Deb Gilbertson, Richard Liew, Laura Nixon, Amber Taylor – NZ Entrepreneur Magazine

Richard Liu – Founder

“Let’s learn about the Lean Startup methodology.”

“If you’re working on a novel product, service, or business model, the Lean Startup Principles can help you de-risk your idea and increase your ability to launch something the market will actually value. I think the market will appreciate it.

The way most businesses start is that a founder comes up with an idea, falls in love with it, asks a few friends and family if it’s a good idea, and then starts building it. (I did this myself a few times before I knew there was a better way!) They invested all their leisure, effort, and money to build their product and struggled with their name and logo. , launch a website, rent a store or office and everything is ready to start. Finally, weeks, months, or years later, the big day comes. They announce to the world that they have started their business, and then… wait to see if they got it right about what the market wants and how they want to deliver it.

Yes, there are always exceptions, but for most founders who use this “build and they will come” strategy, what happens next is… nothing. Or very few. Hundreds of customers don’t magically show up on opening day. People who show up don’t buy what you thought they would. Your launch words won’t go viral. And founders are wondering what went wrong and how they’ll turn things around after a big launch with big expectations.

If you’re making a simple product (for example, you make crafts at home and sell them on an e-commerce site), the cost of simply making and trying to sell the product may be minimal. If you get it wrong, you may have just wasted a little time and a little cash. But the greater the complexity and cost of bringing a product to market, the greater the risk.

No Lean Startup methodology is perfect and cannot eliminate all risks. Pre-launch addressing gives you a much stronger startup path than just building and hoping for the best. “