# Ash Maurya: Full Archive Index > Personal site and writing archive of Ash Maurya: creator of Lean Canvas, author of Running Lean and Scaling Lean, and founder of LEANSTACK. This file lists every essay and newsletter issue on the site with a one-line description. The full text of any item is available as raw markdown: append .md to its URL. A curated index lives at https://ashmaurya.com/llms.txt. ## Series - [Building LEANSpark](https://ashmaurya.com/series/building-leanspark): Building an AI co-founder in public, from the idea spark to a shipped product, starting November 2025. - [Running Lean: AI Edition](https://ashmaurya.com/series/running-lean-ai-edition): Re-testing the Running Lean playbook one principle at a time, on a live product, in the age of AI. ## Essays (290) - [How I learnt to grok Customer Development](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-i-learnt-to-grok-customer-development) (2009-10-19): I’d love to claim that I’ve subconsciously used Customer Development practices all along but that just isn’t true. My first product, 6Degrees, was a p2p address book that was created to basically... - [How I built my Minimum Viable Product](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-i-built-my-minimum-viable-product) (2009-10-26): The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a key lean startup concept popularized by Eric Ries. The basic idea is to maximize validated learning for the least amount of effort. After all, why waste effort... - [From Minimum Viable Product to Landing Pages](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/from-minimum-viable-product-to-landing-pages) (2009-11-03): A lot (okay a ton) has been written already on landing page design. A great starting point is Chance Barnett’s Landing Pages That Convert. One of the most important elements of a landing page is the... - [The First Thing That Matters: Product/Market Fit](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-first-thing-that-matters-product-market-fit) (2009-11-10): After my last post on landing page (UVP) optimization, Nivi, from VentureHacks, pointed me at Sean Ellis’s blog and suggested that I might be better served achieving product/market fit before... - [How I am Measuring Product/Market Fit](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-i-am-measuring-product-market-fit) (2009-11-17): I can summarize my last post with a strong call to action: Focus on Product/Market Fit First. - [A First Look at Some Metrics Numbers](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-first-look-at-some-metrics-numbers) (2009-12-02): Last time I shared my conversion dashboard and promised some numbers. I don’t have all the numbers yet. But enough to start identifying some actionable next steps. - [Achieving Flow in a Lean Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/achieving-flow-in-a-lean-startup) (2009-12-08): Eliminating waste is the fundamental principle of lean thinking. - [Lessons Learned in 2009](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lessons-learned-in-2009) (2010-01-05): I’ve been an entrepreneur for 7+ years now — self-funded the first 2 years and bootstrapped the last 5. Yes I subscribe to the true definition of bootstrapping as being customer-funded versus... - [Deploying Desktop-based Software Continuously](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/deploying-desktop-based-software-continuously) (2010-01-18): Of all the Lean Startup techniques, Continuous Deployment is by far the most controversial. Continuous Deployment is a process by which software is released several times throughout the day — in... - [Building a Lean Startup (Austin Lean Startup Meetup, Feb 2010)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/building-a-lean-startup-austin-lean-startup-meetup-feb-2010) (2010-02-03): We had a great turnout for the first Austin Lean Startup Meetup. Eric Ries called in to kickoff the event and there was a lot of entrepreneurial energy and ideas for how we can take Lean Startup... - [Customer Development Checklist for My Web Startup — Part 1](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/customer-development-checklist-for-my-web-startup-part-1) (2010-02-16): Last year, Steve Blank threw out a challenge to Lean Startup Circle members to update his customer development checklist (Appendix B in his book) for their specific business. His checklist is built... - [Experiments in Pricing](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/experiments-in-pricing) (2010-02-16): What you charge for your product is simultaneously one of the most complicated and most important things to get right. Not only does your pricing model keep you in business, it also signals your... - [Customer Development Checklist for My Web Startup — Part 2](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/customer-development-checklist-for-my-web-startup-part-2) (2010-02-23): I covered the Customer Discovery flow for my web startup in Part 1. Here I’ll be covering the next step: Customer Validation. - [Coming Soon: Getting Lean — the book](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/coming-soon-getting-lean-the-book) (2010-03-15): Based on encouragement from readers, I’ve decided to undertake writing a short book on applying bootstrapping, customer development, and lean startup techniques to web startups. The book will cover... - [3 Rules for Building Features in a Lean Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-rules-for-building-features-in-a-lean-startup) (2010-04-14): Validated learning about customers is the measure of progress in a Lean Startup — not lines of working code or achieving product development milestones. - [Continuous Deployment (Startup Lessons Learned Conference, 4/23/2010)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/continuous-deployment-startup-lessons-learned-conference-4-23-2010) (2010-04-24): The first “Lean Startup” conference (Startup Lessons Learned) was a great success. Eric Ries and company put together a great lineup of presenters and executed the event very well. - [There is an “I” in Vision](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/there-is-an-i-in-vision) (2010-05-03): The press loves to celebrate stories of visionaries that saw the future and charted a course to intersect it with a “revolutionary” new product offering. In a visionary product launch there is no... - [Troubleshooting Free Trials](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/troubleshooting-free-trials) (2010-05-25): I got an interesting question the other day on why the call to action after Customer Discovery is “Signup Now” versus “Buy Now”. If you’ve got a problem and solution that resonates with a prospect... - [Focussing on the Right Customer](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/focussing-on-the-right-customer) (2010-06-15): Last week, I re-watched Kathy Sierra’s talk from the 2009 Business of Software conference. As usual, it was filled with gems of wisdom around creating passionate users. But one of her old memes... - [Pivot Before Product/Market Fit, Optimize After](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/pivot-before-product-market-fit-optimize-after) (2010-06-29): “Startups that succeed are those that manage to iterate enough times before running out of resources” -Eric Ries - [3 Rules to Actionable Metrics in a Lean Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-rules-to-actionable-metrics-in-a-lean-startup) (2010-07-14): An actionable metric is one that ties specific and repeatable actions to observed results. - [Book Update — Running Lean](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/book-update-running-lean) (2010-08-04): I want to take a moment to provide a quick update on the progress of my book since I had initially hoped to have it published by now. I knew going in that writing a book would be a beast. I just... - [How I Document My Business Model On 1 Page](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-document-your-business-model-on-1-page) (2010-08-12): The validated learning loop is the fundamental feedback loop that drives a lean startup: - [New Product: USERcycle — a better way to track and engage your customers](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/new-product-usercycle-a-better-way-to-track-and-engage-your-customers) (2010-08-18): In the course of applying lean startup techniques to my other products, I’ve stumbled across a recurring problem of finding better ways to track and improve engagement with my users. - [How to Identify a Lean Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-identify-a-lean-startup) (2010-09-15): I gave a talk at the Capital Factory Demo Day event to a group of investors and entrepreneurs last week. The event was recorded but the video is still being edited which I’ll post as an update later... - [Channels — Build a Path to Customers from Day 1](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/channels-build-a-path-to-customers-from-day-1) (2010-10-07): It’s no secret that I have been writing a book — Running Lean. While this blog is a near-realtime account of my lessons learned applying Customer Development and Lean Startup techniques, the book... - [How I Build Mockups](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-i-build-mockups) (2010-11-15): A basic Lean Startup technique is doing the smallest thing possible to learn from customers. Applied to the product, this often times translates to a visual mockup of some sort to stand in-place of... - [Lessons Learned in 2010](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lessons-learned-in-2010) (2010-12-24): To recap the story so far: I have been an entrepreneur for the last 8+ years — self-funded the first 2 years and bootstrapped the last 6+ years. Throughout that time I’ve been in search for a better... - [The Fallacy of Customer Development](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-fallacy-of-customer-development) (2011-01-11): One of the lessons learned from my last post had to do with the Fallacy of Customer Development: - [Meta Principles I Learned from Running Lean](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/meta-principles-i-learned-from-running-lean) (2011-01-31): Eric Ries succinctly captures the Lean Startup validated learning loop as Build/Measure/Learn. - [Do You Have Faith in Lean Startups?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/do-you-have-faith-in-lean-startups) (2011-03-01): I’ve watched Eric Ries’ blog grow from 5 subscribers to 60K+ subscribers in the span of two years which is great for the Lean Startup movement. And as with any fast growing movement, Lean Startup has... - [How Cooking Made Me a Better Lean Startup Practitioner](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-cooking-made-me-a-better-lean-startup-practitioner) (2011-04-27): Running experiments is a key activity in Lean Startups, but my bias for experimentation preceded Lean Startup. While I can trace it back to several interests I’ve held, one that particularly helped... - [Your Product is NOT “The Product”](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/your-product-is-not-the-product) (2011-06-07): Entrepreneurs are typically more passionate about their solution than any other part of the business model which left unchecked can become a problem. While building a product is what you do best and... - [Build Your Startup Through Conversations](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/build-your-startup-through-conversations) (2011-06-21): The key takeaway from my last post was that the “business model” is the real product of a startup. - [Delivering Effective Investor Pitches With Lean Canvas — Part 1](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/delivering-effective-investor-pitches-with-lean-canvas-part-1) (2011-07-05): The number one question I get during my workshops is: “Would an investor accept a Lean Canvas in place of a traditional business plan or investor deck?”. I usually then turn to the investors in the... - [How We Build Features](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-we-build-features) (2011-07-26): After launching your Minimum Viable Product (MVP), it’s quite likely that customer uptake won’t be immediate. In fact it should be expected: - [The Achilles Heel of Customer Development](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-achilles-heel-of-customer-development) (2011-08-09): The Chinese word “weiji” for “crisis” is made up of two symbols — one signifying challenge (wei) and the other signifying opportunity (ji). Other than the fact that this particular translation, while... - [How We Build Features — Expanded (Q&A)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-we-build-features-expanded-q-a) (2011-08-23): I received lots of great questions on the “How We Build Features” post that I decided to do a follow-on post Q&A-style: - [Scaling Flow in a Lean Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/scaling-flow-in-a-lean-startup) (2011-09-07): Last year, I outlined 10 work hacks I use for managing conflicting pulls on my time in a post titled: “Achieving Flow in a Lean Startup”. This is a follow-up to that post where I’ll describe how I’ve... - [The 10x Product Launch](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-10x-product-launch) (2011-10-04): You’ve painstakingly defined and built an MVP through 100+ customer interviews. You’ve collected thousands of emails from potential prospects through a teaser page. You’re ready to launch. But… - [Why Are You Doing a Startup?