Lean Startup and Customer Development
The development and adoption of the lean startup and customer development methodology within the tech startup world has proven to significantly reduce failure risk for compelling and scalable ventures. Steve Blank, Eric Reis and many other tech pioneers have led this charge and have done a phenomenal job of promoting and codifying leading and breakthrough practices as well as making them available to the wider entrepreneurial community. Needless to say, these principles and practices are equally applicable and increasingly being applied to physical channel startups and ventures.
It is recommended strongly that you familiarize yourself with the lean startup and customer development methodology and the plentiful resources that are available. (See notes below)
The Scalability Tool is not intended to be a replacement for or a definitive guide on lean startups or customer discovery. Rather it is one of a few tools in your toolbox that helps you establish where you are in your quest for scalability.
The available version of the tool aligns closely with Steve Blank’s Customer Discovery phase and is predominantly relevant for pre-seed and seed-stage startups and ventures.
NOTE: Some great lean startup and customer development resources from Steve Blank & Eric Reis:
Free “How to Build a Startup” course on Udacity is a must! (https://www.udacity.com/course/ep245).
April 2013 Harvard Business Review article. A great summary and overview! http://hbr.org/2013/05/why-the-lean-start-up-changes-everything/ar/1
Website and blog: Steve Blank, https://steveblank.com/; Book: The Startup Owner’s Manual
Website and blog: Eric Reis, http://www.startuplessonslearned.com ; Book: The Lean Startup