The thing about startups is that they're in a race. They need to find a way to start bringing in money before they run out of the money they have. This forces them to find ways to operate extremely quickly. They cut all the fat and just focus on what needs to be done. They learn at incredible rates about what will and will not work and use that knowledge to create products that customers will love. As a result, the really good ones are able to beat out larger organizations with many more resources. Imagine if those larger organizations, with so many resources, could operate as lean as a startup? In this presentation, I share techniques that startups are doing today to be lean and talk about how some of these same principles can be applied within companies of any size.

1. Abby Fichtner
@HackerChick
Harvard Innovation Lab
Beyond the Startup
Being Lean in Startups & Beyond

2. @HackerChick Jeff Bezos, Amazon
"If you only do things where you know
the answer in advance, your company
goes away."

3. @HackerChick

4. @HackerChick
1. Eliminate Waste
What Would a Startup Do?
5. FOCUS!
2. Start Small
3. Deeply Understand Customers
4. Always Be Learning
6. Move Fast

5. @HackerChick
Eliminate
Waste

6. @HackerChick
muda
any activity that is unproductive or that
doesn’t add value today

7. @HackerChick
YAGNI
(You Ain’t Gonna Need It)

8. @HackerChick

9. @HackerChick

10. @HackerChick
out of9
new products
fail
10

11. @HackerChick@HackerChick

12. @HackerChick
FAIL
@HackerChick

13. @HackerChick
* building something nobody wants
is the worst kind of waste
Eliminate
Waste*

14. @HackerChick
MILLIONS of CUSTOMERS
$5 BILLION
ENGINEERING TRIUMPH
@HackerChick

15. @HackerChick
FAIL
MILLIONS of CUSTOMERS
One of the Largest
Bankruptcies in
US History
$5 BILLION
ENGINEERING TRIUMPH
@HackerChick

16. @HackerChick
“We’re a classic MBA case study in how NOT
to introduce a product.
First, we created a marvelous tech. achievement
Then, we asked how to make money on it.”
Iridium Interim CEO John A. Richardson

17. @HackerChick

18. @HackerChick

19. @HackerChick
“Talk is cheap. Show me the code.”
- Linus Torvalds
MVP

20. @HackerChick@HackerChick

21. @HackerChick

22. @HackerChick

23. @HackerChick

24. @HackerChick@HackerChick

25. @HackerChick@HackerChick
Would you like recommendations
for a hotel?
Yes No
Would you like recommendations
for a hotel?
Yes No

26. @HackerChick@HackerChick
ERROR:
SYSTEM UNAVAILABLE

27. @HackerChick
Small
Start

28. @HackerChick
Goal
VISION REALITY

29. @HackerChick
GoBig
VISION

30. @HackerChick@HackerChick

31. @HackerChick@HackerChick

32. @HackerChick
GO SMALL
(dominate small market)
GoBig
VISION

33. @HackerChick

34. @HackerChick
10 100

35. @HackerChick
Deeply Understand
Customers

36. @HackerChick@HackerChick

37. @HackerChick
75,000
signups overnight

38. @HackerChick
VC: “There are a million cloud storage startups!”
Drew: “Do you use any of them?”
VC: “No”
Drew: “…”

39. @HackerChick
Know where your
target audience
hangs out
& speak to them in an
authentic way
@drewhouston, Dropbox

40. @HackerChick@HackerChick

41. @HackerChick

42. @HackerChick
Always Be
Learning

43. @HackerChick
Single Biggest Predictor of Failure?
300 startups surveyed (src: Don Sull, "The Upside of Turbulence”)

44. @HackerChick
Single Biggest Predictor of Failure?
300 startups surveyed (src: Don Sull, "The Upside of Turbulence”)
Sticking to Initial Business Plan

45. @HackerChick
The unit of progress for
entrepreneurs is learning

46. @HackerChick

47. @HackerChick

48. @HackerChick

49. @HackerChick@HackerChick

50. @HackerChick
FOCUS!

51. @HackerChick
What’s Your Most Important
metric?

52. @HackerChick

53. @HackerChick @ashmaurya, Running Lean

54. @HackerChick @ashmaurya, Running Lean

55. @HackerChick

56. @HackerChick
Fast
Move

57. @HackerChick

58. @HackerChick OH at Lean Startup Circle Meetup

59. @HackerChick OH at Lean Startup Circle Meetup

60. @HackerChick

61. @HackerChick @AshMaurya

62. @HackerChick @AshMaurya

63. @HackerChick @AshMaurya

64. @HackerChick @AshMaurya

65. @HackerChick @AshMaurya

67. @HackerChick
Confidence
Service
as a
“we’ve already done this 9,999 times”

68. @HackerChick@HackerChick

69. @HackerChick
2 week release cycles Multiple releases/day
Releases were all-day events Releases are non-events
Release size: 100’s LOC Release size: < 25 LOC
More emergency releases Less fire-fighting
@AshMaurya
Before After

70. @HackerChick
Think
like a
Startup

71. @HackerChick
Agile
solution unknown

72. @HackerChick
Lean Startup
problem unknown

73. @HackerChick
1. Eliminate Waste
What Can You Do?
5. FOCUS!
2. Start Small
3. Deeply Understand Customers
4. Always Be Learning
6. Move Fast

74. Abby Fichtner
@HackerChick
http://HackerChick.com
Thanks!