Question 1

What are the key takeaways from Eric Ries's episode on Lenny's Podcast?

Accepted Answer

1. MVP is not about being cheap or low quality - it's about finding the most efficient way to test your hypothesis, whether that takes 6 weeks or 10 years. 2. If you can't fail, you can't learn - the psychological inability to admit something isn't working is the real blocker to learning and pivoting. 3. Building a zombie company you hate is far worse than startup failure - founders who sell out and watch their companies become something abhorrent suffer more than those who fail fast. 4. The vision is often discovered rather than chosen - pivoting is about having the courage to see the world as it ought to be and dancing with wherever that takes you. 5. Organizations are superorganisms with their own soul - founders don't own them, they birth and nurture them, and must encode values into the structure itself to keep promises beyond any individual.

Question 2

What does Eric Ries say about lean-startup and mvp?

Accepted Answer

"MVP is simply for whatever the hypothesis is that we're trying to test, what is the most efficient way to get the validation we need about whether a hypothesis is true or not? Part of a successful test is to understand what are the demands of customers in our market." - Eric Ries "The number one lesson of the scientific method is if you can't fail, you can't learn. And so if you set yourself up in a position where psychologically you can't admit that something didn't work, you can't learn. That really is the essence of MVP." - Eric Ries "Far worse than having a startup fail is to be in a company that won't die, a zombie undead company that you hate but you can't leave. We're having a mental health crisis among founders that's not talked about enough. Building a company you hate, that becomes a maligned force in the world - that's way, way worse." - Eric Ries

Question 3

What are Eric Ries's views on lean-startup, mvp, pivots?

Accepted Answer

Eric Ries: "MVP is simply for whatever the hypothesis is that we're trying to test, what is the most efficient way to get the validation we need about whether a hypothesis is true or not? Part of a successful test is to understand what are the demands of customers in our market." Eric Ries: "The number one lesson of the scientific method is if you can't fail, you can't learn. And so if you set yourself up in a position where psychologically you can't admit that something didn't work, you can't learn. That really is the essence of MVP."

Eric Ries

Reflections on a movement | Eric Ries (creator of the Lean Startup methodology)

TRANSCRIPT

Eric Ries

Reflections on a movement | Eric Ries (creator of the Lean Startup methodology)

Eric Ries

Reflections on a movement | Eric Ries (creator of the Lean Startup methodology)

TRANSCRIPT

Eric Ries

Reflections on a movement | Eric Ries (creator of the Lean Startup methodology)