LEAN 1-2-3 · Ash Maurya

Rebooting the experiment: Running Lean, AI Edition

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Same principles, new tactics, re-tested one at a time. First post is up.

Say no to product roadmaps.

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Say no to product roadmaps.” 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. But product…

The 3-level framework that tells you exactly when to launch

Thu, 20 Nov 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “You don’t need perfect validation. You need minimum success criteria.” The secret to making good evidence-based decisions isn’t aiming for vague, ambitious goals, but realistic minimum goals. Not hitting the first leads to disappointment…

The 4 Secret Forces That Make Customers Buy

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Customer decisions aren’t rational or irrational. They are driven by basic laws of physics. Just like Newton’s laws of motion, customers, too, are subject to forces. And until the forces pushing them away from…

7 Ways to Make Competition Irrelevant

Thu, 23 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Most things founders call ‘competitive advantages’ aren’t advantages at all.” Steve’s VR platform for architects was thriving until major CAD players entered his space with 1000x his budget. His technology advantage vanished overnight. That’s…

How to Become a 100x Founder

Thu, 16 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “The bottleneck for startups isn’t building speed. It’s learning speed.” I watched everyone obsess over vibe-coding tools. “Write me a React app.” “Build me a landing page.” “Generate this feature.” And I realized: We’re…

The Evidence Ladder: Validate Before You Build

Thu, 09 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s 1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “What people say they’ll do, seldom matches up with what they actually do.” In 2004, I spent two years and $500K building 6Degrees, only to launch to crickets. Despite a 1,000-person waitlist, we ended…

The 4-Act pitch that closes 80-90% of deals

Thu, 02 Oct 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Customers don’t buy products or services. They buy a promise of something different AND better.” A founder, Steve, pitched his Virtual Reality platform 50 times with zero results. Then he used a specific 4-Act structure and closed…

5 Startup Lessons Learned the Hard Way So You Don't Have to

Thu, 25 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 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: Would you rather spend the…

How Tesla beat car companies with a 100-year head start

Thu, 18 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “You don’t compete by being better. You compete by making competitors irrelevant.” Tesla perfectly illustrated this by not trying to beat car companies at making cars. Instead, they discovered a promise that would compel…

The $2.3B AI Startup Graveyard: 3 Patterns You Must Avoid

Thu, 11 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Love the Problem, Not Your Solution.” 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…

The 7 stress tests that prevent zombie startups

Thu, 04 Sep 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.” The CloudFire story proves this painfully well. After building one zombie product (6Degrees), I thought I’d learned my lesson. But CloudFire’s…

Before Your MVP, Build This...

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Build a Minimum Viable Runway Before Your Minimum Viable Product.” Steve was burning out, freelancing by day and building his virtual reality startup at night. But when he shifted focus to building runway first,…

How to Time an Idea

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - I wasted $47,000 and 18 months building the same idea that Facebook made billions from. The difference? They passed a simple timing test I didn’t even know existed. In 2001, I built 6Degrees - a private social network. Great idea, solid tech, positive feedback from friends. But I was two to three…

The Growth Cheat Code 90% of Founders Miss

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Growth isn’t something you add to your business— It should already be built into your business model.” Nine months after launching Lean Canvas, I was stuck. 400 new signups every month… losing 300. Net…

How to Win Without More Resources

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s 1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics for running lean… Most founders chase more resources while their real constraint kills progress elsewhere. Here’s how to flip that script using constraint-driven innovation… 1. Universal Principle Every strength creates a constraint elsewhere in the system. When Audi wanted to…

How to Validate Any Startup Idea in 90 Days

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s 1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics for running lean… 1 Universal Principle Prove demand before you build. Steve had a grand VR platform idea and 18 months of development mapped out. He was ready to invest $500K building it. That’s when he discovered the 90-day validation…

The 30-Minute Customer Discovery That Beats 50 Interviews

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s 1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics for running lean… 1 Universal Principle Study what customers do, not what they say they’ll do. Meet Steve. He spent 3 months running customer interviews for his VR platform idea. 50 interviews later, he was more confused than when he…

The 5-Minute Test That Validates Any Business Model

Thu, 17 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s 1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Before you ask ‘Can I build this?’ you need to ask ‘Should I build this?’” Steve had what seemed like a brilliant idea: a Virtual Reality platform that made it easy to create immersive…

Find the ONE constraint limiting your growth.

