Test an idea cheaply, build something customers want, and prepare for funding and growth.
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Two influential ways of thinking about starting and building a company.
Eric Ries proposes treating a new venture as a series of experiments: build a minimum viable product, measure how customers respond and learn quickly whether to persevere or pivot. Aimed at founders and innovators in companies of any size.
Peter Thiel argues that real progress comes from creating something new rather than copying what already works, and that companies should aim for a defensible, near-monopoly position. Based on notes from his Stanford course, it offers a provocative guide for founders.
Talk to customers properly and follow a structured process for a new venture.
Rob Fitzpatrick explains how to talk to customers and test business ideas without being misled by polite or biased answers, including how to ask better questions. A practical guide for founders, product people and anyone doing customer research.
Bill Aulet lays out a 24-step framework for starting a company, running from choosing a market segment through to defining a business model and winning customers. Practical for first-time founders and for students of entrepreneurship.
Courses on lean startup methods and customer validation.
Browse Lean startup coursesCourses on launching and validating a business idea.
Browse Starting a business coursesThe hard parts of running a company: tough decisions, funding terms and scaling fast.
Ben Horowitz gives candid advice on running a company when there are no easy answers, drawing on his own time as a technology chief executive. It covers decisions such as layoffs and leading under pressure, and is aimed at founders and managers.
Written by two venture investors, this guide explains how venture capital financing works and walks through term sheets and the clauses that matter most. Useful for entrepreneurs raising money and for anyone who wants to understand investor agreements.
Reid Hoffman and Chris Yeh argue that in some markets companies should put speed ahead of efficiency in order to grow quickly under uncertainty. They explain how to scale up and when it makes sense. Relevant to founders and executives in winner-takes-most sectors.
Courses on funding a startup and working with investors.
Browse Startup funding coursesApply one idea to a customer, product or growth question you are facing now.
This week: Apply one idea to a customer, product, growth or company-building question you are facing now.
