Lean Startup
How Development Looks Different
when you’re Changing the World
Abby Fichtner
Developer Evangelist for Startups, Microsoft
@HackerChick
http://HackerChick.com

“Considering the incredible amount of human energy, passion, and
creativity that we invest in creating new products & services…
@EricRies

… it’s a terrible waste that so many of them fail.”
@EricRies

Promise of the Lean Startup
Instead of building our startups according to myths
We can guide them with facts and knowledge
@EricRies

“Most technology start‐ups fail not because the
technology doesn’t work, but because they’re making
something that there is not a real market for”
@EricRies

Kent Beck

“You’re way too dumb to figure
out whether your idea is good”
Andrew Mason, CEO of Groupon (NY Tech Meetup)

Startups are NOT small versions
of large organizations

$5 BILLION
ENGINEERING TRIUMPH
MILLIONS of CUSTOMERS
One of the Largest
Bankruptcies in
US History

“We’re a classic MBA case study in how NOT
to introduce a product.
First, we created a marvelous tech. achievement
Then, we asked how to make money on it.”
Iridium Interim CEO John A. Richardson

Get through the whole
loop as fast as possible

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
strategy for fast & quantitative
market testing of a product or feature
wikipedia

We had an idea for a new product.
We went off & built it, put it on our website.
Not a single person clicked thru to it
What did we learn from that?

We had an idea for a new product.
We went off & built it, put it on our website.
Not a single person clicked thru to it
Was there a faster way to get through
that learning loop?

Problem: Unknown Solution: Unknown

Customer Development
@SGBlank

Lean Startup
@SGBlank

Product/Market Fit
When a product shows strong demand by
passionate users representing a sizeable market
The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Customer Development: A “Cheat Sheet” to the Four Steps (@BrantCooper, @Vlaskovits)

Get outside the building!

Customer Discovery
What is the problem?
Who has the problem?
@SGBlank

Customer Discovery
How important is the problem’s solution to the customer?
How valuable is the problem’s solution to the customer?
@SGBlank

Problem: Unknown Solution: Unknown

Customer Validation

OH at Lean Startup Circle Meetup

The unit of progress for
entrepreneurs is learning
@EricRies

@AshMaurya

@AshMaurya

@AshMaurya

@AshMaurya

@AshMaurya

@AshMaurya

WiredReach Case Study
BEFORE AFTER
2 week release cycles Multiple releases/day
Releases were all-day events Releases are non-events
Release size: 100’s LOC Release size: < 25 LOC
More emergency releases Less fire-fighting
@AshMaurya

@AshMaurya

But what does all of this mean for
AGILE?

Agile Projects are NOT large
versions of startups

4%
9.75%

Shared Principles, Practices
Agile Development Practices (XP)
Discipline  Flexibility
Iteratively Evolve Solution
Continuous Learning
Continuously Deliver Value
Fail Fast

Pushing Agile to the Next Level
Agile Lean Startup
Recognize we don’t know solution …don’t even know Problem
Increments: Weeks Increments: Hours
Continuous Integration Continuous Deployment
Test in Mock Prod Environment Testing in Production
Opinions on Demos Behaviors in Production
Deliver value monthly (2-3 sprints) Deliver value daily
Done = Software Ready to Deploy Done = Validated Learning

Learn More
Eric Ries Steve Blank
@EricRies @sgblank
http://startuplessonslearned.com/ http://steveblank.com/
Kent Beck Ash Maurya
@KentBeck @AshMaurya
http://threeriversinstitute.org/
http://ashmaurya.com/
Abby Fichtner
@HackerChick
http://HackerChick.com