Thu, 10 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - January 2012 was the month that almost killed my startup. Lean Canvas had been live for four months. We’d bootstrapped our way to hundreds of paying customers with a team of five. Everything looked good from the outside. But underneath? Something was terribly wrong. Our activation rate—the percentage of new users who…

The cognitive bias that's killing your startup (and how to beat it)

Thu, 03 Jul 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - 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. And here’s where most founders go wrong—they become prematurely obsessed with their solution before validating the most critical parts of their business model. I call…

The #1 reason 90% of customer research fails

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Customer interviews beat surveys, landing pages, and building every time.” Most founders get customer learning completely backwards. When they want to understand what customers want, their first instinct is to create a survey, build…

The $143 that changed aviation forever (and what it means for your startup)

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle Your startup’s biggest constraint is actually your secret weapon. Picture this: It’s 1971, and you’re the president of Southwest Airlines with only $143 left in your bank account—barely enough to pay one employee for…

The Biggest Cheat Code for Unlocking Startup Growth

Thu, 12 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Right Action, Right Time.” 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 positioning mistake that kills 90% of startups

Thu, 05 Jun 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Will it scale?” is the wrong question to ask about your startup idea. When I first started blogging about startup methodologies, I had exactly four readers – and I was one of them! I…

The positioning mistake that kills 90% of startups

Thu, 29 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “You have < 8 seconds to win or lose.” 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…

Are You Building a Zombie Startup? How a 5-Minute Test Can Tell You

Thu, 22 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle \\“A rough estimate is better than none.” \\ Speed is often cited as a startup’s unfair advantage. But I learned the hard way that moving fast in the wrong direction just gets you lost…

How to Uncover What Customers Want

Thu, 15 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “New problems worth solving come from old solutions.” “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” Founders throw this famous Henry Ford quote around as an excuse NOT…

The One Metric to Rule Them All

Thu, 01 May 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Traction is the goal.” The one thing both investors and entrepreneurs obsess over is traction. However, the concept of traction is poorly understood, gamed, and largely underutilized. This week, I published a video (linked…

Land Your First Customers 3X Faster

Thu, 24 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle Demo-Sell-Build Build-Demo-Sell.” 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…

Master Founder-led Sales with Simple Shifts

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle Contrast Creates Value. 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, we get nervous,…

Unlock the Secret for Repeatable Success.

Sat, 05 Apr 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Chase good explanations.” In a previous issue, I revealed the key activity scientists and entrepreneurs rely on for breakthrough insights. No, it wasn’t running experiments but chasing good explanations. That issue focused on chasing…

Don’t let the hockey-stick play you.

Sat, 29 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Don’t let the hockey-stick play you.” What if I told you that most first-time founders are completely wrong about what makes a successful product launch? You’ve spent months building your product. You’ve done customer…

80% of billion-dollar startup founders had THIS

Sat, 22 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Finding good ideas requires breaking your curse of specialization.” Steve Jobs had Steve Wozniak, Larry Page had Sergey Brin, and Bill Hewlett had Dave Packard. Eighty percent of billion-dollar startup founders had a co-founder.…

Think Premium Before Freemium

Sat, 15 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Think Premium Before Freemium” Everyone tells you to get users first and worry about revenue later: Start with a free plan, build an audience, then figure out how to monetize. Sounds logical, right? Well,…

The Art of the Pivot

Sat, 08 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “A pivot, not grounded in learning, is a disguised ‘see what sticks’ strategy.” When researching for my book ten years ago, I came across this stat: More than two-thirds of all successful startups pivoted…

Perfect Ideas Are a Myth. Just Start.

Sat, 01 Mar 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle Perfect Ideas Are a Myth. Just Start.” Every week, I meet aspiring founders who are stuck in idea paralysis. They know startups face dismal odds, so they wait. They’re waiting for the perfect idea…

Running experiments is NOT the most important activity.

Sat, 22 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Running experiments is NOT the most important activity.” The Lean Startup methodology is the scientific method applied to entrepreneurship, and it’s one of the foundational pillars of the Continuous Innovation Framework. However, many people…

Chase the Bigger Context.