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-are-you-doing-a-startup) (2011-10-05): Apparently, a lot of people become entrepreneurs for the wrong reasons — to be cool, to make a lot of money, to be the next [fill\in\blanks]. This was a common theme covered at Startup School 2011... - [How Yoga Made Me a Better Lean Startup Practitioner](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-yoga-made-me-a-better-lean-startup-practitioner) (2011-11-29): I’ve been practicing Bikram Yoga for 5 years now. For those that aren’t familiar with this form of yoga: - [The New and Updated Running Lean Book](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-new-and-updated-running-lean-book) (2012-01-02): I just submitted my final revisions to O’Reilly for the printed version of Running Lean which will come out in March 2012. While I had originally intended to just “tidy up” the PDF version for print... - [Spark59 Manifesto](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/spark59-manifesto) (2012-02-10): In his book, The Lean Startup, Eric Ries describes the constant challenge entrepreneurs face between “Pivoting and Persevering”, but he doesn’t describe the even harder challenge of deciding when to... - [Why Lean Canvas vs Business Model Canvas?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-lean-canvas-vs-business-model-canvas) (2012-02-27): I often get asked why I created a different adaptation from the original Business Model Canvas by Alex Osterwalder. Lately, this question has bubbled up in frequency which is why I decided to take... - [The Lean Stack — Part 1](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-lean-stack-part-1) (2012-06-14): Most products fail, not because we fail to build what we set out to build, but because we waste time, money, and effort building the wrong product. - [The Lean Stack — Part 2](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-lean-stack-part-2) (2012-06-27): Last time, I outlined the thought process behind the Lean Stack and provided a 3000-foot overview of the toolset. In this post, I’m going to dive a little deeper into the process flow and end with a... - [Deconstructing Lean Startup: Four Perspectives](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/deconstructing-lean-startup-four-perspectives) (2012-07-09): (This is a guest post by Lukas Fittl — a fellow Lean practitioner and Spark59er.) Enjoy… -Ash) - [How to Get Early Customers to Respond to Your Cold Emails](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-get-early-customers-to-respond-to-your-cold-emails) (2012-08-30): This is a guest post from Robert Graham — a solo bootstrapper who blogs about the experience. Robert has been working in software since 2005. He is a Ph.D. dropout who spent time working for Google... - [How We Use Lean Stack for Innovation Accounting](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-we-use-lean-stack-for-innovation-accounting) (2012-09-25): I introduced Lean Stack in my last 2 posts — Part 1 and Part 2. This is a follow-up on how we are using Lean Stack today as our Innovation Accounting framework. - [Case-Study: How A Scrappy Bootstrapped Team In The Middle Of Nowhere Used Lean Startup To Achieve Startup Success](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/case-study-how-a-scrappy-bootstrapped-team-in-the-middle-of-nowhere-used-lean-startup-to-achieve-startup-success) (2012-11-27): (This is a great case-study on the “big middle” by Garrett Moon, TodayMade. - [Lessons Learned in 2012](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lessons-learned-in-2012) (2013-01-01): Everyone is upbeat around the holidays. The pace is slower. It gives me time to reflect. - [The Ideation Switch](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-ideation-switch) (2013-01-21): (This is a guest post by Lukas Fittl — a fellow Lean practitioner and Spark59er.) - [Lean Analytics — The One Metric That Matters And Other Provocations](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lean-analytics-the-one-metric-that-matters-and-other-provocations) (2013-03-19): I recently caught up with Ben Yoskovitz who co-authored Lean Analytics with Alistair Croll. In today’s world where we can measure almost anything we often end up drowning in a sea of numbers. - [The Attack of the Lean Books](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-attack-of-the-lean-books) (2013-03-19): I read a lot of books — averaging 5/month. For right or (most likely) wrong, I don’t read any fiction. I get my fiction fix through other mediums. - [Your Business Model Is a System And Why You Should Care](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/your-business-model-is-a-system-and-why-you-should-care) (2013-03-26): Lean emerged out of the manufacturing world with a rallying cry for “waste reduction” in the production process. Lean Software drew parallels between hardware and software manufacturing processes and... - [Lean Stack 2.0 — The Art of the Scientist and The Customer Factory](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lean-stack-2-0-the-art-of-the-scientist-and-the-customer-factory) (2013-04-18): Since writing about Lean Stack (our innovation accounting framework), it has been downloaded by thousands of teams and we’ve had first-hand experience (by way of workshops and bootcamps) putting it... - [The Groundhog Day Effect](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-groundhog-day-effect) (2013-05-07): One of the reasons measuring “true progress” in a product is hard is because we prefer reporting good news over bad. We like charts that trend up and to the right, which isn’t all that bad by itself... - [Don’t Count Your Users Like Sheep](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/don-t-count-your-users-like-sheep) (2013-06-04): In my last post, I introduced the idea of establishing a standard measure of progress for your products using a handful of macro (versus micro) metrics measured in batches (or cohorts). - [[NEW BOOK] The Customer Factory](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/new-book-the-customer-factory) (2013-07-23): Last week I soft-announced a new book I’m working on titled:”The Customer Factory”. - [Why NOT the Funnel Chart?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-not-the-funnel-chart) (2013-08-23): Eric Ries describes the three A’s of metrics as: Actionable, Accessible, and Auditable. Today, I’d like to share our take on what it means for metrics to be accessible. - [The Different Worldviews of a Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-different-worldviews-of-a-startup) (2013-09-03): In his book, “All Marketers are Liars Tell Stories”, Seth Godin defines a “worldview” as the set of rules, values, beliefs, and biases people bring to a situation. He offers a strategy of not trying... - [Why You Should Never Ask Customers What They’ll Pay](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-you-should-never-ask-customers-what-they-ll-pay) (2013-09-10): The following is an excerpt from my book: Running Lean How to Iterate From Plan A to a Plan That Works - [How to Get Customers to Want to Pay Even Before Building Your Product](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-get-customers-to-want-to-pay-even-before-building-your-product) (2013-09-12): The following is an excerpt from my book: Running Lean How to Iterate From Plan A to a Plan That Works - [How To Interview Your Users And Get Useful Feedback](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-interview-your-users-and-get-useful-feedback) (2013-10-03): (This is guest post by Garrett Moon, Founder of TodayMade. It’s not enough just to talk to customers. You have to know how. In this post, Garrett shares his lessons learned for crafting effective... - [How to Identify Your Riskiest Business Model Assumptions](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-identify-your-riskiest-business-model-assumptions) (2014-05-08): The true job of an entrepreneur is to systematically de-risk their business model over time. - [There is No Business Model Without Revenue](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/there-is-no-business-model-without-revenue) (2014-08-12): I created the Lean Canvas back in 2009 as a way to more effectively document my most critical business model assumptions for my products which were predominantly SaaS software products at the time. - [How to Test Whether Your Business Model is Worth Pursuing](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-test-whether-your-business-model-is-worth-pursuing) (2014-08-19): Last time I emphasized getting specific on your revenue streams — down to the customer segment, pricing model, and customer lifetime assumptions. - [How to Model a Multi-sided Business](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-model-a-multi-sided-business) (2014-09-30): Facebook Lean Canvas: How to Model a Multi-sided Business - [How to Ballpark a Multi-sided Business Model](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-ballpark-a-multi-sided-business-model) (2014-10-23): Last time, I showed you how to model a multi-sided business using a Lean Canvas. - [Are Entrepreneurs Born or Made?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/are-entrepreneurs-born-or-made) (2015-01-15): I often get asked to weigh in on the age-old question of whether entrepreneurs are born or made? - [Customers Need to Fire Something Before They Can Hire Your Product](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/customers-need-to-fire-something-before-they-can-hire-your-product) (2015-02-05): I’ve previously described the importance of nailing your customer’s problem as the initial battle. But it’s about way more than just getting their attention. When you can describe your customer’s... - [No Problems in Your Business Model is a Problem](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/no-problems-in-your-business-model-is-a-problem) (2015-03-23): A manager at Toyota is delivering a quarterly update to an executive. He’s enthusiastic because all the metrics are trending up and to the right. They shipped on time — sales, and customer... - [+1 business models (I’m biased of course)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/1-business-models-i-m-biased-of-course) (2015-04-03): +1 business models (I’m biased of course) - [Business Models vs Business Plans](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/business-models-vs-business-plans) (2015-04-03): Have you ever written a business plan? Did you enjoy the process? Or maybe you’re one of the lucky few who have never had to write one. - [How to Avoid the Innovator’s Bias for the Solution](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-avoid-the-innovator-s-bias-for-the-solution) (2015-04-21): I’ve previously described the importance of uncovering problems worth solving early in your business modeling, but how do you avoid the innovator’s bias for the solution? - [The Innovation Challenge](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-innovation-challenge) (2015-05-21): Whether it’s getting the green light on a new venture, or securing an additional round of funding, entrepreneurs and innovators are constantly faced with the challenge of demonstrating progress to... - [The Power of a Good Strategy](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-power-of-a-good-strategy) (2015-06-09): When Mark Zuckerburg started Facebook in 2004, he wasn’t the first building a social networking platform. There were dozens of other social networking platforms before his — many with millions of... - [How to Find an Idea Whose Time Has Come](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-find-an-idea-whose-time-has-come) (2015-06-11): In response to my last post on “The Power of A Good Strategy”, I got a number of emails citing timing, versus strategy, as the top reason why Facebook succeeded. These emails also came with a link to... - [The 7 Habits for Running Highly Effective Lean Startup Experiments](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-7-habits-for-running-highly-effective-lean-startup-experiments) (2015-09-10): The question isn’t whether you run experiments or not. You do this all the time. Every time you release a new feature, run a marketing campaign, or try a new sales method, you are testing a new... - [The LEAN Sprint](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-lean-sprint) (2015-10-01): Experiments power breakthrough discovery in both the Scientific Method and our adaptation of it for entrepreneurship: - [How to Run More Effective Board Meetings with a Business Model Progress Timeline](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-run-more-effective-board-meetings-with-a-business-model-progress-timeline) (2015-11-12): In my last post I outlined how to make progress by leveraging the diversity of ideas from your internal teams using time-boxed LEAN Sprints. In this post, I’m going to focus on how to communicate... - [The Simple Shapes of Startups](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-simple-shapes-of-startups) (2015-11-24): Inspired by this short lecture by Kurt Vonnegut on “the simple shapes of stories”, I thought it would be fun to sketch a few shapes of what starting up looks like: - [The Science of How Customers Buy Anything](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-science-of-how-customers-buy-anything) (2015-12-04): A