ess in which one learns by trying out an initial idea and then measuring it to validate the effect. Each test of an idea is a single iteration in a larger process of many iterations whereby something is learnt and then applied to succeeding tests.
Validated learning is especially popular on the Internet, where analytics software can track visitor behavior and give accurate statistics and insight on how website features work in reality. Validated learning can, however, be applied to anything; one just needs to be innovative on what to use as metrics.
Typical steps in validated learning:
- Specify a goal
- Specify a metric that represents the goal
- Act to achieve the goal
- Analyze the metric – did you get closer to the goal?
- Improve and try again
Finally, a pivot is a “structured course correction designed to test a new fundamental hypothesis about the product, strategy, and engine of growth”.
A notable example of a company employing the pivot is Groupon; when the company first started, it was an online activism platform called The Point which was intended to organize people around some sort of cause or goal. After receiving almost no traction, the founders decided to pivot in order to focus entirely on group buying. Their first deal was a two-pizzas-for-the-price-of-one offer at Motel Bar, a restaurant on the first floor of their building in Chicago. Even though they only got 20 redemptions, they considered their hypothesis validated. Three years later, Groupon would grow into a billion-dollar business.
The Lean Startup has led to a whole Lean Startup movement. Eric Ries and others created an annual technology conference called Startup Lessons Learned which subsequently changed its name to the Lean Startup Conference. There are Lean Startup meetups in cities around the world. The Lean Startup Machine created a new spin on the lean startup meetups by having attendees start a new company in three days.
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