Sat, 15 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Chase the Bigger Context.” Every product lives in two contexts: the tool or solution context and the bigger, more compelling context. The danger with staying stuck in the solution context is missing the forest…

There’s No Such Thing as an Impulse Buy.

Sat, 08 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “There’s no such thing as an impulse buy.” Behind every purchase is a string of causal events and forces that influence customer behavior. Inspired by the work of Clayton Christensen on Jobs-to-be-done and early…

Seek Success By Avoiding Failure

Sat, 01 Feb 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Seek success by avoiding failure.” One of Charlie Munger’s favorite techniques was using the inversion principle to view a problem from the opposite perspective. “Invert, always invert. - Carl Gustav Jacobi, German Mathematician Rather…

Why Talking to Users is Holding Your Startup Back

Sat, 25 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “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)) Everyone says: Talk to your users.The underlying logic: Understand how to turn users into customers. But this seemingly sound advice is actually…

How I Learned to Stop Avoiding and Love Talking to Customers

Sat, 18 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “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 Twitter/X%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/jan-18-2025)) This week’s theme covered the one habit that, hands down, has had the biggest impact on my business…

Goals & cycles & sprints, oh my!

Sat, 11 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Validate your idea in 90-day cycles.” (Share this on Bluesky) (Share this on Twitter/X) It’s easy to fall into a flow state when launching a new product and lose track of time. Weeks can…

Blind Vision = No Mission

Sat, 04 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Your vision shapes your mission.” (Share this on Bluesky) (Share this on Twitter/X) The Golden Circle and the Vision-Strategy-Product Pyramid Too many entrepreneurs make the mistake of rushing up this Vision, Strategy, and Product…

There is no better time than the present to Just Start.

Sat, 28 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle \\“There is no better time than the present to Just Start.” \(Share this on Twitter) (Share this on Bluesky) As this is the last post of the year, I thought it prudent to give…

How to develop your unfair advantage story.

Sat, 21 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “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)) This week, I took on real unfair advantages on my YouTube channel. Key takeaways: Most founders cite weak or bad…

Getting others to see what you see.

Sat, 14 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Getting others to see what you see.” (Share this on Bluesky) (Share this on Twitter/X) The 1 reason why products fail is building something nobody wants. The 2 reason why products fail is not…

Separate principles from tactics.

Sat, 07 Dec 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “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)) After publishing my first book, Running Lean, where I detailed my step-by-step process for launching and growing my products (software and a…

Existing Alternatives: The most important Lean Canvas building block

Sat, 30 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Existing Alternatives: The most important Lean Canvas building block.” (Share this on Bluesky) I used to think the Problem box was the most important building block on the Lean Canvas. But, while starting with…

Bootstrapping or Venture Capital is a false choice

Sat, 23 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Bootstrapping or Venture Capital is a false choice.” (Share this on Twitter)) People love to pit bootstrapping vs. venture capital, but this suffers from the false choice fallacy because 1. Bootstrapping and venture capital…

How to Find Product/Market Fit - 3 Rings Framework

Sat, 16 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “With the right mindsets, the early stage journey can be systematic and predictable.” (Share this on Twitter)) Treating Product/Market Fit as the first significant milestone of a startup makes sense for VCs. But it…

How to Evaluate an Idea Whose Time Has Come

Sat, 09 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Well-timed ideas require the right combination of inflection, impact, and insight.” (Share this on Twitter) Timing is one of the top factors attributed to a startup’s success. But because most founders live in the…

There are only four startup games.

Sat, 02 Nov 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “There are only four startup games.” (Share this on Twitter%20-%20www.leanfoundry.com/lean-1-2-3/nov-2-2024)) 0.05%. That’s the percentage of startups that receive venture funding. Google’s AI compared these odds to a professional golfer hitting a hole-in-one. 10,000. That’s…

Don’t Price Your Product Like An Artist.

Fri, 25 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Don’t Price Your Product Like An Artist.” (Share this on Twitter) A lot of first-time founders price their products like first-time artists. After finishing their masterpiece, they total the price of the canvas, paint,…

The Early Adopter Paradox.

Sat, 19 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “The Early Adopter Paradox.” (Share this on Twitter) When you try to market to everyone, you reach no one. This is why you should start with early adopters. “Niche,” “beachhead market,” and “ideal customer…

Make Happy Customers.