basic tenet of running lean is validating a product or feature ideally without having to build it first. This makes complete sense when you look at every product or feature as it’s own customer... - [How to Achieve Breakthrough By Embracing Your Constraints](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-achieve-breakthrough-by-embracing-your-constraints) (2015-12-16): In its early days, Southwest Airlines had to sell one of their planes or face bankruptcy. When most people get hit with a constraint of limited resources like this one, they either fall victim to the... - [Bootstrapping + Lean Startup = Low-burn Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/bootstrapping-lean-startup-low-burn-startup) (2015-12-17): While not the same thing, Bootstrapping and Lean Startups are quite complementary. Both cover techniques for building low-burn startups by eliminating waste through the maximization of existing... - [How to Achieve Breakthrough by Embracing Constraints](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-achieve-breakthrough-by-embracing-constraints) (2015-12-29): In its early days, Southwest Airlines had to sell one of their planes or face bankruptcy. When most people get hit with a constraint of… - [The Singularity Moment of Your Product](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-singularity-moment-of-your-product) (2016-01-03): The singularity moment of a product is not when you write your first line of code or raise your first round of funding, but when you… - [The BOOTSTART Manifesto](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-bootstart-manifesto) (2016-01-04): There’s never been a better time to act on your “big idea”. And this manifesto will show you how. - [Also check out: http://leanstack.com/the-innovator-roadmap/](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/also-check-out-http-leanstack-com-the-innovator-roadmap) (2016-01-05): Also check out: http://leanstack.com/the-innovator-roadmap/ - [Everyone’s entitled an opinion — even human beings.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/everyone-s-entitled-an-opinion-even-human-beings) (2016-01-05): Thanks for commenting. - [Hi Jim — I’m a software guy myself and you starts with putting yourself in your customer’s shoes…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-jim-i-m-a-software-guy-myself-and-you-starts-with-putting-yourself-in-your-customer-s-shoes) (2016-01-05): There are numerous observation and interviewing techniques to uncover this. - [Which number?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/which-number) (2016-01-13) - [Please do and drop me a link and I’ll reference below the post. Thx!](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/please-do-and-drop-me-a-link-and-i-ll-reference-below-the-post-thx) (2016-02-02): Please do and drop me a link and I’ll reference below the post. Thx! - [The Different Worldviews of a Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/2016-02-02-the-different-worldviews-of-a-startup) (2016-02-02): In his groundbreaking book, “All Marketers are Liars Tell Stories”, Seth Godin defines a “worldview” as the set of rules, values, beliefs… - [I’m writing a follow-on post soon on this.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-m-writing-a-follow-on-post-soon-on-this) (2016-02-04): I’m writing a follow-on post soon on this. - [The New Book Unveiled: Scaling Lean](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-new-book-unveiled-scaling-lean) (2016-02-11): Three years of rigorous testing, thousands of iterations, and hundreds of product case-studies later… - [My 3 Biggest Lessons on Entrepreneurship (so far)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/my-3-biggest-lessons-on-entrepreneurship-so-far) (2016-02-23): Lesson 1: Right Action, Right Time - [If you like TOC, you’ll like my customer factory metaphor which adapts TOC for business models.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/if-you-like-toc-you-ll-like-my-customer-factory-metaphor-which-adapts-toc-for-business-models) (2016-02-24): If you like TOC, you’ll like my customer factory metaphor which adapts TOC for business models. - [Yousef —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yousef) (2016-02-24): Money isn’t the telling validation. It’s identifying the leading indicators (customer behavior) that lead to future monetization that’s way… - [Agreed.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/agreed) (2016-02-25): That said given a set of possible paths, the problem still is: Which of these should we choose? - [An Author’s Journey to 100,000 Copies](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/an-author-s-journey-to-100-000-copies) (2016-03-02): I had no master plan for becoming an author. My first book, Running Lean, started as a series of blog posts for the purpose of sharpening my own thinking. Those posts hit a nerve with a small early... - [The Entrepreneur with a Thousand Faces](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-entrepreneur-with-a-thousand-faces) (2016-03-16): An archetypical pattern to the entrepreneur’s journey…or not? - [It’s funny how after years of reading a book, there are certain scenes that never leave you.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/it-s-funny-how-after-years-of-reading-a-book-there-are-certain-scenes-that-never-leave-you) (2016-03-17): It’s funny how after years of reading a book, there are certain scenes that never leave you. The author telling the baker to “work on her business, not in it” is definitely one of them for me too. - [There were lots of signals for me:](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/there-were-lots-of-signals-for-me) (2016-03-17): I wasn’t energized after most customer conversations. They often didn’t get what I was saying and there was an obvious mismatch of… - [It’s Time to Fire the Business Plan for Good](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/it-s-time-to-fire-the-business-plan-for-good) (2016-03-25): Have you ever written a Business Plan? Did you enjoy the process? - [How to Get Stakeholder Buy-in for Your Big Idea](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-get-stakeholder-buy-in-for-your-big-idea) (2016-06-01): The true job of an entrepreneur is to systematically de-risk their big idea (or business model) through a series of conversations. - [The Art of the Scientist](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-art-of-the-scientist) (2016-06-09): After the introduction of the scientific method, there was a marked increase in the pace of breakthrough discoveries. Both science and entrepreneurship operate under conditions of extreme... - [Innovation Management](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/innovation-management) (2016-08-04): I spend a lot of time at the intersection of “business modeling” and “lean startup” and have been looking for the right category label to describe this type of work. It’s not enough to simply call it... - [Love the Problem, Not Your Solution](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/love-the-problem-not-your-solution) (2016-08-11): I recently got asked about the most common pitfall that trips up entrepreneurs. Top on my list is:Falling in love with your solution. I’ve… - [Expose Your Constraints Before Chasing Additional Resources](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/expose-your-constraints-before-chasing-additional-resources) (2016-08-25): We all hustle, struggle, and fight to acquire more resources for our projects. But ironically, when we have these resources in excess, we… - [But, Will it Scale?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/but-will-it-scale) (2016-09-29): When I started this blog, I often spent upwards of 8 hours on a single blog post. A number of my entrepreneur friends and advisers asked… - [Yes — giving yourself permission to stage rollout is the hardest mind shift for corporates and many…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-giving-yourself-permission-to-stage-rollout-is-the-hardest-mind-shift-for-corporates-and-many) (2016-09-30): We need more stories so please do share yours :) - [Yes, getting a customer to fire their existing alternatives is tough which is why most new products…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-getting-a-customer-to-fire-their-existing-alternatives-is-tough-which-is-why-most-new-products) (2016-10-02): Yes, in complex sales, the switch doesn’t happen solely on the merits of your products features but it’s still a switching problem — one we… - [Thanks Rob.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/thanks-rob) (2016-10-03): Thanks Rob. Writing, like any skill, improves with deliberate practice. The key is consistently showing up, rain or shine, to get the work done. - [Adviser Whiplash](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/adviser-whiplash) (2016-10-07): Ask 10 people for advice on your idea and you’ll get 10 different prescriptions. Which one do you follow? - [First, “I don’t know” is far from being vague.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/first-i-don-t-know-is-far-from-being-vague) (2016-10-07): That said, even specific answers will always have lies baked into them — a function of the other party’s virtual reality worldview (or… - [I wouldn’t use being “vague” but being “open” as the right adjective here.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-wouldn-t-use-being-vague-but-being-open-as-the-right-adjective-here) (2016-10-07): “The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to… - [It is better to be prescriptive and wrong, than vague and right](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/it-is-better-to-be-prescriptive-and-wrong-than-vague-and-right) (2016-10-07): The worst possible answer you can get to a question is: “It depends.” - [fixed :)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/fixed) (2016-10-12) - [The GOLEAN Framework for Growth](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-golean-framework-for-growth) (2016-10-12): GOLEAN? No this isn’t some blatant battlecry for going lean. It’s a mnemonic for a growth framework I created for my last book: Scaling… - [Yes, often a lot harder to write a shorter version than a longer one :)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-often-a-lot-harder-to-write-a-shorter-version-than-a-longer-one) (2016-10-12): I have internalized a lot of my systems thinking both from: - [Hi Brett —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-brett) (2016-10-19): There is a distinction between user acquisition and customer acquisition — and there’s a place for both. - [VRMotion — An Invention to Innovation Case-study](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/vrmotion-an-invention-to-innovation-case-study) (2016-11-03): It was almost 8:45am as we pulled into the Birrfeld airstrip just outside Zurich, Switzerland. I was meeting Fabian Riesen (Fabi) who had… - [A 3x3x3 Perspective for getting your Vision, Strategy, and Product aligned](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-3x3x3-perspective-for-getting-your-vision-strategy-and-product-aligned) (2017-03-08): I’m sure you’ve run into Simon Sinek’s TED talk on the Golden Circle where he made the case for how great leaders communicate differently —… - [Great to hear Morten.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/great-to-hear-morten) (2017-03-09): Cheers. - [Yes — not just that, but strategy is a highly overloaded term and I did a post not too long ago…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-not-just-that-but-strategy-is-a-highly-overloaded-term-and-i-did-a-post-not-too-long-ago) (2017-03-09): For that reason, I am now using “validation plan” instead — at least whenever I remember… :) - [You can certainly think of it that way.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/you-can-certainly-think-of-it-that-way) (2017-03-09): You can certainly think of it that way. However, staying true to the golden circle, I’d specifically use “what” you do to achieve the strategy — slight nitpick. - [That is correct…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/that-is-correct) (2017-03-10): Why — destination (vision) How — possible routes (go to market strategy) What — on the ground tactics (product) - [Estimating for break-even was the original suggestion I made in my first book Running Lean, but I…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/estimating-for-break-even-was-the-original-suggestion-i-made-in-my-first-book-running-lean-but-i) (2017-03-13): I find a good goal needs to stretch beyond survival while not losing footing on reality either. Hence, the bottoms up approach. - [The good news is that both awareness of the innovation “problem” and sense of urgency have been…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-good-news-is-that-both-awareness-of-the-innovation-problem-and-sense-of-urgency-have-been) (2017-05-10): Also, the value proposition of a lean approach is strong as it doesn’t call for more, but fewer resources, to get started. - [What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-a-minimum-viable-product-mvp) (2017-06-12): A Minimum Viable Product is the smallest thing you can build that delivers customer value (and as a bonus captures some of that value back… - [Traction is the One Metric to Rule Them All](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/traction-is-the-one-metric-to-rule-them-all) (2017-06-30): What is the one thing that investors and entrepreneurs want? The answer is traction.