In The Lean Startup the successful serial entrepreneur Eric Ries throws traditional thinking out of the window, and presents his radically new methodology for building a successful business. Most startups, says Ries, fail - but they fail for preventable reasons. 'Lean thinking' is the key to success, and represents the next paradigm shift in business management. Most people assume that the key to a lucrative business is expert management, a high-performance product and good customer service. But the real secret, Ries argues, is creating things that people want to buy in the first place. Startups generally fail not because of missed deadlines, faulty products or blown budgets, but because entrepreneurs are too focused on their vision, on their great new idea, and don't know what it is that their customers really want. The solution, according to Ries, is 'lean thinking' and 'validated learning'. Rather than designing an elaborate business plan and committing large amounts of financial and human resources from the start, first find out what you can about your potential customers.
And rather than adopting a static, product-centric approach, test your idea on your customers: respond to their feedback, and constantly be prepared to adjust your product, as well as your business.