Sat, 12 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Make Happy Customers.” (Share this on Twitter) The universal job of every business is to make happy customers. Years ago, I drew inspiration from Dave Mcclure’s Pirate metrics (AARRR) model and redrew it as…

Fire the business plan, not business planning.

Sat, 05 Oct 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Fire the business plan, not business planning.” (Share this on Twitter) Have you ever written a “Business Plan”? Chances are high that if you have, you don’t anymore. Yes, traditional business plans aren’t well…

You’re one insight away from your next hockey stick inflection.

Sat, 28 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “You’re one insight away from your next hockey stick inflection.” (Share this on Twitter) We often draw the hockey stick trajectory as a smooth curve, but actual traction doesn’t look like this. Traction comes…

Hire to build a traction flywheel.

Sat, 21 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Hire to build a traction flywheel.” (Share this on Twitter) The risk-adjusted value of founder sweat equity in an early-stage startup is $1,000+/hr. I’ve linked a video explaining my rationale at the bottom of…

Think different, not better.

Sat, 14 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Think different, not better.” (Share this on Twitter) We are charged with building better products. But what does “better” even mean? This is the million-dollar (or billion-dollar) question. Many founders define “better” in terms…

10X your odds of success with shorter and better feedback loops.

Sat, 07 Sep 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle \\“10X your odds of success with shorter and better feedback loops.” \(Share this on Twitter) I have been an entrepreneur for over a decade and have built dozens of products during that time. While…

The one measure of progress to rule them all.

Sat, 31 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle \\“Measure progress with traction.” \(Share this on Twitter) How do you measure progress during the early stages of a startup? You can’t rely on revenue or profit because both these metrics stay stuck near…

Don’t ask customers about their problems. Do this instead.

Sat, 24 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Don’t ask customers about their problems. Do this instead.” (Share this on Twitter) I recently revived my YouTube channel and posted a video this week with a spiky point of view: “Don’t start with…

How to balance the conflicting pulls of time.

Sat, 17 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Design your work for flow.” (Share this on Twitter) Founders must balance the conflicting demands on their time for activities outside the building (like customer conversations) and inside the building (like product development). You…

Prefer Fermi estimates when uncertainty is high.

Sat, 10 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle \\“Prefer Fermi estimates when uncertainty is high.” \(Share this on Twitter) How do you prioritize work that delivers the biggest impact for the least amount of work? One popular technique is the RICE framework,…

Avoid the curse of specialization.

Sat, 03 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle \\“Avoid the curse of specialization.” \(Share this on Twitter) When faced with a problem, we can often devise a dozen possible solutions. It’s not atypical to find: builders proposing build solutions, designers proposing design…

Love the problem, not your solution.

Sat, 27 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle \\“Love the problem, not your solution.” \(Share this on Twitter) In the image above, the line on the right appears longer than the one on the left, even though they are identical in length.…

Talking to customers is the fastest way to learn.

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Talking to customers is the fastest way to learn.” (Share this on Twitter) When researching a new product or feature idea, reaching for a survey or landing page over talking to customers is tempting…

Position your product as emotionally better.

Sat, 13 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Position your product as emotionally better.” (Share this on Twitter) How do you build a better product? By recognizing that “better” is relative. This simple insight is the premise behind my Innovator’s Gift mental…

Build something worth naming before obsessing over the perfect name.

Sat, 06 Jul 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Build something worth naming before obsessing over the perfect name.” (Share this on Twitter) Tell me if this sounds familiar… You wake up in the middle of the night with the perfect name for…

You don’t need permission to start.

Sat, 29 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “You don’t need permission to start.” (Share this on Twitter) The 2 reason founders fail is inertia, i.e., they never get started. They spend too much time analyzing, planning, or waiting for the perfect…

Remove failing from your vocabulary.

Sat, 22 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Remove failing from your vocabulary.” (Share this on Twitter) The “fail fast” meme is often cited as a necessary precondition for achieving breakthrough innovation. But I’ve found that the taboo of failure runs so…

Don’t rush outside the building.

Sat, 15 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Don’t rush outside the building.” (Share this on Twitter) Get outside the building is one of the battle cries of the Customer Development/Lean Startup movement. This is really a call for validating the riskiest…

New problems come from old solutions.