​​ - [You are right and such is the complexity with marketplace models because monetizable value for the…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/you-are-right-and-such-is-the-complexity-with-marketplace-models-because-monetizable-value-for-the) (2017-07-05): So while rate of transactions is more closely linked to revenue and the right traction metric, you still have to search for causal… - [Find Better Problems Worth Solving with the Customer Forces Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/find-better-problems-worth-solving-with-the-customer-forces-canvas) (2017-08-17): Before you can build the “right” solution for your customers, you have to understand the “right” problem. In my first book, Running Lean, I… - [There are a number of challenges with ranking problems when uncertainty is high.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/there-are-a-number-of-challenges-with-ranking-problems-when-uncertainty-is-high) (2017-08-17): Your list of starting problems may not be the highest ranking problems. Asking customers to rank them anyway is a false positive. Most… - [Yes — also check out “When Coffee and Kale Compete” by Alan Klement.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-also-check-out-when-coffee-and-kale-compete-by-alan-klement) (2017-08-17): Yes — also check out “When Coffee and Kale Compete” by Alan Klement. - [Definitely… Observations/usability testing are all valuable techniques for researching/uncovering…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/definitely-observations-usability-testing-are-all-valuable-techniques-for-researching-uncovering) (2017-08-18): That said, observations typically only focus on the usage of an existing alternative (the ascent of the hill in the diagram) which is great… - [Have you tried?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/have-you-tried) (2017-08-18): Have you tried? We’ve had lots of success approaching people exiting a grocery store, sharing a problem context (using the old interview script) and then walking over to a Starbucks across the street... - [A sample script will be forthcoming probably in a future post.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-sample-script-will-be-forthcoming-probably-in-a-future-post) (2017-10-20): In the meanwhile, the way you get unbiased answers is by never asking future looking or hypothetical questions. I generally don’t care… - [First, I only talk to people who have attempted the “job” I’m exploring.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/first-i-only-talk-to-people-who-have-attempted-the-job-i-m-exploring) (2017-10-20): Some examples: - [If you’re making a change that delivers a “better” value proposition, the outcome is customer…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/if-you-re-making-a-change-that-delivers-a-better-value-proposition-the-outcome-is-customer) (2017-10-20): If you’re making a change, like upgrading a phone system or internal network, that has no end-user facing impact, then they aren’t who you… - [It’s a worthwhile exercise to guess at the customer forces before talking to an actual prospect in…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/it-s-a-worthwhile-exercise-to-guess-at-the-customer-forces-before-talking-to-an-actual-prospect-in) (2017-10-20): It’s a worthwhile exercise to guess at the customer forces before talking to an actual prospect in order to familiarize yourself with the concepts. That said, I anchor my discovery conversations... - [The Customer Forces Canvas [Updated]](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-customer-forces-canvas-updated) (2017-10-20): Here’s an updated version of the Customer Forces Canvas that I first introduced here: - [Hi Andy — yes if you follow the post links back, you’ll see roots of this thinking in a workshop I…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-andy-yes-if-you-follow-the-post-links-back-you-ll-see-roots-of-this-thinking-in-a-workshop-i) (2017-10-24): I was starting my last book and needed to primarily focus on the ideas there and am now sharing how our application of jtbd has evolved… - [Thx :)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/thx) (2017-11-02) - [The Beautiful Game of Entrepreneurship](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-beautiful-game-of-entrepreneurship) (2017-11-22): Introducing the “BOOTSTART plan” - [Continuous Innovation](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/continuous-innovation) (2017-12-15): In 2009, entrepreneurs from all over the world joined in on a grassroots movement taking place that led to the Lean Startup. The reason the… - [I am familiar with Tony’s work and have seen many other talks.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-am-familiar-with-tony-s-work-and-have-seen-many-other-talks) (2017-12-15): I am familiar with Tony’s work and have seen many other talks. Was there something particular that stood out for you? - [I share a lot of mindset shift in videos you’ll find at https://leanstack.com.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-share-a-lot-of-mindset-shift-in-videos-you-ll-find-at-https-leanstack-com) (2017-12-18): I share a lot of mindset shift in videos you’ll find at https://leanstack.com. Some of these I’ll also uncover in the upcoming webinar in Jan. - [A Lean Canvas is NOT Enough to Replace a Business Plan](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-lean-canvas-is-not-enough-to-replace-a-business-plan) (2018-01-18): Let me know if this sounds familiar… Say you have a promising new idea. In order to get the green light to move forward, you are often… - [you mean the “illusion of predictability”.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/you-mean-the-illusion-of-predictability) (2018-01-18): Building something on time and on budget that no one wants eventually catches up to everyone. - [Someone (in Vancouver) just shared their experience getting a bank loan from a millennial lender…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/someone-in-vancouver-just-shared-their-experience-getting-a-bank-loan-from-a-millennial-lender) (2018-01-24): Someone (in Vancouver) just shared their experience getting a bank loan from a millennial lender who asked them about conversion and referral rates. #ShiftHappens. - [Yes…as long as your business has customers, customers are people and the same dynamics and modeling…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-as-long-as-your-business-has-customers-customers-are-people-and-the-same-dynamics-and-modeling) (2018-01-24): Curious to hear why you think b2b customers might be different? - [The Artist and The Innovator](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-artist-and-the-innovator) (2018-02-13): Over the last nine years, I’ve had the opportunity to work with thousands of entrepreneurs from all over world which has given me some… - [We all need a ballpark destination (vision) to aim towards, and a high level rollout plan…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/we-all-need-a-ballpark-destination-vision-to-aim-towards-and-a-high-level-rollout-plan) (2018-02-13): A lot of Elon Musk’s latest initiatives push the envelope on science — hence the emphasis on first principles. The high-level and more… - [Yes — substitute names that work. The archetype has a thousand names and faces :)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-substitute-names-that-work-the-archetype-has-a-thousand-names-and-faces) (2018-02-13): The aside backstory for why I picked two guys, is I already had these illustrations from my first book trailer and decided to reuse to ship… - [Larry was going to be Mary but I didn’t have corresponding illustrations to match the character.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/larry-was-going-to-be-mary-but-i-didn-t-have-corresponding-illustrations-to-match-the-character) (2018-02-14): I will be pitting Eric Waterfall against Mary Lean though in my next storyline. - [First, viability (versus feasibility) tends to be what’s riskiest or hardest for most products.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/first-viability-versus-feasibility-tends-to-be-what-s-riskiest-or-hardest-for-most-products) (2018-02-20): If you are trying to sell a trip to Mars (or cure cancer, or …), it would be prudent to de-risk feasibility first to some level — making… - [Why have 2 canvases (BMC and VPC) when just a Lean Canvas will do?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-have-2-canvases-bmc-and-vpc-when-just-a-lean-canvas-will-do) (2018-03-28): Why have 2 canvases (BMC and VPC) when just a Lean Canvas will do? - [Can you give an example of a no-code MVP so we are clear on definitions?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/can-you-give-an-example-of-a-no-code-mvp-so-we-are-clear-on-definitions) (2018-03-29): Can you give an example of a no-code MVP so we are clear on definitions? - [Don’t Start With an MVP](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/don-t-start-with-an-mvp) (2018-03-29): It’s been a little over 18 months since Steve quit his day job and ventured out on his own. Even though, his savings ran out 6 months ago… - [thx :)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/2018-03-29-thx) (2018-03-29) - [First, if you can’t talk to customers, that’s a serious channel risk and probably the first domino…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/first-if-you-can-t-talk-to-customers-that-s-a-serious-channel-risk-and-probably-the-first-domino) (2018-03-30): Next, there are many tactics for disarming prospects and setting up initial interviews — where the goal isn’t pitching. - [The course I list below address this.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-course-i-list-below-address-this) (2018-03-30): The course I list below address this. The short version is you need to focus the conversation around a bigger context (or job) and then extract problems from there. - [Using a no-code (or wizard or oz) mvp is certainly a great tactic for speeding up solution…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/using-a-no-code-or-wizard-or-oz-mvp-is-certainly-a-great-tactic-for-speeding-up-solution) (2018-03-31): The problem/solution fit process described in the post doesn’t start with a solution (at all) but getting that the customer/problem… - [As I mentioned in the first response, if you are cold talking to strangers, that’s a big channel…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/as-i-mentioned-in-the-first-response-if-you-are-cold-talking-to-strangers-that-s-a-big-channel) (2018-04-01): You may be building the best solution in the world, but if it’s built in a forest with no path to customers, it will die there too. - [That’s still a pitch — not discovery.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/that-s-still-a-pitch-not-discovery) (2018-04-01): The goal of the first interview is getting them to tell you how they currently solve or attempt to solve problem X without having to… - [I balance writing with many other activities and aim to get an article out a month — end of April /…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-balance-writing-with-many-other-activities-and-aim-to-get-an-article-out-a-month-end-of-april) (2018-04-10): I balance writing with many other activities and aim to get an article out a month — end of April / early May is the target. - [I group it as a part of the “why”.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-group-it-as-a-part-of-the-why) (2018-05-01) - [Iren Korkishko — there is no doubt that launching something faster with an emphasis on seeking…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/iren-korkishko-there-is-no-doubt-that-launching-something-faster-with-an-emphasis-on-seeking) (2018-05-24): But that approach still doesn’t guarantee success and still begs the question: “How do you or your clients decide what goes in the MVP?” - [My New Project — Unpacking the Innovator’s Gift](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/my-new-project-unpacking-the-innovator-s-gift) (2018-06-07): I’m working on my most ambitious project yet. I’m looking for answers to the fundamental innovation question: What defines a better… - [The Problem With Problems](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-problem-with-problems) (2018-06-07): On his drive back to the office, Steve can’t help but replay his last conversation with Mary in his mind. - [In my newer problem interview script (will be released as part of this project), I advise against…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/in-my-newer-problem-interview-script-will-be-released-as-part-of-this-project-i-advise-against) (2018-06-11): You should solely be focused just on getting the full story about their last listening session. Problems are extracted using a back-door… - [Drop me a note at ash@leanstack.com](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/drop-me-a-note-at-ash-leanstack-com) (2018-06-25): July is a busy traveling month but would love to see if I can join in Barcelona. - [thx!](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/2018-07-14-thx) (2018-07-14) - [The Idea Funnel](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-idea-funnel) (2018-09-13): The concept of an idea funnel isn’t new. It has its limitations. But I still find it a helpful visualization tool for outlining a… - [Do you mean budget?