Every founder has heard of The Lean Startup, creating an MVP, and applying the scientific method to their company.
The goal is “to figure out [empirically] the right thing to build—the thing [real] customers want [not what they say they want] and will pay for [and why]—as quickly as possible.”
Identify and test your leap-of-faith assumptions to validate success or failure early on.
DATA comes 1st!
Test your key assumptions in a time and cost efficient way.
LEARN through setting a hypothesis, and validating via split testing, targeted customer interviews (with 5 why’s and open-ended questions), and a pre-MVP.
Then BUILD, MEASURE, and REPEAT.
Don’t worry about competitors stealing your idea.
If you are that easy to copy, you’re doomed anyway ;).
Continue to outlearn the competition.
PIVOT as needed:
Zoom-in: feature becomes whole product
Zoom-out: whole product becomes single feature
Customer segment: solve problem for a different customer
Customer need: discover a related problem you can solve
Platform: change from product to platform
Business architecture: change from high margin, low volume to low margin, high volume or vice versa
Engine of growth: (1) sticky (2) paid (3) viral
AND/OR revenue model, customer channel, technology, etc.
Lucas Miller, co-creator.
