# Ash Maurya > Personal site and writing archive of Ash Maurya: founder of LEANFoundry, creator of Lean Canvas, and author of Running Lean and Scaling Lean. 16 years of essays on business modeling, customer discovery, and continuous innovation, practiced in public since 2009, plus the LEAN 1-2-3 newsletter archive. Every essay and newsletter issue is also available as raw markdown: append .md to its URL (for example https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-lean-canvas.md). ## Docs - [Full archive index for LLMs](https://ashmaurya.com/llms-full.txt): every essay (290) and newsletter issue (91) with one-line descriptions ## Books - [Books](https://ashmaurya.com/books): Running Lean and Scaling Lean, with editions and where to get them - [Running Lean](https://runlean.ly/3e): The step-by-step playbook for going from initial idea to a business model that works, before running out of resources (3rd edition, O'Reilly, 2022) - [Scaling Lean](https://www.amazon.com/Scaling-Lean-Mastering-Metrics-Startup/dp/1101980524): The sequel on metrics and traction, built on the Customer Factory model (Portfolio, 2016) ## LEANSpark - [LEANSpark](https://leanspark.ai): LEANSTACK's AI product for practicing Running Lean: Lean Canvas, customer interviews, and 90-day validation cycles - [Lean Canvas tool](https://leanspark.ai/leancanvas): The online Lean Canvas, by the creator of Lean Canvas ## 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. ## Essential Essays - [How I learnt to grok Customer Development](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-i-learnt-to-grok-customer-development): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): Eliminating waste is the fundamental principle of lean thinking. - [Lessons Learned in 2009](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lessons-learned-in-2009): 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): 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... - [Experiments in Pricing](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/experiments-in-pricing): 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 1](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/customer-development-checklist-for-my-web-startup-part-1): 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... - [Customer Development Checklist for My Web Startup — Part 2](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/customer-development-checklist-for-my-web-startup-part-2): I covered the Customer Discovery flow for my web startup in Part 1. Here I’ll be covering the next step: Customer Validation. - [3 Rules for Building Features in a Lean Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-rules-for-building-features-in-a-lean-startup): Validated learning about customers is the measure of progress in a Lean Startup — not lines of working code or achieving product development milestones. - [There is an “I” in Vision](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/there-is-an-i-in-vision): 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): 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): 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): “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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): (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): 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): 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): (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): 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): (This is a guest post by Lukas Fittl — a fellow Lean practitioner and Spark59er.) - [The Attack of the Lean Books](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-attack-of-the-lean-books): 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. - [Lean Analytics — The One Metric That Matters And Other Provocations](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/lean-analytics-the-one-metric-that-matters-and-other-provocations): 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. - [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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): (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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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... - [Business Models vs Business Plans](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/business-models-vs-business-plans): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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 BOOTSTART Manifesto](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-bootstart-manifesto): There’s never been a better time to act on your “big idea”. And this manifesto will show you how. - [The Different Worldviews of a Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/2016-02-02-the-different-worldviews-of-a-startup): In his groundbreaking book, “All Marketers are Liars Tell Stories”, Seth Godin defines a “worldview” as the set of rules, values, beliefs… - [The New Book Unveiled: Scaling Lean](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-new-book-unveiled-scaling-lean): 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): Lesson 1: Right Action, Right Time - [An Author’s Journey to 100,000 Copies](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/an-author-s-journey-to-100-000-copies): 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): An archetypical pattern to the entrepreneur’s journey…or not? - [There were lots of signals for me:](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/there-were-lots-of-signals-for-me): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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… - [Adviser Whiplash](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/adviser-whiplash): Ask 10 people for advice on your idea and you’ll get 10 different prescriptions. Which one do you follow? - [The GOLEAN Framework for Growth](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-golean-framework-for-growth): 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… - [VRMotion — An Invention to Innovation Case-study](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/vrmotion-an-invention-to-innovation-case-study): 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): 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 —… - [What is a Minimum Viable Product (MVP)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-a-minimum-viable-product-mvp): 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): What is the one thing that investors and entrepreneurs want? The answer is traction.