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/do-you-mean-budget) (2018-09-14): The biggest cost during this stage is usually time and people. Most product offers/demos can typically be built with relatively inexpensive… - [That’s an example of offer testing which, yes is valuable — provided you start with a reasonably…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/that-s-an-example-of-offer-testing-which-yes-is-valuable-provided-you-start-with-a-reasonably) (2018-09-17): But good ideas are rare. Most ideas don’t have a straight path, and simply throwing ideas or offers at customers usually isn’t enough in… - [Why and How to Model a Non-profit on the Lean Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-and-how-to-model-a-non-profit-on-the-lean-canvas) (2018-10-30): I often get asked if one can or should model a non-profit using a Lean Canvas. The answer is a resounding yes. A nonprofit is essentially… - [Give Yourself Permission to Scale](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/give-yourself-permission-to-scale) (2018-11-15): It’s been a busy 3 weeks since Steve’s last meeting with Mary. Her advice about first using demos for defining (before building) an MVP… - [What is the Right Fill Order for a Lean Canvas?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-the-right-fill-order-for-a-lean-canvas) (2019-01-10): A question I get a lot is: Why isn’t the Lean Canvas laid out more logically? Anyone that has attempted to fill one can relate. You have… - [I do remember publishing a fill order once where I labeled both problems and customer segment as…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-do-remember-publishing-a-fill-order-once-where-i-labeled-both-problems-and-customer-segment-as) (2019-01-11): I do remember publishing a fill order once where I labeled both problems and customer segment as #1, and people’s heads exploded. It was a UX fail. But yes, customer and problems are two sides of the... - [Problems and customers are two sides of the same coin.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/problems-and-customers-are-two-sides-of-the-same-coin) (2019-01-11): One might observe a problem, or pick a well-known big problem (like prevent malaria), and then get more specific on customer segmentation. - [You are correct :)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/you-are-correct) (2019-01-11): That is an actual errata we recently submitted to the publisher. - [Yes, I too focus on these two starting boxes when I’m reviewing a canvas.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-i-too-focus-on-these-two-starting-boxes-when-i-m-reviewing-a-canvas) (2019-01-14): However, I want to point out that there is a subtle, but critical, difference between idea generation and idea validation. Before reviewing… - [Hi Oscar —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-oscar) (2019-01-27): First thanks for all the feedback and kind words. - [Hi Michael —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-michael) (2019-01-30): You are right that in the end, much like a jigsaw puzzle, the picture should be viewable in any order. However, using the same metaphor… - [Place yourself somewhere on the timeline below and ask yourself what made you switch to your next…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/place-yourself-somewhere-on-the-timeline-below-and-ask-yourself-what-made-you-switch-to-your-next) (2019-01-30): It wasn’t latent problems, but active problems that a new solution addressed/surfaced that was worth switching for. - [Reorder your Chain of Beliefs with a leaner Lean Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/reorder-your-chain-of-beliefs-with-a-leaner-lean-canvas) (2019-01-30): In my last post, I described how sketching an idea on a Lean Canvas is akin to stacking a chain of beliefs. Later links rely on earlier… - [Hi Christoffer Bouwer —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-christoffer-bouwer) (2019-02-11): I started a new project (http://innovatorsgift.com) to reconcile a lot of the existing and often conflicting approaches to JTBD. The result… - [Hi Dan —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-dan) (2019-02-11): It is feasible provided your initial problems are grounded in some learning e.g. anecdotal observation. That said the next step would still… - [Sudhir Nain Have you checked out the Customer Forces Canvas?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/sudhir-nain-have-you-checked-out-the-customer-forces-canvas) (2019-02-14): Sudhir Nain Have you checked out the Customer Forces Canvas? - [Be careful though, that simply listing a job-to-be-done is subject to the same bias as listing…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/be-careful-though-that-simply-listing-a-job-to-be-done-is-subject-to-the-same-bias-as-listing) (2019-02-19): Be careful though, that simply listing a job-to-be-done is subject to the same bias as listing problems. For instance, if you are a drill bit manufacturer, too narrowly defining the job to be done as... - [Yes, customers drive and shape the problem.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-customers-drive-and-shape-the-problem) (2019-02-19): Here, I tend to disagree. Once problems and existing alternatives are understood, I want teams to first identify what they can do better… - [“Lean Startup, or Business Model Design, or Design Thinking?” is the Wrong Question](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lean-startup-or-business-model-design-or-design-thinking-is-the-wrong-question) (2019-03-14): In order to achieve breakthrough innovation, you shouldn’t be limiting yourself to any one of these frameworks, but rather using all… - [Could you elaborate on why you think so?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/could-you-elaborate-on-why-you-think-so) (2019-03-17): The Model-Prioritize-Test pattern is rooted in the Scientific method. The three facets help categorize the types of risks we tackle with… - [Yes, makes sense.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-makes-sense) (2019-03-17): The three circles are definitely generic and broad which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I often use two other lenses: - [Tristan Kromer — I almost called our conversation out in this other post:](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/tristan-kromer-i-almost-called-our-conversation-out-in-this-other-post) (2019-03-18): Tristan Kromer — I almost called our conversation out in this other post: - [The Root Cause for Innovation Theater and How to Avoid It](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-root-cause-for-innovation-theater-and-how-to-avoid-it) (2019-03-19): In a recent post, I shared a reference implementation of an innovation funnel built on the Continuous Innovation Framework and cautioned… - [Koel This is still evolving… updated links and you can find latest version here:](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/koel-this-is-still-evolving-updated-links-and-you-can-find-latest-version-here) (2019-04-01): http://innovatorsgift.com - [What is a Job-To-Be-Done (JTBD)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-a-job-to-be-done-jtbd) (2019-04-03): You’ve probably run into the jobs-to-be-done framework/theory. I did several years ago when I first stumbled into the Milkshake Study… - [Ashley Aitken](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/ashley-aitken) (2019-04-04): Sorry… “JTBD as a job someone is trying to do” is not a definition. - [Hi Chris Cochella —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-chris-cochella) (2019-04-04): We sometimes call the latent jtbd the non-consumption market because it seems like people aren’t taking action…when in fact, they aren’t… - [I am a tech geek and how I think.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-am-a-tech-geek-and-how-i-think) (2019-04-04): An instantiation is not fuzzy but a discrete event. - [I don’t know that a write up will justify the implications.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-don-t-know-that-a-write-up-will-justify-the-implications) (2019-04-04): I’m working on a next book ;) - [jeffstoltman Yes — I agree with a lot of that…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/jeffstoltman-yes-i-agree-with-a-lot-of-that) (2019-04-04): Bob Moesta describes acquisition as the big hire and retention as the little hire. - [John Morris Ah… that’s because we already have a system view of the customer journey — the customer…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/john-morris-ah-that-s-because-we-already-have-a-system-view-of-the-customer-journey-the-customer) (2019-04-04): John Morris Ah… that’s because we already have a system view of the customer journey — the customer factory blueprint. I can’t publish an image here, but I’ll post an addendum to the post above. - [Now you’re getting into the unpacking of the job story…which I was saving for the next post :)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/now-you-re-getting-into-the-unpacking-of-the-job-story-which-i-was-saving-for-the-next-post) (2019-04-04): but yes that’s a crucial point. The jtbd cannot be guessed at… it has to be discovered. - [This post was all about definitions.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/this-post-was-all-about-definitions) (2019-04-04): This post was all about definitions. And yes at the end of day, it’s results that matter. If you can apply jtbd concepts w/o needing a definition, that’s great. I struggle without a clear mental... - [Hey Alan Klement —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hey-alan-klement) (2019-04-05): There is a lot to unpack here, but I’ll start with the comment about only focusing on first purchases — and not repurchases. - [So if I follow your reasoning above, one couldn’t have created an Uber or an iPod with JTBD…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/so-if-i-follow-your-reasoning-above-one-couldn-t-have-created-an-uber-or-an-ipod-with-jtbd) (2019-04-05): I’ll ask a different question on naming — because naming matters: - [The theory of evolution was built on research and there are methods for studying evolution.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-theory-of-evolution-was-built-on-research-and-there-are-methods-for-studying-evolution) (2019-04-05): I’m a “Practice Trumps Theory” type of person. And if I’m supposed to just theorize customer behavior with JTBD with no methods to help… - [Atif Raza Ryan Gamble — I’m interviewing Bob in a few weeks and we’ll be covering a lot of this.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/atif-raza-ryan-gamble-i-m-interviewing-bob-in-a-few-weeks-and-we-ll-be-covering-a-lot-of-this) (2019-04-09): We met several years ago and started a collaboration where he admitted that the current jtbd thinking was too complex and he was seeking… - [You’re preaching to the choir…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/you-re-preaching-to-the-choir) (2019-04-09): Practice Trumps Theory does not imply theory is irrelevant. Like scientists, we build models of a business, prioritize what’s riskiest… - [Hi Andrea —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-andrea) (2019-04-10): My point with those examples is that given a similar set of circumstances, different innovators can choose to focus on different contexts… - [You got it — a jtbd is an instance of a class that’s an existing pattern that continually plays out…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/you-got-it-a-jtbd-is-an-instance-of-a-class-that-s-an-existing-pattern-that-continually-plays-out) (2019-04-21): You got it — a jtbd is an instance of a class that’s an existing pattern that continually plays out statistically in the same way…until something better comes along. - [I don’t think I understand your question.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/i-don-t-think-i-understand-your-question) (2019-05-29): Are you talking about customer/user targets within the same business model or across multiple business models? - [Customer segmentation is always challenging… With larger orgs that have existing customers, I…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/customer-segmentation-is-always-challenging-with-larger-orgs-that-have-existing-customers-i) (2019-05-31): Customer segmentation is always challenging… With larger orgs that have existing customers, I initially suggest segmenting your customers by metrics (e.g. best customers) and or specific... - [Level up your entrepreneurial game with our battle-tested playbooks](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/level-up-your-entrepreneurial-game-with-our-battle-tested-playbooks) (2019-06-06): If you’re a long time reader of this blog, chances are high you’ve read my first book: Running Lean. But did you read my second book… - [Link fixed.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/link-fixed) (2019-09-12) - [Start With Mindset](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/start-with-mindset) (2019-09-12): Time flies. We’re already at the 10 year anniversary of the Lean Startup. Yes, it was a little over 10 years ago that Eric Ries started… - [In Search of Unicorns](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/in-search-of-unicorns) (2020-01-10): The traditional startup funnel is broken. - [Hi Kyle —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-kyle) (2020-02-11): First, this article was written for entrepreneurs swinging for the fences, not consultants. Even if you are a consultant going into… - [Thanks for sharing… Free days are key and yes, there’s, unfortunately, a lot of stigma around them.