We partnered with two startup schools to create a training program based on the Lean Startup method. In a randomized controlled trial on 116 early-stage start-ups, we show that entrepreneurs who were taught to formulate hypotheses from theories and rigorously test them on carefully chosen samples of potential customers were more likely to acknowledge that an idea was bad, pivot from non-starters or pitfalls, and generate more revenue than the control group. My colleagues and I found that training founders to think like scientists could help reduce the risk of sticking with ideas that don’t ultimately work out. Lean is about quick, iterative learning through experimentation and feedback, and quitting or pivoting when the original idea proves to be untenable. Rinse and repeat until launch day, and even beyond.

The lean method calls for startups to learn about customers’ problems and needs, obtain feedback, and build a minimum viable product to test demand.

And my colleagues and I may have found a way. The book by serial entrepreneur and software engineer Eric Ries, published in 2011, has become a bible for business neophytes it has sold more than a million copies and is taught in business schools and accelerators.īut much like the iterative approach it preaches, the Lean Startup Method could itself be made better.

Ask any start-up founder in recent years what guided them in the early days of their entrepreneurial journey and the Lean Startup method is likely to enter the conversation.

The lean startup review