​​ - [Find Better Problems Worth Solving with the Customer Forces Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/find-better-problems-worth-solving-with-the-customer-forces-canvas): Before you can build the “right” solution for your customers, you have to understand the “right” problem. In my first book, Running Lean, I… - [The Customer Forces Canvas [Updated]](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-customer-forces-canvas-updated): Here’s an updated version of the Customer Forces Canvas that I first introduced here: - [The Beautiful Game of Entrepreneurship](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-beautiful-game-of-entrepreneurship): Introducing the “BOOTSTART plan” - [Continuous Innovation](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/continuous-innovation): 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… - [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): 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… - [The Artist and The Innovator](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-artist-and-the-innovator): 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… - [Don’t Start With an MVP](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/don-t-start-with-an-mvp): 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… - [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): 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?” - [The Problem With Problems](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-problem-with-problems): On his drive back to the office, Steve can’t help but replay his last conversation with Mary in his mind. - [My New Project — Unpacking the Innovator’s Gift](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/my-new-project-unpacking-the-innovator-s-gift): I’m working on my most ambitious project yet. I’m looking for answers to the fundamental innovation question: What defines a better… - [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): You should solely be focused just on getting the full story about their last listening session. Problems are extracted using a back-door… - [The Idea Funnel](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-idea-funnel): 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… - [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): 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): 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): 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): 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… - [Reorder your Chain of Beliefs with a leaner Lean Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/reorder-your-chain-of-beliefs-with-a-leaner-lean-canvas): 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 Michael —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-michael): 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… - [“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): In order to achieve breakthrough innovation, you shouldn’t be limiting yourself to any one of these frameworks, but rather using all… - [Yes, makes sense.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/yes-makes-sense): The three circles are definitely generic and broad which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I often use two other lenses: - [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): In a recent post, I shared a reference implementation of an innovation funnel built on the Continuous Innovation Framework and cautioned… - [What is a Job-To-Be-Done (JTBD)](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-a-job-to-be-done-jtbd): 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… - [Hi Chris Cochella —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hi-chris-cochella): 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… - [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): 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… - [Hey Alan Klement —](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/hey-alan-klement): There is a lot to unpack here, but I’ll start with the comment about only focusing on first purchases — and not repurchases. - [You’re preaching to the choir…](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/you-re-preaching-to-the-choir): Practice Trumps Theory does not imply theory is irrelevant. Like scientists, we build models of a business, prioritize what’s riskiest… - [Level up your entrepreneurial game with our battle-tested playbooks](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/level-up-your-entrepreneurial-game-with-our-battle-tested-playbooks): 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… - [Start With Mindset](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/start-with-mindset): 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): The traditional startup funnel is broken. - [The True Value of Your Time](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-true-value-of-your-time): Time is our scarcest resource. Other resources like money and people can fluctuate up and down, but time only moves in one direction. - [The Customer Factory Manifesto](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-customer-factory-manifesto): Successful businesses are more alike than unalike. They share a common universal goal and employ a systematic approach to building a… - [All Those Who Wander Are Not Lost](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/all-those-who-wander-are-not-lost): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): Customer Forces Stories are a powerful way of summarizing customer conversations during your search for problem/solution fit. - [Slow Down to Go Fast](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/slow-down-to-go-fast): 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): 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): 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): 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): After 14 years, I'm abandoning the MVP. - [Nailing Release 1.0](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/nailing-release-1-0): 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): 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): 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? - [Why Lean Canvas versus Business Model Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/why-lean-canvas-versus-business-model-canvas): 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 ... - [What is a Lean Canvas?