The document discusses the myths of lean startups. It asserts that lean startups are not about being cheap, small, or producing crappy products. Rather, lean startups are about making informed decisions using metrics like acquisition, activation, retention, referral, and revenue. The document also emphasizes that lean startups still require hard work and that founders should not be afraid to pivot based on what the metrics indicate.

1. Speaker
Series
RUNNING
LEAN

2. Lean St
artup
Lean A
nalytic
s
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/gianpierre_soto/5505817770/sizes/l/in/photostream/

3. A BIT ABOUT ME
• SERIAL ENTREPRENEUR
• MENTOR & ADVISOR
• BIG BELIEVER IN LEAN…

4. Running Lean
Powers the Best Startups

5. The Seven Myths of
Lean Startups

6. #1: Lean means cheap
Sure it’s cheaper to start companies but it still costs money to scale them.
The lesson is simply this: know when to hack and know when to scale.

7. #2: Lean means small
You need a Big Vision to Win. DREAM BIG!

8. #3: Lean means, well…crappy
An MVP is meant to be a minimalistic version of your product, but it also has to be viable.

9. #4: Pivot is a Bad Word
The future is a road paved with changes ahead.

10. Don’t be afraid to Pivot
Listen to what you’re the market is telling you.

11. A Classic
Pivot
Money transfer via a Palm
Pilot. Sounds crazy, right?

12. Eventually became PayPal
In October 2002, PayPal was acquired by eBay for $1.5-Billion

13. h3p://www.smallbiztechnology.com/archive/2012/07/learning-­‐from-­‐failure.html/

14. #5: Lean is only for consumer startups
Lean Startup has gained most of its adoption amongst consumer startups, but it applies across the board.

15. #6: Lean means easy
Startups are hard. Lean simply helps mitigate risk
and clear the path a bit more, but it’s not easy.
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/sabaNzer/6360925767/sizes/l/

16. h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/laNtudes/66424863/sizes/l/
#7: Lean means instant success
You can’t walk through the process and expect to win. It takes guts, luck, brains and much, more more.

17. The Seven Myths of
Lean Startups
#1: Lean doesn’t mean cheap
#2: Lean doesn’t mean small
#3: Lean doesn’t mean crappy
#4: Don’t be afraid to pivot
#5: Lean isn’t only for consumer startups
#6: Lean doesn’t mean easy
#7: Lean doesn’t mean instant success

18. Lean does mean making
informed decisions.

19. For most startups, lean
means measuring:
1. Acquisition
2. Activation
3. Retention
4. Referral
5. Revenue

20. Not listening to what the
metrics are telling you
can spell disaster.

21. Know When to Pivot
Lack Revenue| High Churn| Poor Conversions

22. Know When to Scale
Adoption | Conversions| Market Share
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/lanier67/4047779644/sizes/l/in/photostream/

23. Lean means stop guessing
Finding that one metric that tracks your progress towards a goal.

24. Balancing Act
Most successful entrepreneurs have a good balance of execution intuition and luck.
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/classblog/5136926303/sizes/l/in/photostream/

25. Most startups fail because the founders give up
h3p://www.flickr.com/photos/kcnickerson/1008563510/

26. Hard Work Pays Off…So Don’t Give Up!

27. Recommended Reading
Lean Startup | Lean Analytics | Running Lean

28. Contact Me:
E-Mail:
jthompson@about.me
Twitter:
@thomjeff
Some
of
the
photographs
in
this
presentaNon
were
retrieved
from
Flickr
and
made
available
under
a
CreaNve
Commons
license.
Please
refer
to
each
photograph
for
a
link
to
the
image
source.