Book Review: The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

A few weeks back, I finished reading The Lean Startup: How Constant Innovation Creates Radically Successful Businesses by Eric Ries.

There have been a lot of books on Lean methodology over the years, so I didn’t know what to expect with this one. But it was published back in 2001 (i.e. the turn of the century) and that’s when the Lean methodology was still fairly new in entrepreneur circles.

I’ve seen others comment that this was the “single most informative book on the iterative entrepreneural process”.

Ries looks a using the approach to consider how companies are created and evolve, and how their new products are launched into the market. He focusses on how to create a startup that’s a long lasting startup. So many businesses crash and burn each year, mostly within their early stages. Ries looks closely at how you can create something new, but right in amongst very uncertain times.

It’s a fascinating book. I just wish it was a little more lively. It does plod along a bit, but the content is excellent.