Year read: 2016
How strongly I recommend it: 8/10
(See my list of books I've read, for more.)Go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.
Test and experiment.
You are more often wrong than you are right. Learn, don’t be scared of small failures.
Run experiments and learn what customers want then deliver it. Iterate on what they want and need until it’s perfect. Sharing and collecting feedback the entire way. Don’t hide in a room working on a complex feature that no one will use.
Focus on actionable metrics.
Move fast to learn fast / don’t waste time.
Learning where and when to invest energy results in saving time and money.
Use customer stories as development guidelines.
Always test and validate these stories to make sure you understand what the customer needs before development is finished. Don’t guess. Guessing is expensive.
MVP of features and not only businesses / build ‘rough’ but working features to validate features before devoting a lot of time to building it out.
Start with small tests for growth and development this way you learn early if the idea will grow the business and if the customer will like it / use it.
Don’t spend a lot of time on a growth or development feature before knowing it will work or be accepted (solve customer problem).
Ask ‘Why’ 5 times to get to the real problem.
Rules to live by
- Be tolerant of all mistakes the first time.
- Never allow the same mistake to be made twice.
Quotes
- “Success is not delivering a feature; success is learning how to solve the customer’s problem.” – Mark Cook of Kodak
- “New customers come from the actions of past customers.” – Eric Ries
- “Startups don’t starve; they drown.“ – Shawn Carolan
- “Startups have to focus on the big experiments that lead to validated learning.” – Eric Ries
Go to the Amazon page for details and reviews.