The Lean Startup - G.NLM.0525 Flashcards
(135 cards)
1
Q
What is the Lean Startup ultimately an answer to, according to Tim O’Reilly?
A
“How can we learn more quickly what works and discard what doesn’t? [1]”
2
Q
What does Eric Ries propose as the necessary ingredient for success in entrepreneurship, instead of magic or genius?
A
“A scientific process that can be learned and replicated [1].”
3
Q
What is the core idea Steve Blank suggests in relation to the twenty-first century?
A
“The ideas in The Lean Startup will help create the next industrial revolution [2].”
4
Q
What does Geoffrey Moore’s ‘read and react’ approach emphasize?
A
“Relentless focus on validated learning and the anxiety of hovering between ‘persevere’ and ‘pivot’ [2].”
5
Q
According to Randy Komisar, how does ‘Starting Lean’ relate to innovators today?
A
“Starting Lean is today’s best practice for innovators [3].”
6
Q
What question does The Lean Startup book provide a practical answer to, according to Don Reinertsen?
A
“How do you apply the fifty-year-old ideas of Lean to the fast-paced
7
Q
What is the definition of a ‘lean’ enterprise in business, according to Ken Blanchard?
A
“Sustainable efficiency in action [4].”
8
Q
What is a startup defined as?
A
“A human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty [5
9
Q
What is the first principle of the Lean Startup?
A
“Entrepreneurs are everywhere [5].”
10
Q
According to the first principle, where can the Lean Startup approach work?
A
“In any size company
11
Q
What is the second principle of the Lean Startup?
A
“Entrepreneurship is management [7].”
12
Q
According to the second principle, what does a startup require?
A
“A new kind of management specifically geared to its context of extreme uncertainty [7].”
13
Q
What is the third principle of the Lean Startup?
A
“Validated learning [7].”
14
Q
According to the third principle, what do startups exist to do?
A
“Learn how to build a sustainable business [7].”
15
Q
How can learning be validated scientifically?
A
“By running frequent experiments that allow entrepreneurs to test each element of their vision [7].”
16
Q
What is the fourth principle of the Lean Startup?
A
“Build-Measure-Learn [8].”
17
Q
What is the fundamental activity of a startup?
A
“To turn ideas into products
18
Q
What should all successful startup processes be geared to accelerate?
A
“That feedback loop (Build-Measure-Learn) [8].”
19
Q
What is the fifth principle of the Lean Startup?
A
“Innovation accounting [8].”
20
Q
What does innovation accounting focus on to improve entrepreneurial outcomes?
A
“How to measure progress
21
Q
What is the term for a new kind of accounting designed for startups?
A
“Innovation accounting [8].”
22
Q
What is the unit of progress used in the Lean Startup?
A
“Validated learning [9-12].”
23
Q
What is the goal of using validated learning as a yardstick?
A
“To discover and eliminate the sources of waste that are plaguing entrepreneurship [9].”
24
Q
What concept involves using cross-functional teams held accountable to learning milestones?
A
“This concept is mentioned as a recommendation in Chapter 7 on Measuring
25
What did Eric Ries and his cofounders build at IMVU instead of spending years perfecting their technology?
"A minimum viable product (MVP) [14]."
26
What was the characteristic of the early MVP at IMVU?
"It was terrible
27
How often did IMVU change their product after securing initial customers?
"Constantly
28
What methodology did Steve Blank preach regarding startup functions?
"Customer Development [15]."
29
What did Customer Development offer insight and guidance to?
"The business and marketing functions of a startup
30
What was the most common reply Eric Ries received when describing his IMVU experiences to others?
"'That could never work!' [16]."
31
What was Eric Ries's hope all along regarding startups?
"To find ways to eliminate the tremendous waste he saw: startups that built products nobody wanted
32
What is the essential unit of progress for startups?
"Learning [10]."
33
What is validated learning?
"Learning that is always demonstrated by positive improvements in the startup’s core metrics [10]."
34
Why is validated learning backed up by empirical data?
"It's easy to kid yourself about what you think customers want or learn irrelevant things [10]."
35
What is 'success theater'?
"The work we do to make ourselves look successful
36
What must every product, feature, and marketing campaign be understood as in the Lean Startup model?
"An experiment designed to achieve validated learning [18]."
37
What does a true experiment follow?
"The scientific method [19]."
38
How does a true experiment begin?
"With a clear hypothesis that makes predictions about what is supposed to happen [19]."
39
What is the goal of every startup experiment?
"To discover how to build a sustainable business around that vision [19]."
40
How did Zappos begin its experiment to test if customers would buy shoes online?
"By asking local shoe stores if he could take pictures of their inventory and buying them back if sold online [20]."
41
What does a well-designed startup experiment do beyond testing a single assumption?
"It tests many other assumptions as well
42
How does experimenting differ from market research or surveys according to the Zappos example?
"Experimenting with a product (even simple) reveals customer *action or inaction*
43
According to the HP example, what kind of employee volunteering was Caroline Barlerin prioritizing?
"Pro bono or work-based skills used outside the company for social good [22]."
44
How does the Lean Startup model offer a way to test hypotheses for a corporate initiative like HP's volunteering program?
