whether you should or should not proceed with the idea.
1.1 Lean startup
Eric Ries published
“
The Lean Startup
”
(Ries, 2011). In this
book, he
discusses
a methodology for developing businesses
and products that
emphasizes
experimentation, iterative
development, and customer feedback.
Chengbin et al. (2022)
,
Blank and Dorf (2020)
, and
Banks (2013)
all concluded
the
importance of experimentation, iterative development
,
and
customer feedback as described by Ries.
Ries tells us that the
traditional way of approaching entrepreneurship often
wastes
time, resources, and effort due to the lack of validation and
adaptability.
1.1.1
Minimum Viable Product
The lean startup advocates for the creation of a so-called
“
Minimum Viable Product
”
(MVP). The MVP is the simplest
version of your
product,
and it will allow you to gain the
maximum amount of validated learning from customers with
the least effort.
Lenarduzzi and Taibi (2016)
Found that t
he MVP is supposed to assess
hypotheses about the
viability of the product in the market.
So,
the MVP typically
only contains the most essential features needed to address the
core problem or primary need of the targeted customers.
1.1.2
Build-Measure-Learn
In the book, Ries also talks about a so-called
“
Build-Measure-
Learn feedback loop
.”
It is a fundamental concept of the Learn
Startup methodology as it allows the entrepreneur to learn and
develop their products
or services
based on customer feedback
in a repetitive way
(Cook et al. 2022)
, hence the loop. If we
break down each step,
we get the following:
make significant changes to its strategy and/or product.
1.1.3
pivoting
Ries also talks about the concept of pivoting. Pivoting means, in
the context of Lean Startup, changing your strategy based on
what you have learned from the feedback provided by
customers. It is a key aspect as it allows entrepreneurs to adapt
to ever-changing market conditions. The changes comprise
changing your business model, product direction, or core
strategy.
(
Shepherd
&
Gruber (2020)
1.2 Business Model Canvas