Lean startups live by the agile manifesto

Lean startups may take the Agile Manifesto principles for their own.

The Agile Manifesto principles ((Tycho Press, pg. 93-97)) are as follows:

With a slight modification to the second bullet to match industries other than software, these principles match the needs of a lean startup. That’s because the environment of a startup is similar to that of software. The customer has a vague sense of what the software needs to do and is likely to change their mind when they begin to use it. The software company may have a single customer in mind, but they aren’t aware of the wider customer base that may or may not exist for their product. Replace software for any lean business idea, and the situation will be the same.

To keep costs down, most startups can’t afford to purchase fancy tools to automate all their new business' processes. Even if they did focus on process, their doors would soon be shut because no customers are generated by efficient processes. Rather, a lean startup needs to get itself and its MVP in front of people and make personal connections to succeed.

If the second bullet were changed to “Usable MVPs over comprehensive documentation” it would be a perfect fit for a startup. An entrepreneur may be tempted to fit all the details of their product into a lengthy document and pitch this to customers, but putting the product, no matter how many features it yet lacks, into the hands of a real customer is lightyears better than concepts alone.

Entrepreneurs are dependent upon their customers to help them iterate to a truly valuable product. Fear can cause either the customer or the entrepreneur to want more up-front assurance of their partnership than a simple handshake, but this can place a business on tenuous ground. It needs to be able to accept failure as part of the process towards a valuable product, but if the business is tied to a contract that can put undue pressure on it to deliver at any cost.

Lean startups change daily. The most detailed business plan is doomed for the shredder in an environment where neither the product nor the customer is well-defined.

It’s been a privilege to work in a software company that uses Agile development processes. These are invaluable tools for a lean startup as well so that, even though I’m working in the corporate space, I’m sharpening skills I’d need to be part of a startup. My takeaway is to continue to use these skills in my work environment and to prioritize the way I do work after the Agile Manifesto principles. The most difficult for me is the first bullet because I enjoy creating tools and refining processes, but in the beginning of any new venture, it’s more important to collaborate than to conceptualize a defined process.

References

Tycho Press. (2015) Scrum Basics: A Very Quick Guide to Agile Project Management. Tycho Press.