Lean Startup

Al-Amjad Tawfiq Isstaif@isstaif

Wikilogia Bootcamp for Startup Weekend Damascus

Lean Launchpad - Steve Blank

Harvard MBA

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

Startups Search Companies Execute

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

Planning comes before the plan

التخطيط قبل الخطة

Business Models

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

Customer Problem: known

Product Features: known

Waterfall / Product ManagementExecution on Two “Knowns”

Requirements

Design

Implementation

Verification

Maintenance

Source: Eric Rieshttp://startuplessonslearned.blogspot.com

© 2012 Steve Blank

More startups fail from a lack of customers than from a failure of

product development

© 2012 Steve Blank

Customer Development

© 2012 Steve Blank

Agile Development

© 2012 Steve Blank

+

© 2012 Steve Blank

Hire and Build a Functional Organization

© 2012 Steve Blank

Hire and Build a Functional Organization

© 2012 Steve Blank

Founders run a Customer Development Team

No sales, marketing and business development

© 2012 Steve Blank

© 2012 Steve Blank

Entrepeneur

Customer

Investor

Advisor

Lean Startup Cycle

Startup Stages

Meta-Iteration

Lean Startup Cycle

Lean Startup Cycle

Identify the riskiest parts!

• Product risk

– Getting the product right

• Customer risk

– Building a path to customers

• Market risk

– Building a viable business

Risks

Rank your business models

• How to prioritize:

– Customer pain level (Problem)

– Ease of reach (Channels)

– Price/gross margin (Revenue Streams/Cost Structure)

– Market size (Customer Segments)

– Technical feasibility (Solution)

Forming your team

• Model 1:

– Problem team

– Solution team

• Model 2:

– One problem/solution team

• Development

• Marketing

• Design

Applying the meta-iteration to risks

Applying the meta-iteration to risks

Applying the meta-iteration to risks

• Product risk: Getting the product right

– First make sure you have a problem worth solving.

– Then define the smallest possible solution (MVP).

– Build and validate your MVP at small scale (demonstrate UVP).

– Then verify it at large scale.

Applying the meta-iteration to risks

• Customer risk: Building a path to customers

– First identify who has the pain.

– Then narrow this down to early adopters who really want your product now.

– It’s OK to start with outbound channels.

– But gradually build/develop scalable inbound channels—the earlier the better.

Applying the meta-iteration to risks

• Market risk: Building a viable business

– Identify competition through existing alternatives and pick a price for your solution.

– Test pricing first by measuring what customers say (verbal commitments).

– Then test pricing by what customers do.

– Optimize your cost structure to make the business model work.