'lean startup' Tag
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Shortening feedback loops
November 6, 2022One of the mindsets which we regularly encourage our portfolio companies to espouse is the pursuit of shortening feedback loops. Shortening feedback loops, or “increasing clock speed,” is fundamental to a startup’s ability to navigate a dynamic market. Accelerating the opportunity for feedback underpins the minimum viable product concept in the Lean Startup philosophy. The […]
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An inconvenient sequel about startup subsidies
August 6, 2017Last week’s piece about my contention that government subsidies for startups tend to be anti-lean in nature generated two almost diametrically opposed reactions. So here are some final thoughts about Lean Startup and subsidies, and then I’ll put the topic to rest for now. On one end, a couple readers became defensive, questioning how I […]
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The Lean Startup, Anti-lean subsidies, and other ramblings
July 31, 2017This year’s RudeVC summer reading list post generated an unexpected mini-debate in the comments section (LinkedIn version, can’t figure out how to link to it). The debate did not center on the 5 novels I recommended but rather focused on an afterthought recommendation I made at the end of the post for Eric Ries’ 2011 […]
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Musings on hardware investing in France
May 3, 2016Since May is hardware month in Paris, I’ve been reflecting lately on venture capital investing in French hardware startups. I’m far from an expert on hardware investing — only a small fraction of my VC portfolio over the years has been in hardware. Despite this, I’ve noticed an order-of-magnitude leap in incoming deal flow from […]
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Scalability hack: think concavity instead of convexity
June 17, 2014Scalability may well represent one of the most overused words in startup financing discussions. VCs use the word (and I’m guilty of this) as shorthand to refer to a startup’s ability to grow dramatically enough to deliver outsize returns to the investor. I like to simplify it as a joke that there are three kinds […]
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The misplaced pride of no marketing
July 2, 2013I heard it again just the other day during a startup’s pitch. “We’ve done no marketing, and look how much we’ve accomplished,” boasted the founders of the venture for which they were trying to raise money. Imagine what we could do if we spent money on marketing, was the intended implication of what they were […]
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MVP: Winds of change in France
September 13, 2011MVP! MVP! MVP! In the States you can hear this chant on any given Sunday afternoon at the ballpark, as well as frequently in the open workspace of any given web startup. The only reaction this three-letter acronym would elicit in France, however, would be ‘Tony Parker’. And even that is limited to a select […]