Video · About 55 minutes

The Lean Startup | Eric Ries | Talks at Google

Eric Ries · Talks at Google (YouTube) Free Beginner

The Lean Startup | Eric Ries | Talks at Google

This is the canonical talk on learning by shipping a rough version instead of only talking. Ries lays out the build, measure, learn loop and the minimum viable product: the smallest thing that lets you learn the most from real behaviour, not just stated opinions. His rule of thumb (take your first MVP idea, cut it in half, then cut it in half again) is a useful counterweight when you are tempted to keep interviewing forever.

  • A minimum viable product exists to maximise validated learning with the least effort, so a rough build often teaches you more than another round of interviews.
  • Interviews capture what people say; a build measures what they actually do, and the two frequently disagree.
  • Most founders overbuild the first version, so aggressively cut scope and get something real in front of users faster.
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The question it answers

  1. How many customer conversations should I do before I start building versus building a rough version to learn faster?

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