Hall of Masters

Eric Ries

에릭 리스

Author of The Lean Startup

938 records in all

  • Principles 344
  • Episodes 194
  • Quotes 400
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Photo: Margot Duane 2012  CC BY-SA 2.0  Original  cropped

Episodes

29 basic records of 194

Episodes are real events from public sources, summarised by us.

  • 2015Hiring

    Hiring an Editorial Director

    Eric Ries hired Kirsten Cluthe as the new Editorial Director to lead program development for the 2015 conference. She brought experience from diverse industries like music, General Electric, and the Olympics to curate the event.

    LessonBringing in experts with diverse industry backgrounds can add fresh perspectives to a specialized community.

  • The Startup Way Launch Week

    Eric Ries launched his book with a high-intensity tour involving interviews, Reddit AMAs, and events across multiple states. He focused on hearing the most pressing questions from his audience to understand their needs.

    LessonA successful product launch requires active presence across multiple channels to engage directly with the target audience.

  • Partnering with Zappos

    Zappos approached the Lean Startup Co. to host the conference at their campus in Las Vegas. This partnership allowed for a higher-end, more intimate event focused on hands-on learning.

    LessonStrategic partnerships with established companies can provide the infrastructure needed to evolve your product or event.

  • 2010Career

    Eren Bali's Silicon Valley arrival

    Eren Bali moved from Turkey to Silicon Valley to relaunch his education company, Udemy. He initially worked at a startup called SpeedDate to immerse himself in the culture before pursuing his own venture.

    LessonImmersing yourself in a startup ecosystem can provide the necessary context before launching your own major venture.

  • Virtual Book Tour Simulcast

    For his birthday event in Chicago, Ries partnered with his publisher to organize a virtual version of the talk. This allowed groups anywhere in the world to host their own gatherings and participate via live simulcast.

    LessonScaling a physical presence through technology allows a local event to have a global impact.

  • Lean Government Proof

    At SXSW, U.S. CTO Todd Park demonstrated how Lean Startup principles were applied to government projects like HealthCare.gov. This inspired a skeptical crowd by showing that if the government can innovate, any startup can.

    LessonReal-world examples of action are more persuasive than charisma or theoretical talk.

  • The Stealth Failure of There, Inc.

    There, Inc. spent five years and $40 million in stealth development before launching. Despite the massive investment, the product failed to gain traction because the vision was too rigid to adapt to actual consumer demand.

    LessonA concrete vision can become a liability if it prevents a company from seeing that its product doesn't match market demand.

  • Founding the LTSE

    Eric Ries founded the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) to encourage long-term corporate behaviors. He believed that markets needed to shift their focus back to value creation instead of just trading activity.

    LessonFounders can create new platforms or systems when existing market structures fail to support long-term goals.

  • Analyzing Governance Regrets

    Eric Ries observed many founders who followed standard legal advice for their company charters only to regret it later when activist investors gained too much power. He realized that these standard structures often plant the seeds for a founder's eventual ousting.

    LessonCopying a standard legal charter can lead to losing control of your company to short-term interests.

  • TheLadders Dashboard Collaboration

    Jeff Gothelf was struggling to fit complex information onto a single dashboard screen. Instead of working alone, he called a lead developer to a whiteboard to sketch and iterate on ideas together.

    LessonCollaborative sketching builds immediate shared understanding and allows teams to build versions faster without waiting for documentation.

  • Laura Klein's Onboarding at Hint Health

    When Laura Klein joined Hint Health as Head of Product, she sat down with the engineering team to ask what they needed from her to be successful. She offered various levels of deliverables, from task flows to sketches, to find the right combination for their workflow.

    LessonA leader should adapt their output to the specific needs of their team rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all process.

  • The Failed Technical Fix

    Ries proposed a radical architectural change allowing artists to build UI pieces themselves without needing new code. While it technically solved the implementation bottleneck, both teams remained unhappy because it didn't fix the cultural divide.

    LessonYou cannot solve a human collaboration problem with a purely technical or architectural tool.

  • Legal Department Innovation Pre-clearance

    A leader realized the legal department was blocking innovation, so Eric facilitated a meeting where the legal team expressed feeling constrained by rules. They created a one-page document with parameters that pre-cleared teams to experiment without individual approvals.

    LessonSpeed up development by turning restrictive departments into partners who define safe boundaries for experimentation.

  • Upgrading the Blog Comment System

    After a surge in comments on a specific post, Eric decided to upgrade his blog's comment system. He used Twitter to find a recommendation and chose to test Disqus on a single new post to gather user feedback.

    LessonWhen a system breaks due to success, use your audience to help select and test the replacement.

  • Political Stance at Lean Startup Week

    During his opening remarks at Lean Startup Week 2016, Eric Ries broke the norm of neutrality by endorsing a political candidate. He acknowledged it might make some people uncomfortable but felt a moral obligation to speak up.

    LessonLeaders must sometimes take personal risks and speak on controversial issues when they believe core values are at stake.

  • DODOcase Product Simplification

    DODOcase focused on product simplicity by offering only one color combination for the first five months. This allowed them to simplify production and focus on building their brand story before expanding their collection.

    LessonLimiting options early on simplifies operations and allows you to focus on effective storytelling.

  • The Transformers Robot Pitch

    Graduate students pitched an autonomous robot idea to defense agencies by focusing on how valuable robots would be in the future. They used a slide of Transformers but failed to mention their own high-level technical credentials.

    LessonEven with great credentials, a pitch fails if it focuses on market potential instead of proving the team can actually build the product.

  • 2009Career

    First Major Conference Talk

    Eric Ries gave his first significant conference presentation at the Web 2.0 Expo in San Francisco. He was unsure of what to expect, but the positive response from the audience was overwhelming and humbling.

    LessonSharing ideas publicly, even when uncertain of the reception, can lead to unexpected opportunities and momentum.

  • 2010Brand

    Success of SLLConf

    Eric organized a conference focused on knowledge over hype, banning vanity metrics and success theater. It was a major success, reaching people live and through over 60 simulcast locations worldwide.

    LessonBuilding a community around authentic, useful information rather than hype creates lasting value and engagement.

  • IMVU's identity pivot

    IMVU decided to stop serving profitable customers who wanted a standard instant messenger replacement. Instead, they focused on subcultures like goths and anime fans who used the product to express their identities.

    LessonDoubling down on identity value can lead to more passionate evangelists and long-term success.

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