2019-12-27 The LEAN Startup

Question 1

What is more important than determination, idea, timing or brilliance?

Answer 1

EXECUTION

Question 2

What is the build-measure-learn feedback loop?

Answer 2

A loop

Question 3

What is the goal of a startup

Answer 3

To figure out the right thing to build - that customers want and will pay for - as quickly as possible

Question 4

What is the first step of the MLF loop?

Answer 4

Figuring out what we want to learn, by formulating hypothesis.

Examples:
McDonald - “Commuters want to be able to order food from their cars”
Ikea - “People are willing to assemble their own furniture at home”
Spotify - “People are willing to pay monthly for being able to stream unlimited music online”

Question 5

What is the second step of the MLF loop?

Answer 5

Validating or rejecting our formulated hypothesis, by creating experiments.

Question 6

What is the common denominator among the successful ways of experimenting?

Answer 6

Observe, don’t ask! People often don’t even know what they want.

Question 7

What do you have to build for your experiment?

Answer 7

Not much, sometimes a simple landing page with an opt-in can act a a good experiment (measure people’s interest), other times an MVP better fits our need.

Question 8

What is waste?

Answer 8

It’s everything that doesn’t lead to validated learning.

Question 9

What are three types of MVPs?

Answer 9

The video MVP (dropbox)

The concierge MVP (focus on a single customer, start by doing the tasks manually, and automate more and more of the processes so that you can expand to more customers)

The Wizard of Oz MVP (Pretend that you have developed a fancy technical solution, while behind the curtains, it’s operated by humans)

Question 10

What are the three engines of growth?

Answer 10

The sticky engine (Gilette, online gaming, etc.)
Should focus on improving customer acquisition and churn rate

The viral engine (Used by social networks, MLMs, etc.)
Should focus on the viral coefficient

The paid engine (Ecommerce)
Focus on advertising, CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) and LTV (Lifetime Value)

Question 11

What is a pivot?

Answer 11

It’s a change in strategy in order to achieve the overall vision.

Question 12

When to pivot?

Answer 12

1. Establish a baseline of the current situation using an MVP
2. Attempt to tune the MVP towards the ideal through multiple iterations in the BML feedback loop
3. Pivot or persevere (Intuition is key)

Question 13

What are some of the most common pivots?

Answer 13

Customer Segment Pivot
Value Capture Pivot
Engine of Growth Pivot