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/thanks-for-sharing-free-days-are-key-and-yes-there-s-unfortunately-a-lot-of-stigma-around-them) (2020-02-11): Thanks for sharing… Free days are key and yes, there’s, unfortunately, a lot of stigma around them. Another alternative to free days are blocked times. I block all my mornings, for instance, for free... - [The True Value of Your Time](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-true-value-of-your-time) (2020-02-11): Time is our scarcest resource. Other resources like money and people can fluctuate up and down, but time only moves in one direction. - [A thorough problem discovery phase can take anywhere from 2–6 weeks which is why I don’t opt for it…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-thorough-problem-discovery-phase-can-take-anywhere-from-2-6-weeks-which-is-why-i-don-t-opt-for-it) (2020-03-29): I instead, recommend making a case for customer/problem fit first using a Lean(er) Canvas backed with some evidence. While this doesn’t… - [Agreed. The bigger context can be progressively scoped up *and should* to be solution agnostic.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/agreed-the-bigger-context-can-be-progressively-scoped-up-and-should-to-be-solution-agnostic) (2020-06-03): Agreed. The bigger context can be progressively scoped up \and should\ to be solution agnostic. - [Simplicity is deliberate here. 55 models, while exhaustive, can lead to analysis paralysis.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/simplicity-is-deliberate-here-55-models-while-exhaustive-can-lead-to-analysis-paralysis) (2020-08-17): Simplicity is deliberate here. 55 models, while exhaustive, can lead to analysis paralysis. - [When you charge for a product has little to do with when or where value is realized.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/when-you-charge-for-a-product-has-little-to-do-with-when-or-where-value-is-realized) (2020-08-17): So even ERP is dependent on the same dynamics of users creating value and buyers/decision makers realizing that value over time. - [Alex Taylor — There’s a whole course on this (BOOTSTART) at https://leanstack.com/entrepreneur](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/alex-taylor-there-s-a-whole-course-on-this-bootstart-at-https-leanstack-com-entrepreneur) (2020-10-27): Alex Taylor — There’s a whole course on this (BOOTSTART) at https://leanstack.com/entrepreneur that dives into how to run interviews, capture insights, and position a product for switch. - [The Customer Factory Manifesto](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-customer-factory-manifesto) (2020-12-07): Successful businesses are more alike than unalike. They share a common universal goal and employ a systematic approach to building a… - [Hopefully, the takeaway from this piece is getting others to think of goals the way you are…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hopefully-the-takeaway-from-this-piece-is-getting-others-to-think-of-goals-the-way-you-are) (2020-12-08): Hopefully, the takeaway from this piece is getting others to think of goals the way you are advocating. However, in practice, I find most people define goals as a one-time snapshot. - [We teach continuous innovation which has deep roots in agile and iterative experimentation (Lean…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/we-teach-continuous-innovation-which-has-deep-roots-in-agile-and-iterative-experimentation-lean) (2021-01-19): While you need milestones to be well-defined, how one actually achieves them may not necessarily be well-defined or linear, but iterative… - [All Those Who Wander Are Not Lost](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/all-those-who-wander-are-not-lost) (2021-03-05): Getting to product/market fit (aka the inflection point in the hockey-stick curve when a product's traction starts rapidly growing) is one of the most significant milestones for a startup. - [Vitamins Don't Have a Triggering Event](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/vitamins-dont-have-a-triggering-event) (2021-06-10): Were you in the middle of launching a new product or startup when the pandemic hit? Like a lot of entrepreneurs, you probably hit the brakes on your project or put your new ideas on the back-burner... - [Running Lean — 10th Anniversary Edition](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/running-lean-10th-anniversary-edition) (2022-02-03): Time flies. It’s been 10 years since the last edition of Running Lean. Since then, I’ve spent thousands of hours training and coaching… - [The Simple Shapes of Customer Stories](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-simple-shapes-of-customer-stories) (2022-08-17): Inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s lecture on “the simple shapes of stories,” I’ve previously riffed on The Simple Shapes of Startups. More… - [When Do You Kickoff a (Customer) Problem Discovery Study?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/when-do-you-kickoff-a-customer-problem-discovery-study) (2022-10-14): As product development has become easier, the battle for attention has become harder. - [The Backstory Behind Customer Forces Stories](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-backstory-behind-customer-forces-stories) (2022-10-29): Good customer / problem discovery is key to achieving problem/solution fit. - [Extending the Job Story to a Customer Forces Story](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/extending-the-job-story-to-a-customer-forces-story) (2022-11-10): Customer Forces Stories are a powerful way of summarizing customer conversations during your search for problem/solution fit. - [Moved to Substack](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/moved-to-substack) (2022-11-11): I’ve moved this blog to https://leanfoundry.com/articles. - [Slow Down to Go Fast](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/slow-down-to-go-fast) (2023-04-12): Most entrepreneurs are understandably in a rush to get to the right side of the hockey-stick curve (aka scaling). - [3 Hacks to Mastering Any Skill Quickly](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-hacks-to-mastering-any-skill-quickly) (2023-04-19): Cultivating a learning mindset is a key skill in any field. - [Stop Trying To Validate Problems](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/stop-trying-to-validate-problems) (2023-05-03): When asked to do the smallest thing to learn from customers, the first instinct of many founders is to run a survey. - [Forget Personas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/forget-personas) (2023-05-19): If you were a marketer at a mattress company, when is the best time to run an infomercial? - [Moving beyond MVP](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/moving-beyond-mvp) (2023-05-26): After 14 years, I'm abandoning the MVP. - [Nailing Release 1.0](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/nailing-release-1-0) (2023-06-03): I recently declared that I’m moving away from MVP in favor of: - [Position Against Your True Competition to Win the Customer](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/position-against-your-true-competition-to-win-the-customer) (2023-06-10): Most entrepreneurs never bring up their true competition during a product pitch because either they - [The Art of the Demo](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-art-of-the-demo) (2023-06-24): Me: You seem to have identified a big-enough customer problem that you have a plausible solution to (feasible)… What’s keeping you from closing customers? - [A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-tale-of-two-entrepreneurs) (2024-02-22): Both of them studied at the same university and got good grades, and after graduation, both worked at a high-tech startup where they quickly grew into key roles. After a few years, they both got hi... - [What is Continuous Innovation?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/2024-02-22-continuous-innovation) (2024-02-22): As products have gone from being delivered in a box to being delivered over the Internet, there’s been a dramatic shift in how customers consume, demand, and interact with products. - [The Just Start Manifesto: You Don’t Need Permission to Start](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/just-start) (2024-02-22): Twenty-three clauses on why you don’t need permission to start. Cost was never the obstacle. It was the guardrail, and AI removed it. - [The Bootstrapping Startup Operating System](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-bootstrapping-startup-operating-system) (2024-02-22): Bootstrapping an idea is more relevant today than ever, but the rules have changed. - [What is a Lean Canvas?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-lean-canvas) (2024-02-22): A Lean Canvas is a 1-page business modeling tool that helps you deconstruct an idea into key assumptions or beliefs. - [Why Lean Canvas versus Business Model Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-lean-canvas-versus-business-model-canvas) (2024-02-22): I often get asked why I created a different adaptation from the original Business Model Canvas by Alex Osterwalder. Lately, this question has bubbled up in frequency which is why I decided to take ... - [3 Common Customer Interviewing Mistakes](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-common-customer-interviewing-mistakes) (2024-04-14): At the early stages of a product, before problem/solution fit, customer interviews are the best (and fastest) way to learn from customers.... - [3 Steps for Running More Successful Pilots](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-steps-for-running-more-successful-pilots) (2024-04-14): Ever had a customer go cold after a sizzling start? You’ve just closed a big customer and can taste problem/solution fit. They’ve agr... - [A Blueprint for Understanding How People Buy Anything](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-blueprint-for-understanding-how-people-buy-anything) (2024-04-14): There is no such thing as an impulse purchase. Behind every purchase is a string of causal events and forces. - [A Systematic Roadmap to Product/Market Fit](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-systematic-roadmap-to-product-market-fit) (2024-04-14): Getting to product/market fit is considered the most significant milestone for a startup. This is often described as the inflection point in the hockey-stick curve when traction takes off. - [Balancing the Conflicting Pulls on Time in a Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/balancing-the-conflicting-pulls-on-time-in-a-startup) (2024-04-14): Time, like any resource, has multiple pulls. In a startup, there is a basic pull for activities outside and inside the building. - [Crafting Attention-Worthy Unique Value Propositions](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/crafting-attention-worthy-unique-value-propositions) (2024-04-14): The first battle for any product is getting noticed by customers. - [How to Deliver an Elevator Pitch That Gets Anyone to Ask for More](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-deliver-an-elevator-pitch-that-gets-anyone-to-ask-for-more) (2024-04-14): The elevator pitch is one of four foundational pitches every founder should master. - [How to Formulate Your Unfair Advantage Strategy with a Lean Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-formulate-your-unfair-advantage-strategy) (2024-04-14): Communicating defensibility against copycats and competition is critical when pitching your business model to investors and key stakeholders. - [How to Pitch Pricing Without Getting Butterflies in your Stomach](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-pitch-pricing-without-getting-butterflies-in-your-stomach) (2024-04-14): If you’re a product-oriented founder like me, you probably get a little nervous when you get to the pricing conversation during a product pitch. You’d rather defer this conversation to later (like ... - [How to Systematically Prioritize and Tackle the Riskiest Assumptions in Your Business Model](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-systematically-prioritize-and-tackle-the-riskiest-assumptions-in-your-business-model) (2024-04-14): When launching a new product under extreme uncertainty, it’s critical to prioritize tackling your riskiest assumptions first. While a simple enough concept to grasp, it’s ironically quite challengi... - [How to Systematically Uncover Big Problems Worth Solving](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-systematically-uncover-big-problems-worth-solving) (2024-04-14): Like a good magic trick, most big ideas seem obvious in hindsight because they solved a customer struggle (or problem), that was seemingly sitting in plain view. The challenge is that we live our l... - [How To Turn Your Limiting Constraints Into Seeds For Breakthrough Innovation](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-turn-your-limiting-constraints-into-seeds-for-breakthrough-innovation) (2024-04-14): I spent the first couple of years as a solo founder wishing for more of everything. More time, more people, and more money so I could build more features and get more customers. - [How to Use Business