Book · ~330 pages

The Lean Startup

Eric Ries · theleanstartup.com Paid Beginner

The book that gave the world 'MVP', 'build-measure-learn', and 'validated learning'. It reframes a startup as a series of experiments, not a bet, the mental model everything else in this category builds on.

  • Progress = validated learning, not features shipped.
  • Build the minimum that produces a real learning loop.
  • Decide pivot-or-persevere on evidence, on a schedule.
Open on theleanstartup.com ↗

It answers 18 questions

  1. How do I validate an idea without building anything?
  2. How long should building an MVP take?
  3. How do I run customer discovery as an Indian founder building for Indian users?
  4. What is an MVP and what's the smallest one I can build?
  5. What's the difference between an MVP and just a cheap, half-finished product?
  6. I have deep experience but only as an employee, never a founder. Does that still count as founder-market fit?
  7. How do I run a landing-page / 'fake-door' test?
  8. How do I know when to stop researching an idea and just start building?
  9. How do I honestly test my founder-market fit before I quit my job?
  10. Should I build my MVP on no-code before I hire any developers?
  11. How do I decide the single riskiest assumption my MVP should test instead of trying to prove the whole idea at once?
  12. How do I evaluate whether an idea is big enough to be worth years of my life?

And 6 more across the hub.

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  3. Turns the vague feeling of product-market fit into a number you can move. Ask users how they would feel if they could no longer... First Round Review Article · ~20 min read How Superhuman Built an Engine to Find Product/Market Fit Rahul Vohra
  4. Video · ~13 min How to Plan an MVP Michael Seibel (YC)
  5. Michael Seibel, who ran YC, makes the blunt case for shipping something almost embarrassingly simple and learning from real... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~10 min video How to Build an MVP Michael Seibel
  6. The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for... paulgraham.com Essay · ~20 min read How to Get Startup Ideas Paul Graham
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