"Rigorously
45
What are the two most important assumptions entrepreneurs make?
"The value hypothesis and the growth hypothesis [11
46
What does the value hypothesis test?
"Whether a product or service is valuable to customers once they are using it [24]."
47
What does the growth hypothesis test?
"How new customers will discover a product or service [24]."
48
In the HP volunteering example, what behavior would be most important to measure if viral growth was the hypothesis?
"Whether early participants would actively spread the word to other employees [24]."
49
Who are early adopters?
"Customers who feel the need for the product most acutely; they tend to be more forgiving and eager to give feedback [25]."
50
What are the four key questions Scott Cook (Intuit) believes entrepreneurs must answer?
"1. Do consumers recognize the problem? 2. If a solution existed
51
According to Scott Cook, what is the common tendency in product development regarding these four questions?
"To skip straight to the fourth question (building a solution) before confirming customers have the problem [26]."
52
What was Scott Cook's leap-of-faith question when starting Intuit?
"Do people find it frustrating to pay bills by hand? [27]"
53
Where do the facts needed about customers, markets, suppliers, and channels exist, according to Steve Blank?
"'Outside the building' [28]."
54
Why are market research, talking to customers, and whiteboard strategizing sometimes unhelpful according to the sources?
"Because the facts they are based upon are often wrong
55
What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)?
"The fastest way to get through the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop with the minimum amount of effort [30]."
56
What is the goal of an MVP?
"To begin the process of learning
57
What is the goal of an MVP, unlike a prototype or concept test?
"To test fundamental business hypotheses [30]."
58
According to the sources, what do most entrepreneurs dramatically overestimate regarding an MVP?
"How many features are needed [31]."
59
What is considered waste when building an MVP?
"Any additional work beyond what was required to start learning [32]."
60
What was Drew Houston's (Dropbox) MVP?
"A simple three-minute video demonstrating how the technology was meant to work [32
61
What leap-of-faith assumption did the Dropbox video MVP validate?
"That customers wanted the product
62
What is the Concierge Minimum Viable Product technique?
"Providing the service manually and personally to a small group of customers [34
63
What was the Concierge MVP used for by Food on the Table?
"To manually create meal plans and grocery lists for early adopters and collect weekly feedback and payments [35]."
64
What is Wizard of Oz testing?
"Customers believe they are interacting with the actual product
65
What was the purpose of using Wizard of Oz testing at Aardvark?
"To test if people would use the service and if it created real value before solving the difficult technical problems [36]."
66
How does the Lean Startup method relate to traditional notions of quality?
"It challenges them
67
What does the simple rule for building an MVP suggest removing?
"Any feature
68
What is one of the most common objections to building an MVP?
"Fear of competitors stealing the startup's ideas [40]."
69
According to the sources, why is the fear of competitors stealing ideas often misplaced?
"Most managers are overwhelmed with good ideas; their challenge is prioritization and execution
70
How can startups mitigate branding risks associated with an early MVP?
"Use their obscurity and small customer base to experiment under the radar before a public launch [41]."
71
Why are MVPs designed to speak to the full range of business questions, not just design or technical ones?
"To provide a needed dose of reality and prevent teams from giving up after a single failure [41]."
72
What is a 'smoke test' MVP?
"An old direct marketing technique giving customers the opportunity to preorder a product that has not yet been built [42]."
73
What is the primary purpose of a smoke test?
"To measure whether customers are interested in trying a product [42]."
74
When choosing among assumptions in a business plan, which should be tested first?
"The riskiest assumptions [43]."
75
What happens when a startup is stuck in the 'land of the living dead'?
"It has achieved just enough success to stay alive but isn't living up to expectations
76
What are 'vanity metrics'?
"Metrics that give the sensation of forward motion but don't reflect genuine progress or cause clear cause and effect [45
77
What are 'actionable metrics'?
"Metrics that demonstrate clear cause and effect and allow for specific actions to replicate results [46]."
78
How did Grockit initially measure progress, leading to frustration?
"Using vanity metrics like total customers and total questions answered [45]."
79
What did the Grockit team realize was necessary to understand the impact of their changes?
"Seek a deeper understanding of what customers really wanted through experiments [47]."
80
What is split-testing (A/B testing)?
"An experiment where different versions of a product are offered to customers at the same time to observe changes in behavior [48
81
How do Lean Startups incorporate split testing?
"Directly into product development
82
What manufacturing principle did Grockit adopt for product prioritization?
"Kanban (capacity constraint) [50]."
83
Under Grockit's new Kanban system, when was a user story considered complete?
"Not until it led to validated learning [50]."
84
How was 'Validated' defined for Grockit's user stories?
"Knowing whether the story was a good idea to have been done in the first place
85
What logic applied in Grockit's Kanban system if an engineer didn't understand a story?
"It was counterproductive to build it; without a clear hypothesis
86
What did the Grockit team test by requiring immediate registration vs. lazy registration?
"Their core assumption that customers needed to see proof the product was working early [52]."
87
What was the surprising result of Grockit's lazy registration split-test?
