Running Lean
Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works, Second Edition
By: Ash Maurya
Published: March 6,2012
Format: Hardcover, 240 pages
ISBN-10: 1449305172
ISBN-13: 978-1449305178
Publisher: O'Reilly Media
"So, what separates successful startups from unsuccessful ones is not necessarily the fact that successful startups began with a better initial plan (or Plan A) , but rather that they find a plan that works before running out of resources", writes entrepreneur and founder of Spark59,Ash Maurya, in his inspirational and visionary book Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works, Second Edition. The author describes how most of the innovative products fail, and provides a systematic process for rating and examining product ideas and their potential, raising the overall rate of success.
Ash Maurya recognizes that the current age is one of unlimited innovation and new product ideas. More products are being designed and produced than ever before. The problem, writes the author, is that most of them fail as they are simply the wrong product. For start-up companies, this product failure results in the exhausting of their business resources of money, time, and effort. With that product failure, the start-up goes out of business, taking its innovation skills with it. To counter this challenge of innovative product failure, Ash Maurya provides an entire systematic process for ensuring that the products are the right ones for the market before they fail in the marketplace. The author shares his process for developing and producing products that fit the market and save resources, greatly increasing the odds that the start-p venture will be a success.
Ash Maurya (photo left) understands that the problem for many start-up companies is developing and implementing a workable and effective plan before they run out of resources. For start-up entrepreneurs, when their Plan A fails to reach fruition, they are left scrambling for any alternative plan at all. Instead of providing a rigorous and intensive examination of the original Plan A, the entrepreneurs continue to throw money, time, and resources into that ineffective plan despite its failings in the marketplace.
Ash Maurya points out that the mythology of the visionary leader and a seemingly invincible product is all too prevalent in the culture. At the same time, the author points out that stressing the product first results in gathering the wrong market information from the very beginning. There is also a time lag between the information acquisition phase, and the release of the final product into an unforgiving marketplace. Instead of building the product that customers really want, the start-up entrepreneurs build what the potential customers think they want. To counter this disconnect, Ash Maurya provides his comprehensive Running lean system that iterates changes when needed, and not after it's too late to save the company.
For me, the power of the book is how Ash Maurya provides a complete and ready to implement process for innovation, development, and marketing of successful products. The author offers the tools to vet and examine the innovation ideas before production begins and uses up scarce resources. The author begins by asking what problem really needs a solution, and then finding the answer to that problem. Instead of simply gathering information from customers at the start of the process,
Ash Maurya recommends keeping customers engaged throughout the entire process, gaining their insights and ideas, enabling a new iteration if and when it is required in the product. Most importantly, the author demonstrates the need for flexibility and nimble responses to the need to change plans to a new one when indicated by the marketplace. To be lean in a start-up is to minimize the waste of resources on ineffective and failed products, providing the time and money to change course without failing beforehand. The author shares his very workable and repeatable system for ensuring that changes and iterations are made at the right time, before disaster strikes, and resources are depleted for the company
I highly recommend the practical and process driven book Running Lean: Iterate from Plan A to a Plan That Works, Second Edition by Ash Maurya, to any start-up entrepreneurs seeking a repeatable and lean systematic approach to innovation, production, and marketing a product. The process provided in this book could save many companies that need not have failed due to a lack of resources, resulting in a stronger economy and more vibrant marketplace.
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