The Lean Startup(for project managers)

@micdijkstra@carolineggordon

Entrepreneur

#productmanager

#leanproductmanager

UX Tech

Business

Users Product

Business

CustomersDesigners

&Developers

Stakeholders

#leanstartupadvocate

Unlock a new way of thinking.

#knowyourcustomer

“a set of processes used by entrepreneurs to develop products and markets, combining Agile Software Development, Customer Development and existing software platforms.”

The Lean Startup

It’s about being less wasteful.

“a human institution designed to deliver a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty. ”

What is a startup?

9/10startups fail

#startupsarehard

“We can't predictthe future”

“We don't really knowwhat customers want”

“Advancing theplan is progress”

Sound familiar?

“Startups don't have much time or budget so they need to be resourceful.”

The Problem

It’s about being less wasteful.

Catalyst Recruiting

#fail

Didn't understand the wants of their target customers.

Three Inc.

#fail

Product did not represent consumer demand.

#customersfirst

Figure out how to meet whatthe customer demands.

#win

Everything is an assumptionthat needs to be tested.

Identify and test your riskiest assumptions first.

There are no factsinside your building,

so get outside.

#safetofail

#failearly

Optimise for learning.

Monitor speed of learning.

Validate yourriskiest assumptions, as quickly as possible.

#startuptools

The Lean Canvas

Who has this problem? - who are your target customers?

What problem are you trying to solve? - is it really a problem?

Why should they care? - do you provide enough value?

Validate your assumptions

The Lean Canvas

#buildit

Optimise for learning.

Source: http://minimumviablepants.tumblr.com/image/10561315925

The MVP

Minimum amount of features required to learn.

It’s about being less wasteful.

#measureit

We believe our talk will educate project managers on the Lean Startup.

This will be validated when 7 out of 10 project managers in the audience confirm they know how to use Lean Startup in their work.

Validate your hypotheses with qualitative data

We believe project managers want to know how the Lean Startup relates to them.

This will be validated when 500 project managers download the presentation of our video.

Validate your hypotheses with quantitative data

#testit

“If we have data, let’s look at data.If all we have are opinions,

let’s go with mine.”

Jim Barksdale, former CEO of Netscape

Use your data.

#pivotor

#persevere

Life’s too short to build something nobody wants.

#customersfirst

WHAT DOES ITMEAN TO ME?

Risk Management

Projects Lean Startup

@carolineggordon

Control

Prune

Optimisebuild

Optimisebusiness

1. Lean startup is risk management

2. Waste before project starts

3. Cultural change

Hypotheses

#leanstartupis

#riskmanagement

Risk Management

Projects Lean Startup

The risk is that bad thingswill happen.

Project Risk

Such a low chance that we assume it won’t.

Project Assumption

Drive down risk

- mitigations - fallbacks - contingencies

Project managers

No risks,just assumptions.

No mitigations,just experiments.

Project managers actively drive risk down.

Agile

Assumptions are validated with real experiments.

Lean Startup

Solution handed to team by Product Owner as a product backlog.

Agile

The solution emerges as assumptions are validated.

Lean Startup

Iterates the process of building the product.

Agile

Iterates the process of solving the problem.

Lean Startup

What are the risks of building this product?

Agile

What is the risk that this is a problem?

Lean Startup

Business model assumed.

Agile

Business model validated.

Lean Startup

Experiments

#wastebeforeprojectstart

Do customers have the problem?

If there was a solution, would they buy it?

Would they buy it from us?

Can we build a solution for the problem?

Lean Startup Product Development

Do users have the problem?

If there was a solution, would they use it?

Would they fund a project for this?

Can we build a solution?

Lean Startup Internal Customers

Do customers have the problem?

If there was a solution, would they buy it?

Would they buy it from us?

Can we build the solution?

Agile Product Development

Project X

Projects though the approval funnel

Ideas through the validation

funnel

Projects Lean Startup

One expensive

experiment = the project

Many cheap experiments

Idea ScreenBusiness CaseGo to DevelopmentIterateDeliver MVP

#culturalchange

Turn the entire decision making process of the organisation

upside down.

The start of a cultural change.

#itsokaytofail

#seekoutvalidation

Create an organisation of intrapreneurs.

#learning

Now I have a hammer,all I see are nails.

Determine the context

Is there a reasonable risk that this won’t solve the problem?

Is the situation so complex it’s hard to know what effect this change will really have?

Is there a proven business model / known efficiencies for this product?

Is this a variation on what we have done many times before?

1. Are your assumptions valid?

2. How can you validate them?

3. Create a Lean Canvas to use along with your risk register.

Use it for conversations with stakeholders and the team.

What a project manager can do

Be a change agent.

Fin.

@micdijkstra@carolineggordon