Model Patterns to Formulate a Starting Validation Strategy](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-use-business-model-patterns-to-formulate-a-starting-validation-strategy) (2024-04-14): Patterns are everywhere. We use patterns in architecture, design, software, chess, and cooking. - [Prospecting Recipes for Conducting Problem Discovery Interviews](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/prospecting-recipes-for-conducting-problem-discovery-interviews) (2024-04-14): How do you get customers to openly talk to you during problem discovery interviews if you’re “not allowed” to pitch your solution? This is the top question I get from founders on conducting cu... - [Raise Your Startup's Odds of Success By Up to 8x](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/raise-your-startups-odds-of-success-by-up-to-8x) (2024-04-14): Most founders set Product/Market Fit as their first significant milestone. The problem is that getting to product/market fit typically takes two years (for most products), and 80% of products never... - [Say No to Product Roadmaps](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/say-no-to-product-roadmaps) (2024-04-14): Entrepreneurs need to be able to simultaneously pitch a big long-term vision while staying grounded in short-term actions to move their vision forward. - [Start with Premium Before Freemium](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/start-with-premium-before-freemium) (2024-04-14): The thinking goes that when launching a new product, it’s often a good idea to lower friction by giving away your product for free so you can 1️⃣ Learn from users 2️⃣ Get them to try before ... - [Stop Wasting Time on Unviable Business Ideas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/stop-wasting-time-on-unviable-business-ideas) (2024-04-14): Too many entrepreneurs prematurely rush to launch their product, join an incubator/accelerator, or hit the pitching circuit only to realize months (or years) later that they were chasing too small ... - [The Art of Experiment Design](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-art-of-experiment-design) (2024-04-14): You run an experiment every time you release a new feature, run a marketing campaign or try a new sales method. - [The Counterintuitive Science of Closing B2B Sales](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-counterintuitive-science-of-closing-b2b-sales) (2024-04-14): As all B2B sales meetings went online during the pandemic, Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna, authors of The Jolt... - [Traction is the Goal. Everything Else is Distraction.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/traction-is-the-goal-everything-else-is-distraction) (2024-04-14): What is the one thing that both investors and entrepreneurs care about? It’s growth or traction. - [Uncovering the Right Minimum Feature Set for Your Minimum Valuable Product (MVP)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/uncovering-the-right-minimum-feature-set-for-your-minimum-valuable-product-mvp) (2024-04-14): Contrary to popular belief, an MVP (Minimum Valuable Product) is not a quick and dirty solution you throw over the fence at customers. It has to deliver value right out of the gate. - [What is the Right Sizing for Early Adopters?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-the-right-sizing-for-early-adopters) (2024-04-14): It’s easy to see the perils of going too broad with a new product: When you try to market to everyone, you reach no one. This is why the customer segment box on the Lean Canvas is further broken in... - [When and How to Set Pricing for Your Product](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/when-and-how-to-set-pricing-for-your-product) (2024-04-14): Pricing is one of the riskiest assumptions on the Lean Canvas (Revenue Stream). - [The Myth of the Perfect Plan A](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-myth-of-the-perfect-plan-a) (2024-06-14): Most entrepreneurs start with a strong initial vision and a Plan A for realizing that vision. Unfortunately, most Plan A's don't work. - [What Startup Founders Get Wrong About Competition](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-startup-founders-get-wrong-about-competition) (2024-10-02): When asked about competition, startup founders typically fall into two camps. - [Why I Waited Three Years to Build an AI Co-Founder](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-i-waited-three-years-to-build-an-ai-cofounder) (2025-11-07): ChatGPT launched in November 2022 and I spent three years saying no. What changed my mind was not a better oracle. It was a loop. - [Why I Stress Test Business Models Before Talking to Customers](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-i-stress-test-business-models-before-talking-to-customers) (2025-11-14): An advisor once killed my business model in five minutes, nine months too late. Now I run that conversation first, across seven dimensions, before any customer hears the idea. - [Why I Plan in 90-Day Cycles](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-i-plan-in-90-day-cycles) (2025-11-21): Your 3-year goal is too far away to drive daily decisions, and your task list does not add up to a strategy. The missing middle between them is a 90-day cycle. - [How I Signed 209 Customers Before Building the Product](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-i-signed-209-customers-before-building-the-product) (2025-12-05): The Demo-Sell-Build campaign from the inside: a concierge MVP, a demo of software that did not exist yet, and 40 days from zero to 209 customers. - [Why I Stopped Building an AI Coaching Tool](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-i-stopped-building-an-ai-coaching-tool) (2025-12-12): Two months of problem discovery interviews revealed that founders were not starving for frameworks. They were drowning in tools with amnesia. - [Why I Build for Wants, Not Needs](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-i-build-for-wants-not-needs) (2025-12-19): Features are needs and outcomes are wants, and customers care far more about their wants. How that one distinction shaped an entire MVP. - [Welcome to the Founder Economy](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/welcome-to-the-founder-economy) (2026-03-25): The Creator Economy turned audiences into income. The Founder Economy turns domain expertise into companies. - [How I Pressure-Test a Product Idea Before Building Anything](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-i-pressure-test-a-product-idea-before-building-anything) (2026-07-15): AI can build your prototype in a weekend. So do you still need validation? I already ran the control group on myself. First post in Running Lean: AI Edition. ## Newsletter: LEAN 1-2-3 (91 issues) Each issue delivers 1 universal principle, 2 underlying strategies, and 3 actionable tactics for running lean. - [Don't lower signup friction; raise it](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-02-17) (2024-02-17): “At the earliest stages of a product, don’t lower signup friction; raise it.” (Share this on X) - [Sell before you build](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-02-24) (2024-02-24): “Sell before you build.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Start charging on Day One](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-03-02) (2024-03-02): “Start charging on Day One.” (Share this on X) - [Say no to stealth](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-03-09) (2024-03-09): Understandably, many first-time founders are afraid of their ideas getting stolen. However, building in stealth is a terrible product strategy because most first iterations of a product (Plan A)... - [Pricing is one of the most underutilized levers for growth.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-03-16) (2024-03-16): “Pricing is one of the most underutilized levers for growth.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Earning attention is the first battle.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-03-23) (2024-03-23): “Earning attention is the first battle.” - [Problems can’t be validated, only discovered.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-03-30) (2024-03-30): “Problems can’t be validated, only discovered.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Learn qualitatively, verify quantitatively](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-04-06) (2024-04-06): “Learn qualitatively, verify quantitatively.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Making happy customers is the universal job of every business](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-04-13) (2024-04-13): “Making happy customers is the universal job of every business.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Problem/Solution Fit (not Product/Market Fit) is the first significant milestone of a startup.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-04-20) (2024-04-20): “Problem/Solution Fit (not Product/Market Fit) is the first significant milestone of a startup.” (Share this on... - [As a founder, you are Investor #1 in your startup.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-04-27) (2024-04-27): “As a founder, you are Investor #1 in your startup.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Start with Founder/Model Fit.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-05-04) (2024-05-04): “Start with Founder/Model Fit.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Validate value delivery before growth.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-05-11) (2024-05-11): “Validate value delivery before growth.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Achieve escape velocity with a single growth rocket.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-05-18) (2024-05-18): “Achieve escape velocity with a single growth rocket.” (Share this on Twitter) - [BOOTSTART your way to early traction (and beyond).](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-05-25) (2024-05-25): “BOOTSTART your way to early traction (and beyond).” (Share this on Twitter.%22%0A-%40ashmaurya)) - [Don’t start with a public launch.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-06-01) (2024-06-01): “Don’t start with a public launch.” (Share this on Twitter) - [New problems come from old solutions.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-06-08) (2024-06-08): “New problems come from old solutions.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Don’t rush outside the building.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-06-15) (2024-06-15): “Don’t rush outside the building.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Remove failing from your vocabulary.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-06-22) (2024-06-22): “Remove failing from your vocabulary.” (Share this on Twitter) - [You don’t need permission to start.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-06-29) (2024-06-29): “You don’t need permission to start.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Build something worth naming before obsessing over the perfect name.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-07-06) (2024-07-06): “Build something worth naming before obsessing over the perfect name.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Position your product as emotionally better.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-07-13) (2024-07-13): “Position your product as emotionally better.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Talking to customers is the fastest way to learn.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-07-20) (2024-07-20): “Talking to customers is the fastest way to learn.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Love the problem, not your solution.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-07-27) (2024-07-27): \“Love the problem, not your solution.” \(Share this on Twitter) - [Avoid the curse of specialization.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-08-03) (2024-08-03): \“Avoid the curse of specialization.” \(Share this on Twitter) - [Prefer Fermi estimates when uncertainty is high.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-08-10) (2024-08-10): \“Prefer Fermi estimates when uncertainty is high.” \(Share this on Twitter) - [How to balance the conflicting pulls of time.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-08-17) (2024-08-17): “Design your work for flow.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Don’t ask customers about their problems. Do this instead.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-08-24) (2024-08-24): “Don’t ask customers about their problems. Do this instead.” (Share this on Twitter) - [The one measure of progress to rule them all.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-08-31) (2024-08-31): \“Measure progress with traction.” \(Share this on Twitter) - [10X your odds of success with shorter and better feedback loops.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-09-07) (2024-09-07): \“10X your odds of success with shorter and better feedback loops.” \(Share this on Twitter) - [Think different, not better.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-09-14) (2024-09-14): “Think different, not better.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Hire to build a traction flywheel.