Sat, 08 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “New problems come from old solutions.” (Share this on Twitter) When asked to articulate what’s different and unique about your product, it’s typical to rattle off a bunch of unique features or, better yet,…

Don’t start with a public launch.

Sat, 01 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Don’t start with a public launch.” (Share this on Twitter) You’ve painstakingly defined and built a compelling MVP (Minimum Valuable Product) through a rigorous problem/solution fit process. You’ve collected thousands of emails from potential…

BOOTSTART your way to early traction (and beyond).

Sat, 25 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “BOOTSTART your way to early traction (and beyond).” (Share this on Twitter.%22%0A-%40ashmaurya)) As investors have shifted from valuing ideas and intellectual property to valuing traction and growth, finding a path to early traction (aka…

Achieve escape velocity with a single growth rocket.

Sat, 18 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Achieve escape velocity with a single growth rocket.” (Share this on Twitter) The Market ring is the third and final ring to close in your journey to Product/Market Fit. This is where you transition…

Validate value delivery before growth.

Sat, 11 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Validate value delivery before growth.” (Share this on Twitter) In last week’s newsletter, I outlined why you should start with the Founder Ring which addressed “Why You (for this idea)?” Today, we’ll tackle the…

Start with Founder/Model Fit.

Sat, 04 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Start with Founder/Model Fit.” (Share this on Twitter) An idea that works with one founder is not automatically guaranteed to work with another. Before chasing after product/market fit, start by designing your business model…

As a founder, you are Investor #1 in your startup.

Sat, 27 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “As a founder, you are Investor 1 in your startup.” (Share this on Twitter) Many founders dread the quarterly investor/stakeholder meeting. They’d much rather focus on product than get chewed out over their numbers.…

Problem/Solution Fit (not Product/Market Fit) is the first significant milestone of a startup.

Sat, 20 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Problem/Solution Fit (not Product/Market Fit) is the first significant milestone of a startup.” (Share this on Twitter%20is%20the%20first%20significant%20milestone%20of%20a%20startup.%E2%80%9D%0A-%20%40ashmaurya)) Getting to product/market fit (the inflection point in the hockey stick curve) takes roughly two years, and…

Making happy customers is the universal job of every business

Sat, 13 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Making happy customers is the universal job of every business.” (Share this on Twitter) Proof: Ask any founder if they have customers and want more customers. Irrespective of their business model type, they’ll answer…

Learn qualitatively, verify quantitatively

Sat, 06 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Learn qualitatively, verify quantitatively.” (Share this on Twitter) Consider the following scenario: You pitch your product for the first time to 10 people over a week. Which result is statistically significant? A) 6 out…

Problems can’t be validated, only discovered.

Sat, 30 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Problems can’t be validated, only discovered.” (Share this on Twitter) Stop the next three people you meet and ask them if they struggle with any one of the following: Eating healthy Staying fit Saving…

Earning attention is the first battle.

Sat, 23 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Earning attention is the first battle.” (Share this on Twitter) Customers today have many choices and little time. Before you earn their money, you have to earn their trust, and earning their trust starts…

Pricing is one of the most underutilized levers for growth.

Sat, 16 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Pricing is one of the most underutilized levers for growth.” (Share this on Twitter) Too many founders choose to lower versus raise their pricing, creating a race to the bottom. 2 Underlying Strategies at…

Say no to stealth

Sat, 09 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Say no stealth.” (Share this on X) 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…

Start charging on Day One

Sat, 02 Mar 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Start charging on Day One.” (Share this on X) Many founders wait to define/build their product, understand their cost structure, and then set and test pricing with customers. This is backward. Pricing should determine…

Sell before you build

Sat, 24 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “Sell before you build.” (Share this on Twitter) 2 Underlying Strategies at Play I. Early adopters don’t buy working products; they buy a promise of better. Think back to any product you bought as…

Don't lower signup friction; raise it

Sat, 17 Feb 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Hi there - Here is this week’s “1 principle, 2 strategies, and 3 actionable tactics” for running lean… 1 Universal Principle “At the earliest stages of a product, don’t lower signup friction; raise it.” (Share this on X) 2 Underlying Strategies at Play I. Attract Early Adopters and Repel Everyone Else The popular belief is…