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1-Page Summary of Running Lean
Calculate Risk
When starting a business, you should focus on the risks. Start-ups are risky, and entrepreneurs need to take steps to reduce their uncertainty. You can do this by considering three types of risk: financial, market and executional.
To launch a successful product, make sure it addresses an important need and test the idea with a “Minimum Viable Product”. Confirm that your MVP works by testing with real customers. Then confirm again by testing with more real customers.
To find the right customers, you need to define your early adopters and then use channels like paid advertising and white papers to attract them.
To avoid market risk, you need to understand your competitors and their pricing strategies. Test out the prices of your product with a pilot project, then adjust your prices accordingly based on what customers actually do (that is, whether they buy at that price).
“Meta-Principles”
To understand the principles behind a successful start-up, consider author Ash Maurya’s launch process. He was inspired by his readers who suggested that he turn his blog into a book. To find out what problem the book would solve, he contacted some of those potential customers and asked them what problems they had with his blog posts on the same topic that would be solved by a book.
This helped the author identify his “Unique Value Proposition” (UVP). He asked if people would buy a book from him, which showed whether he had something of value to offer. Encouraged by their interest, he created a website and an online store where interested readers could sign up for his email list. Many people signed up, showing that they were willing to purchase what the author was selling.
Maurya learned that a book can solve real problems and present an opportunity for business. He began the iterative process of writing the book, which included getting feedback from his audience in workshops. As he continued to get feedback, he was able to write better material and charge more money for his workshops. Eventually, this led him to publish a book on the subject.
Maurya wrote the book in stages, creating a minimum viable product. He released two chapters at a time to “early adopters” who didn’t want to wait for the completed book. He asked them for feedback and used that information to refine his ideas before publishing the book. As sales of those early copies increased, Maurya attracted attention from large publishers (akin to getting funding for a start-up). Since then he has sold many thousands of copies of his books. Your goal is also achieving product/market fit by identifying your target audience and using their feedback on your MVP (minimum viable product) as feedback towards developing an effective final version.
Going from “Plan A to a Plan That Works”
Don’t spend a lot of time planning your start-up because you’ll change your plans. Instead, get to work on the first step by listing key customer groups that will buy your product or service. Remember, customers don’t just use things; they pay for them, so specify who exactly those paying clients are going to be. You can’t include everyone right away. Even Facebook started with Harvard students as its target market and then expanded from there.
Identify the three biggest problems that your product will solve. List those resources that are currently being used to solve those problems, because they’re your competition. Consider your Unique Value Proposition (UVP). Ask why people will pay for this product and what makes it different or better enough to compel them to buy it? Focus on attracting core, early adopters with a UVP such as “landing my dream job.”
