If You Don't Know Who Your Customer

Progress In Manufacturing Is Measured By The Production Of High Quality Goods. The Unit Of Progress For Lean Startups Is Validated Learning-a Rigorous Method For Demonstrating Progress When One Is Embedded In The Soil Of Extreme Uncertainty.

At Imvu, We Opened Up Our Board Meetings To The Whole Company.

New Customers Come From The Action Of Past Customers

Most Start-up Companies Fail And It Is Smart Public Policy To Help Entrepreneurs Increase Their Odds Of Succeeding. But, The Biggest Loss To Our Economy Is Not All The Start-ups That Didn't Make It: It's The Ones That Might Have Been Created But Weren't.

As An Entrepreneur, I Knew That If My Company Failed, I Could Always Try Again. So I Often Felt That The Only Real Risk Of True Financial Ruin Came From The Possibility Of A Serious Illness That Either Exceeded My Insurance Plans Lifetime Limits, Or Was Not Covered Due To Rescission.