Few movements have permeated entrepreneur and startup circles like the Lean Startup. The methodology has expanded outside of startups, and even industry leaders such as Toyota have adopted this fundamental shift.
For those unfamiliar, the Lean Startup movement is about making better, faster business decisions. It is based upon the tenets of lean manufacturing and agile development. That’s why the Lean Startup Conference resonates with us; we’ve actually used some of these principles to build our business and create some of the world’s most interesting mobile solutions.
Over December 9-12 in San Francisco, the Lean Startup Conference will feature in-depth interviews with product leaders such as Automattic’s Matt Mullenweg (creator of WordPress), Andreessen Horowitz’s Marc Andreessen (co-founder of Netscape), and LinkedIn’s co-founder Reid Hoffman. Naturally, the Lean Startup creator and author Eric Ries will be active in the conference as well. (Check out this clip from last year’s Lean Startup Conference with Andreessen and Ries!)
I’m particularly excited for Microsoft and Yammer’s Cindy Alvarez and Microsoft’s Ethan Gur-esh talk on how to transition teams from waterfall planning cycles to a Lean Startup mindset.
Our very own VP of Product, Drew McManus, will be participating in the Lean Startup Conference. His speech, “Integrating Development, Design and Product Management to Deliver Great Products,” will inform attendees how to successfully build cross-functional teams to continue innovating and testing ideas at a rapid pace. As Upworthy co-founder Eli Pariser writes in his book, The Filter Bubble, being exposed to people and ideas unlike oneself is imperative to generating creative ideas. Drew will show you how to translate this theory from paper into practice.
Insider’s Guide:
To give you an even better idea of how some entrepreneurs are applying lean startup principles to their businesses, the Lean Startup Conference will be coordinating site visits to startups like Square, WeWork Soma, and the San Francisco Pivotal Labs location.
On Thursday, December 12th, Silicon Valley Rocks! is taking place: original and cover bands from companies such as Facebook, Pandora, and Apple will be performing. (Zuckerberg Media’s Randi Zuckerberg will be featured in one of the performances!) In contrast to the more business-centric networking events, this social is likely to be more laid back and organic.
Just before the Lean Startup Conference, Leancamp will be taking place in San Francisco on December 8th. Get a head start on understanding and applying lean methodology to your business by attending.
Closing Thoughts
Technology entrepreneurs, mobile thought leaders, and all other types of fascinating individuals will congregate at The Lean Startup Conference. I’ll be sharing insights later for those cannot attend; if you are attending, connect with me and I’ll see you there! Have a safe trip.
Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.
