feedback to guide your decisions. This approach can help you avoid wasting time and money on products or features that nobody wants, and increase your chances of success.
Now, let’s get into the fun stuff. Here are some tips from “Lean Startup” that will make you laugh and hopefully inspire you to take action:
Embrace the “pivot dance”:
According to Ries, a pivot is “a structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product, strategy, and engine of growth.” In other words, it’s a fancy way of saying “shake up your perspective”. The pivot dance involves being nimble and flexible, and not getting too attached to your original idea. So, go ahead and twirl around the office, strike a pose, and pivot like nobody’s watching!
Do things that don’t scale:
In the early stages of your business, it’s important to focus on things that don’t scale. This means doing things that are time-consuming and not very efficient, but will help you learn and get feedback. For example, manually reaching out to potential customers, or delivering products yourself instead of using a third-party service. As Ries puts it, “start by doing things that don’t scale, so you can learn what does.”
Build a minimum viable product (MVP):
The MVP is the smallest possible version of your product that you can build and test with customers. It’s not meant to be perfect or feature-rich, but rather to validate your assumptions and get feedback. Ries advises that you “build only what is needed to learn what you need to know.”
Use vanity metrics to your advantage:
Vanity metrics are numbers that make you feel good, but don’t really mean anything. Examples include website traffic, social media followers, and email subscribers. While these metrics may not tell you much about the success of your business, they can be useful in getting people excited about what you’re doing. As Ries says, “while you work on the real metrics, you can also use the vanity metrics to motivate your team and your investors.”
Be a pirate:
No, we’re not suggesting you plunder and pillage your competitors’ ships. Rather, the “pirate metrics” framework refers to five key metrics that can help you measure and improve your business: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, and Referral. By focusing on these metrics and optimizing them over time, you can build a sustainable and profitable business.
There you have it, folks – some tips from “Lean Startup” that are sure to make you chuckle and hopefully inspire you to take action. Remember, entrepreneurship is a rollercoaster ride, so you might as well have some fun along the way!
