The modern day library of life has become Wikipedia, but as many of us have seen, it just doesn’t have all of the answers in the world. If only we could have a way of looking into taking that first step.
That one golden nugget of advice that could really set us forth on our way, and no, not a Mom or Dad slap on the back, but a word from someone who has been there. A guide, a format, and layout, ANYTHING!
Fear not startup warrior, the time has come for just that!
Steve Blank has finally laid the groundwork to keep you from having to machete your way through the jungles of entrepreneurship and hop on the guided path to success. Blank and other entrepreneurs have created a library on modern entrepreneurship, a series dedicated to the small business startups that have been long overdue.
Blank has always been rooted in success, after founding 8 startup companies in the highly competitive Silicon Valley. His main direction now hones in on Customer Development for your startup. Blank believes in using the “scientific method” for sorting out the typical chaotic environment of a startup’s beginning, and now teaches at three major Universities in order to get his word out there.
His first book focused heavily on the Costumer Development process. This book is still widely viewed as a point of reference for entrepreneurs and investors alike. His second book is what has Blank and others of the “Lean” Startup movement excited. Blank gives a guide that helps the reader understand the step by step process to building a startup that works. It opens up to audiences of more than just the founder, but helps all of those involved in the process such as an investor to really understand what a successful startup will look like.
But what makes it a Lean Startup?
Well, coinciding with Blank’s theory of applying the scientific method to Startups, the Lean Startup is also a scientific approach to going from zero to business in a much more efficient way.
REMOVE DOUBT
Management right out of the gate is important. Setting everything into overdrive before you are ready or before you have set yourself up for handling problems that may come can be devastating in early stages of your startup. Having a method to the mayhem keeps you moving in the right direction, and not back to where you started.
EASE THE SUFFERING!
Leave behind your woes of how you can make it work and focus on why it needs to work. You are working with your experiment for a reason, and make sure you find that reason. Teach yourself why your product will have success, and redirect your attention to making it work for the right people. Get them excited, and before you are ready to really let loose the animal you have created, you will already have your loyal followers.
FIND YOUR CORE
You can’t revolutionize the world in a day, so don’t try to slam out a finished product as fast as possible. Find a core product, something that at least passes for what you are trying to accomplish. Once the baselines are set, the rest is fine tuning work as your go. You won’t have the whole functionality of the product lingering over your head, and your idea of what you are trying to finish with will become more apparent as you tack on piece after piece.
STAY ON YOUR TOES
The world is constantly changing, and therefore so is business. Do not take giant leaps in alternate directions, but keep a flowing and adapting business model that keeps you learning about not only your product, but the way your customers want your product as well.
Lean startups are moving in a precision like direction to the top. The luck of the draw business dream won’t be as valued as Steve Blank’s standards become much more than a theory.
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