"Both cohorts (immediate and lazy registration) had the same rate of registration
88
What important insight did the lazy registration test suggest for Grockit?
"Improving positioning and marketing might have a more significant impact than adding features [54
89
What are the three A's of metrics?
"Actionable
90
What does 'Accessible' mean for metrics?
"Easy to understand and visualize
91
How did IMVU make reports accessible?
"Reporting data was part of the product
92
What is the most difficult and time-consuming decision for most startups?
"Deciding when to pivot and when to persevere [58]."
93
What is a pivot?
"A structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product
94
What is the purpose of learning milestones?
"To ensure there is relevant data in the room when it comes time to decide whether to pivot or persevere [59]."
95
According to the sources, why is failure a prerequisite to learning?
"Without empirical results
96
What was the key difference in Votizen's first pivot?
"Changed the engine of growth hypothesis from 'sticky' (engagement) to 'paid' (activists paying for transactions) [61]."
97
What was the key difference in Votizen's second pivot?
"Changed the engine of growth hypothesis from 'paid' to 'viral' [62]."
98
What common pattern was seen in Votizen's pivots?
"Acceleration of MVPs and testing [62]."
99
What was the key factor that explained Votizen's MVP acceleration?
"Learning critical things about its customers
100
What impresses investors most about Facebook's early growth?
"High engagement (validated value hypothesis) and staggering growth rate on campuses (validated growth hypothesis) [63]."
101
What are 'leap-of-faith assumptions'?
"The riskiest elements of a startup's plan
102
Why are they called leaps of faith?
"Because the success of the entire venture rests on them; if false
103
What is 'genchi gembutsu' in the Toyota Way?
"Go and see for yourself firsthand to truly understand a business problem [65]."
104
How did Yuji Yokoya (Toyota Sienna chief engineer) apply 'genchi gembutsu'?
"By driving over 53
105
What principle was demonstrated by the envelope-stuffing story?
"The surprising power of small batches [66
106
What is 'single-piece flow' in lean manufacturing?
"Doing work one item at a time
107
Why does working in small batches lead to faster completion, even if it seems inefficient?
"It reduces the total time through the system by minimizing delays and allowing problems to be discovered sooner [67
108
What is the value created in a startup, according to the adaptation of lean principles?
"Validated learning about how to build a sustainable business [12]."
109
What kind of questions create value for a startup by needing to be answered quickly?
"What products do customers really want? How will our business grow? Who is our customer? Which customers should we listen to? [12]."
110
What does 'stop production so that production never has to stop' mean in the Lean Startup context?
"Built-in speed regulators like the andon cord are needed to address quality problems immediately
111
According to the sources, you cannot trade what for time?
"Quality [69]."
112
What happens if you cause or miss quality problems now?
"The resulting defects will slow you down later
113
What is the Five Whys technique used for?
"To find the root cause of a problem [70]."
114
What was the result of using the Five Whys at IMVU in troubleshooting?
"Root causes often traced back to human errors or system flaws
115
What is the recommendation for investment when using Five Whys?
"Make a proportional investment at each of the five levels of the hierarchy
116
What is the primary benefit of the Five Whys leading to prevention steps?
"Building an adaptive organization that learns from failure and prevents future mistakes [71
117
What are the two simple rules for a simplified Five Whys system?
"1. Be tolerant of all mistakes the first time. 2. Never allow the same mistake to be made twice [73]."
118
What is the main challenge when first switching to validated learning?
"It feels worse before it feels better because problems become tangible [74]."
119
What did Frederick Winslow Taylor's scientific management movement make possible?
"The tremendous prosperity of the twentieth century by improving efficiency and managing companies as systems [75]."
120
What does the Lean Startup movement seek to achieve in terms of management?
"Bring scientific rigor to the management of entrepreneurs and innovators
121
What is 'product development pseudoscience'?
"Green-lighting projects on intuition
122
What is the value of having a theory like the Lean Startup?
"Allows you to predict what will happen and propose alternatives systematically
123
What publication is recommended for more on customer development?
"Steve Blank's The Four Steps to the Epiphany [78]."
124
Who wrote The Innovator's Dilemma?
"Clayton M. Christensen [79]."
125
Who wrote Crossing the Chasm?
"Geoffrey A. Moore [79]."
126
What concept was greatly influenced by Dave McClure's 'Startup Metrics for Pirates' presentation?
"Engines of growth [80]."
127
Who is credited with coining the term 'continuous deployment'?
"Timothy Fitz
128
What book by Taiichi Ohno is related to the Toyota Production System?
"Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production [82]."
129
Where can you find an up-to-date listing of Lean Startup meetups?
"The Lean Startup Wiki or lean-startup.meetup.com [83]."
130
Who is specifically thanked for their work developing the theory of customer development and advising Eric Ries?
"Steve Blank [84]."
131
What is the name of Eric Ries's blog?
"Startup Lessons Learned [16
132
What was the name of the company Eric Ries co-founded and was CTO?
"IMVU [14
133
What are 'learning milestones'?
"Milestones based on validated learning
134
What is the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop?
"The core process where ideas are turned into products
135
What is the importance of minimizing the total time through the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop?
"It is the essence of steering a startup [87]."