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-lean-canvas): A Lean Canvas is a 1-page business modeling tool that helps you deconstruct an idea into key assumptions or beliefs. - [The Bootstrapping Startup Operating System](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-bootstrapping-startup-operating-system): Bootstrapping an idea is more relevant today than ever, but the rules have changed. - [The Just Start Manifesto](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/just-start): While we may look different and speak different languages, the world is flatter than it’s ever been. We are living through a global entrepreneurial renaissance that can be witnessed through the wor... - [What is Continuous Innovation?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/2024-02-22-continuous-innovation): 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. - [A Tale of Two Entrepreneurs](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-tale-of-two-entrepreneurs): 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... - [When and How to Set Pricing for Your Product](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/when-and-how-to-set-pricing-for-your-product): Pricing is one of the riskiest assumptions on the Lean Canvas (Revenue Stream). - [What is the Right Sizing for Early Adopters?](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/what-is-the-right-sizing-for-early-adopters): 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... - [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): 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. - [Traction is the Goal. Everything Else is Distraction.](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/traction-is-the-goal-everything-else-is-distraction): What is the one thing that both investors and entrepreneurs care about? It’s growth or traction. - [The Counterintuitive Science of Closing B2B Sales](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-counterintuitive-science-of-closing-b2b-sales): As all B2B sales meetings went online during the pandemic, Matt Dixon and Ted McKenna, authors of The Jolt... - [The Art of Experiment Design](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-art-of-experiment-design): You run an experiment every time you release a new feature, run a marketing campaign or try a new sales method. - [Stop Wasting Time on Unviable Business Ideas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/stop-wasting-time-on-unviable-business-ideas): 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 ... - [Start with Premium Before Freemium](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/start-with-premium-before-freemium): 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 ... - [Say No to Product Roadmaps](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/say-no-to-product-roadmaps): 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. - [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): 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... - [Prospecting Recipes for Conducting Problem Discovery Interviews](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/prospecting-recipes-for-conducting-problem-discovery-interviews): 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... - [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): Patterns are everywhere. We use patterns in architecture, design, software, chess, and cooking. - [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): 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 Systematically Uncover Big Problems Worth Solving](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-systematically-uncover-big-problems-worth-solving): 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 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): 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 Pitch Pricing Without Getting Butterflies in your Stomach](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-pitch-pricing-without-getting-butterflies-in-your-stomach): 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 Formulate Your Unfair Advantage Strategy with a Lean Canvas](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/how-to-formulate-your-unfair-advantage-strategy): Communicating defensibility against copycats and competition is critical when pitching your business model to investors and key stakeholders. - [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): The elevator pitch is one of four foundational pitches every founder should master. - [Crafting Attention-Worthy Unique Value Propositions](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/crafting-attention-worthy-unique-value-propositions): The first battle for any product is getting noticed by customers. - [Balancing the Conflicting Pulls on Time in a Startup](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/balancing-the-conflicting-pulls-on-time-in-a-startup): Time, like any resource, has multiple pulls. In a startup, there is a basic pull for activities outside and inside the building. - [A Systematic Roadmap to Product/Market Fit](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-systematic-roadmap-to-product-market-fit): 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. - [A Blueprint for Understanding How People Buy Anything](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/a-blueprint-for-understanding-how-people-buy-anything): There is no such thing as an impulse purchase. Behind every purchase is a string of causal events and forces. - [3 Steps for Running More Successful Pilots](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-steps-for-running-more-successful-pilots): 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... - [3 Common Customer Interviewing Mistakes](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/3-common-customer-interviewing-mistakes): At the early stages of a product, before problem/solution fit, customer interviews are the best (and fastest) way to learn from customers.... - [The Myth of the Perfect Plan A](https://ashmaurya.com/blog/the-myth-of-the-perfect-plan-a): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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): 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 archive](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter): 91 issues of Ash Maurya's newsletter, each with 1 universal principle, 2 underlying strategies, and 3 actionable tactics for running lean - [Newsletter RSS](https://ashmaurya.com/newsletter/rss.xml): feed of LEAN 1-2-3 issues ## Optional - [Blog archive](https://ashmaurya.com/blog): all 290 essays, 2009 to today - [Blog RSS](https://ashmaurya.com/rss.xml): feed of new essays - [About](https://ashmaurya.com/about): who Ash Maurya is and what he works on - [Speaking](https://ashmaurya.com/speaking): topics and booking