Off the Grid

Yesterday's standoff between Fred Wilson and Ben Horowitz and the rant about finance made me realize there is lot of confusion about the Lean Startup up model.

If a hack like me can get it, makes me wonder what is so complex to understand in the Lean Startup model, so I decided to clarify what I felt were few misunderstandings:

Its NOT about begin cheap, its about iterating and learning. Lean startup emphasizes on continuous learning during the product development life-cycle, not about technology but about your CUSTOMERS and their needs and making some thing they want to buy.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is NOT a buggier and cheaper version of your final product, but has just those features that allows the product to be deployed which will result in determination of the product/market fit. Simple terms, it lets you find out if you are building some thing people want. Venture Hack's has few great examples of MVPs and Eric Ries has an awesome guide that will help you get started.

There are other ways to achieve product/market fit. Dropbox did it by posting a video of the product even before it was complete.

The argument about Lean startup principles apply only to Web Startups is completely utterly WRONG. If you are creating a cure for AIDS, common sense tells us that you have market for it and all you need is the product. YOU HAVE ACHIEVED PRODUCT/MARKET FIT.

About finance - IT DOES NOT matter how much capital you've raised. YOU WILL FAIL if you don't have the product/market fit... Even TESLA MOTORS can flop if no one wants to buy their cars.. its really that simple.

The Lean Startup method is not about cost, it is about speed. Lean Startups waste less money, because they use a disciplined approach to testing new products and ideas Lean Startup model is a framework that helps you determine product/market - Eric Ries on Four Myths about Lean startup