Book Review: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

The Lean Startup offers an innovative approach to entrepreneurship and growth

In The Lean Startup, the American entrepreneur Eric Ries draws on his experiences as a startup founder to present a new approach to company and product launches. In particular, he advocates reducing the time spent on the feedback loop and cutting costs at all stages of the production process. This clear and detailed summary and analysis is a useful tool for anyone who wants to understand how lean methods can be applied to startups: it features a clear explanation of the key principles underlying Ries’ approach and the contextual background to his work, in particular the rise of lean management. It also provides an introduction to the tools he recommends, such as small batches and the Five Whys method, the main criticisms of his work and potential extensions of his approach, giving you everything you need to understand this highly original book in just 50 minutes.

This accessible and insightful 38-page summary and analysis is structured as follows:

• The Lean Startup: a model of entrepreneurial success
• About the author and background to the book
  • The author: Eric Ries
  • Context and background
• Summary of The Lean Startup
  • The lean principle applied to startups
  • The feedback loop
  • The lean methods
  • Conclusion
• Impact of The Lean Startup
  • Criticisms of Ries’ approach
  • Extensions and similar approaches
• Recap of Ries’ main ideas

About The Lean Startup

The Lean Startup applies the principles of lean manufacturing, which emerged in Japan after the Second World War before spreading to other countries and industries, particularly to startups. In particular, Ries advocates cutting costs, maximizing efficiency and focusing on the needs and expectations of customers to ensure that a new product will find its place in the market. The ideas outlined in The Lean Startup have won over followers around the world, and the book became a bestseller shortly after it was published.

About Eric Ries

The American entrepreneur Eric Ries cowrote his first book while he was still at school and launched his first startup with a friend while he was a student as Yale University. He worked as a software engineer after graduation, before cofounding another company and becoming increasingly interested in the methods of lean manufacturing. He went on to apply these methods to startups and explored the key principles of his approach in his popular blog Startup Lessons Learned and his bestselling 2011 book The Lean Startup.