The Anorexic Startup
Comments(0) The term Lean Startup has become a battle cry against the archetype of the ego-pumping dot-com executive flexing his Web 2.0 buzz words at an audience of Venture Capitalists and PR mavens. It has come to represent the antithesis of the multi-million dollar hail mary. But is this sense of the word really accurate?
The lean startup movement is essentially just a collection of interlocking disciplines, but the term `lean startup` has taken on this second meaning far from its roots in lean manufacturing and lean software development. To qualify a startup as `lean` now often implies that said startup operates with a heightened measure of scrutiny over its self-image.
The greatest truth the wisest man will ever know is that he knows nothing. That’s the heart of lean.
- Think of something you can’t already do.
- Write a test.
- Fulfill the test.
- Release the code.
- Engage your audience.
- Distill their feedback.
- GOTO 2.
The only difference between Agile Software Development and a Lean Startup is 5 and 6.
Agile Manufacturing iterates on the efficiency of the production system as a whole through Process Engineering.
Agile Software Development iterates on the structure of the software as a whole through Software Engineering.
Lean Startups iterate on the product offering itself through Customer Development Engineering.
It is entirely possible to practice agile software development within a non-agile organization, but it is much much harder to practice non-agile methodologies within an agile organization. The cycle times of a lean startup’s release and discovery schedule are just too short for waterfall project plans. Like trying to trim a bonzai with a riding lawn mower.
For this reason, taking a company lean requires the cooperation of everyone involved. The smaller the organization, the easier it is to keep everyone in flow. You probably won’t see anyone throwing around the term Lean Enterprise any time soon.
But does this necessarily mean that a Lean Startup’s small size leaves it afflicted with a neurosis of diminished optimism?
I would say that it does not.
I would say that a Lean Startup is a startup with a realistic understanding of the current and potential viability of its product, achieved through an unyielding acceptance of uncertainty.
