4 things the Lean Startup Methodology is definitely not

Eric Ries debunks the myths of Lean Startup Methodology where he highlights the underlying four points:

1. Lean Startup is NOT synonymous to cheap
2. Lean Startup is NOT only for Web 2.0/internet/consumer software companies
3. Lean Startup is NOT only for small bootstrapped startups
4. Lean Startup does NOT replace vision with data or customer feedback

In the past year or so, after having conducted multiple workshops, I came across a few more misconceptions that entrepreneurs have about the Lean Startup methodology. Here is my attempt to articulate them:

Lean Startup is NOT an advocate of half baked products

I am often asked at the workshops, “So, we need to build something minimal, get it in front of our users, accrue feedback and iterate, right?” The answer is NO.

The Lean Startup principles strongly advise to build a MVP (Minimal Viable Product), which unfortunately is often understood as a ‘Minimal Product’, forgetting the ‘Viability’ aspect of it. Hence, Ash Maurya, Founder, Spark59 and Author of Running Lean – Helping Entrepreneurs Succeed, defines a MVP as “the smallest thing you can build that delivers customer value”. So the goal is to build a MVP that delivers value to customer and also helps you to accrue user feedback (primarily validating/invalidating your hypothesis).

Lean Startup does NOT delay your product development

Participants often feel that the Lean Startup method is labourious and hence, it could delay the product development. What they fail to comprehend is that there is no point in quickly building a product that no one wants to buy. The Lean Startup method provides a framework to work within and build what your customer needs; hence, considerably reducing the risk of failing.

Lean Startup is NOT building what the customer WANTS

I often hear people say, “So according to Lean Startup method, we need to build what the customer wants”.

However, in reality, Lean Startup encourages product owners to identify the needs versus the wants of a customer. As Henry Ford said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” In reality what people needed was a faster way of commuting from point A to point B.

If you are trying to identify needs via customer interviews, then The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick is a must-read to hone your customer interview skills.

Lean Startup is NOT always about redefining your solution

One of the most misunderstood and misused term in Lean Startup circuit – Pivot.

Lean Startup method tells product owners to create falsify-able hypothesis. Based on customer feedback/data, these hypothesis are either validated or invalidated. And so only when the hypothesis is invalidated, you would need the path correctional method called pivot, not if your hypothesis is validated.

Assuming that the hypothesis is invalidated and now you need to pivot — pivot always does not mean change of the solution you offer. The pivots can happen in any of the segments; for instance, customer or problem segment too.

Lean Startup methodology can be a life saviour if applied correctly.

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This article by Rohith Veerajappa originally appeared on e27, a Burn Media publishing partner.