Lean Startup : adding an experimental learning perspective to the entrepreneural process

Abstract

Sometimes, there are methods applied in reality that are overlooked by researchers. In the case of this research project, the phenomenon of Lean Startup has been empirically investigated. Lean Startup rejoices increasing popularity amongst entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley and meanwhile in over 90 countries all over the world. Being a synthesis of agile development techniques and market research methods, Lean Startup helps people to successfully develop innovative products and services in a close relationship with customers. The core element is a cyclic procedure consisting of the phases: build, measure, and learn. A literature review in the domain of organization theory, especially entrepreneurship, organizational learning, and new product development has been undertaken to get an overview about scientific models that are similar to Lean Startup. Following, Effectuation and Bricolage, as entrepreneurial process models, the conception of learning sequences and the lead user concept have been extracted for further analysis. Getting an in-depth understanding of the phenomenon under investigation, a qualitative phenomenological research approach was chosen. In total, eight interviews with Lean Startup practitioners and professionals have been conducted. The interview transcripts were synthesized and aggregated on the basis of a grounded theory approach. Applying open and axial coding, as well as subjective sense-making revealed 25 concepts related to Lean Startup. To identify meaningful relationships, computer-assisted methods have been applied additionally. The results show, that the observed build-measure-learn feedback loop is echoed in the coded interview data. Therefore, it can be said that the fundamental elements of Lean Startup are learning, prototyping, running experiments and validating initial business assumptions. Moreover, the discussion and comparison with existing scientific methods show that the concept of learning is not yet incorporated adequately. Learning and uncertainty reduction in the opportunity development phase offer great potential for new insights by the Lean Startup methodology. All in all, the research demonstrates effectively that the interplay between theory and practice can reveal interesting insights for practice and future direction for theoretical elaboration.

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