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-09-21) (2024-09-21): “Hire to build a traction flywheel.” (Share this on Twitter) - [You’re one insight away from your next hockey stick inflection.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-09-28) (2024-09-28): “You’re one insight away from your next hockey stick inflection.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Fire the business plan, not business planning.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-10-05) (2024-10-05): “Fire the business plan, not business planning.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Make Happy Customers.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-10-12) (2024-10-12): “Make Happy Customers.” (Share this on Twitter) - [The Early Adopter Paradox.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-10-19) (2024-10-19): “The Early Adopter Paradox.” (Share this on Twitter) - [Don’t Price Your Product Like An Artist.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-10-25) (2024-10-25): “Don’t Price Your Product Like An Artist.” (Share this on Twitter) - [There are only four startup games.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-11-02) (2024-11-02): “There are only four startup games.” (Share this on Twitter%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/nov-2-2024)) - [How to Evaluate an Idea Whose Time Has Come](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-11-09) (2024-11-09): “Well-timed ideas require the right combination of inflection, impact, and insight.” (Share this on Twitter) - [How to Find Product/Market Fit - 3 Rings Framework](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-11-16) (2024-11-16): “With the right mindsets, the early stage journey can be systematic and predictable.” (Share this on Twitter)) - [Bootstrapping or Venture Capital is a false choice](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-11-23) (2024-11-23): “Bootstrapping or Venture Capital is a false choice.” (Share this on Twitter)) - [Existing Alternatives: The most important Lean Canvas building block](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-11-30) (2024-11-30): “Existing Alternatives: The most important Lean Canvas building block.” (Share this on Bluesky) - [Separate principles from tactics.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-12-07) (2024-12-07): “Separate principles from tactics.” (Share this on Bluesky%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/dec-7-2024)) (Share this on Twitter/X%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/dec-7-2024)) - [Getting others to see what you see.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-12-14) (2024-12-14): “Getting others to see what you see.” (Share this on Bluesky) (Share this on Twitter/X) - [How to develop your unfair advantage story.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-12-21) (2024-12-21): “Develop your unfair advantage strategy early.” (Share this on Bluesky%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/dec-20-2024)) (Share this on Twitter/X%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/dec-20-2024)) - [There is no better time than the present to Just Start.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2024-12-28) (2024-12-28): \“There is no better time than the present to Just Start.” \(Share this on Twitter) (Share this on Bluesky) - [Blind Vision = No Mission](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-01-04) (2025-01-04): “Your vision shapes your mission.” (Share this on Bluesky) (Share this on Twitter/X) - [Goals & cycles & sprints, oh my!](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-01-11) (2025-01-11): “Validate your idea in 90-day cycles.” (Share this on Bluesky) (Share this on Twitter/X) - [How I Learned to Stop Avoiding and Love Talking to Customers](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-01-18) (2025-01-18): “Keystone Habit: Build a continuous customer feedback loop.” (Share this on Bluesky%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/jan-18-2025)) (Share this on... - [Why Talking to Users is Holding Your Startup Back](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-01-25) (2025-01-25): “Stop talking to users.” (Share this on Bluesky%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/jan-25-2025)) (Share this on Twitter/X%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/jan-25-2025)) - [Seek Success By Avoiding Failure](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-02-01) (2025-02-01): One of Charlie Munger’s favorite techniques was using the inversion principle to view a problem from the opposite perspective. - [There’s No Such Thing as an Impulse Buy.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-02-08) (2025-02-08): “There’s no such thing as an impulse buy.” - [Chase the Bigger Context.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-02-15) (2025-02-15): Every product lives in two contexts: the tool or solution context and the bigger, more compelling context. - [Running experiments is NOT the most important activity.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-02-22) (2025-02-22): “Running experiments is NOT the most important activity.” - [Perfect Ideas Are a Myth. Just Start.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-03-01) (2025-03-01): Every week, I meet aspiring founders who are stuck in idea paralysis. They know startups face dismal odds, so they wait. - [The Art of the Pivot](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-03-08) (2025-03-08): “A pivot, not grounded in learning, is a disguised ‘see what sticks’ strategy.” - [Think Premium Before Freemium](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-03-15) (2025-03-15): Everyone tells you to get users first and worry about revenue later: - [80% of billion-dollar startup founders had THIS](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-03-22) (2025-03-22): “Finding good ideas requires breaking your curse of specialization.” - [Don’t let the hockey-stick play you.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-03-29) (2025-03-29): What if I told you that most first-time founders are completely wrong about what makes a successful product launch? - [Unlock the Secret for Repeatable Success.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-04-05) (2025-04-05): In a previous issue, I revealed the key activity scientists and entrepreneurs rely on for breakthrough insights. - [Master Founder-led Sales with Simple Shifts](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-04-17) (2025-04-17): Many product-oriented founders (myself included) have historically dreaded the pricing conversation. We love discussing our product features and benefits, but when it comes time to discuss its cost... - [Land Your First Customers 3X Faster](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-04-24) (2025-04-24): After struggling to sign people up to my first startup product, it dawned on me that people weren’t even getting past my demo. Why did I waste 9 months building something nobody wanted? I could have... - [The One Metric to Rule Them All](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-05-01) (2025-05-01): The one thing both investors and entrepreneurs obsess over is traction. - [How to Uncover What Customers Want](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-05-15) (2025-05-15): “New problems worth solving come from old solutions.” - [Are You Building a Zombie Startup? How a 5-Minute Test Can Tell You](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-05-22) (2025-05-22): \“A rough estimate is better than none.” \ - [The positioning mistake that kills 90% of startups](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-05-29) (2025-05-29): Malcolm Gladwell’s book Blink reveals how people make snap judgments with very little information. Marketers put that window at under 8 seconds before someone scrolls past, clicks away, or tunes out. - [The positioning mistake that kills 90% of startups](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-06-05) (2025-06-05): “Will it scale?” is the wrong question to ask about your startup idea. - [The Biggest Cheat Code for Unlocking Startup Growth](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-06-12) (2025-06-12): Like most founders, I used to think that growing a startup meant working on dozens of things simultaneously. Then I discovered something that completely changed how our 3-person team operates. - [The $143 that changed aviation forever (and what it means for your startup)](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-06-19) (2025-06-19): Your startup’s biggest constraint is actually your secret weapon. - [The #1 reason 90% of customer research fails](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-06-26) (2025-06-26): “Customer interviews beat surveys, landing pages, and building every time.” - [The cognitive bias that's killing your startup (and how to beat it)](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-07-03) (2025-07-03): Here’s the brutal reality: most startups don’t fail because of a lack of funding, poor timing, or tough competition. They fail because they build something nobody wants. - [Find the ONE constraint limiting your growth.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-07-10) (2025-07-10): January 2012 was the month that almost killed my startup. - [The 5-Minute Test That Validates Any Business Model](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-07-17) (2025-07-17): “Before you ask ‘Can I build this?’ you need to ask ‘Should I build this?’” - [The 30-Minute Customer Discovery That Beats 50 Interviews](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-07-24) (2025-07-24): Study what customers do, not what they say they’ll do. - [How to Validate Any Startup Idea in 90 Days](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-07-31) (2025-07-31): Steve had a grand VR platform idea and 18 months of development mapped out. He was ready to invest $500K building it. - [How to Win Without More Resources](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-08-07) (2025-08-07): Most founders chase more resources while their real constraint kills progress elsewhere. - [The Growth Cheat Code 90% of Founders Miss](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-08-14) (2025-08-14): “Growth isn’t something you add to your business— It should already be built into your business model.” - [How to Time an Idea](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-08-21) (2025-08-21): I wasted $47,000 and 18 months building the same idea that Facebook made billions from. - [Before Your MVP, Build This...](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-08-28) (2025-08-28): “Build a Minimum Viable Runway Before Your Minimum Viable Product.” - [The 7 stress tests that prevent zombie startups](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-09-04) (2025-09-04): “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” - [The $2.3B AI Startup Graveyard: 3 Patterns You Must Avoid](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-09-11) (2025-09-11): We’re witnessing a massive extinction event in the startup world. 73% of AI startups funded in 2023 have already pivoted or died. The total capital destroyed: $2.3 billion.But here’s the thing –... - [How Tesla beat car companies with a 100-year head start](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-09-18) (2025-09-18): “You don’t compete by being better. You compete by making competitors irrelevant.” - [5 Startup Lessons Learned the Hard Way So You Don't Have to](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-09-25) (2025-09-25): In 2006, with just six months of runway left and an unfinished product, my friend and mentor, Bjoy Gowami, asked me this simple yet powerful question at a coffee shop in Austin: - [The 4-Act pitch that closes 80-90% of deals](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-10-02) (2025-10-02): “Customers don’t buy products or services. They buy a promise of something different AND better.” - [The Evidence Ladder: Validate Before You Build](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-10-09) (2025-10-09): “What people say they’ll do, seldom matches up with what they actually do.” - [How to Become a 100x Founder](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-10-16) (2025-10-16): “The bottleneck for startups isn’t building speed. It’s learning speed.” - [7 Ways to Make Competition Irrelevant](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-10-23) (2025-10-23): “Most things founders call ‘competitive advantages’ aren’t advantages at all.” - [The 4 Secret Forces That Make Customers Buy](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-10-30) (2025-10-30): “Customer decisions aren’t rational or irrational. They are driven by basic laws of physics. - [The 3-level framework that tells you exactly when to launch](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2025-11-20) (2025-11-20): “You don’t need perfect validation. You need minimum success criteria.” - [Say no to product roadmaps.](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2026-02-19) (2026-02-19): Founders love product roadmaps. They feel productive. They look impressive in investor decks. And they give you a false sense of control over the next 18-24 months. - [Rebooting the experiment: Running Lean, AI Edition](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/2026-07-16) (2026-07-16): Same principles, new tactics, re-tested one at a time. First post is up.