Tuesday, October 24, 2017

What's Next for "The Startup Way"

We’ve had an amazing first week following publication of The Startup Way. I’ve loved traveling to talk about the book and hearing what readers and supporters have to say and what their most pressing questions are. Launch week was busy to say the least, with lots of interviews, Quora and Reddit AMAs, and events across three states. A heartfelt thank you to everyone for turning out, reading, and offering support! 

A few thing as we move into Week 2 of my book tour: 

I'm now in Los Angeles and San Francisco to promote The Startup Way. If this week is anything like the last, attendees are in for great events. 

If you're in those cities, I hope you'll join me:

10/24 | Los Angeles, CA | 8:00pm | Ann and Jerry Moss Theater
     In conversation with Mark Suster, Managing Partner at Upfront Ventures
10/25 | Los Angeles, CA | 7:45am | Cross Campus Downtown LA
     In conversation with Krisztina Holly, Founder of MAKE IT IN LA
10/25 | San Francisco, CA | 4:30pm | Bunker Labs Muster @ Slack HQ
     In conversation with Todd Connor, Founder and CEO, Bunker Labs
10/25 | 
San Francisco, CA | 6:30pm | Commonwealth Club of San Francisco
     In conversation with Todd Park, former US CTO

Speaking of events! An important reminder: Lean Startup Week is in San Francisco October 30 - November 5

The Lean Startup Week team has been working around the clock to put together a program that will suit the needs of any entrepreneur in any organization, all themed around The Startup Way. Whether you're a student or the head of a division at a large company, we have a package to help you get the most out of the conference. You can see the full program agenda here and register for the package that suits your needs here. See you there!


Here’s a round up of early media for The Startup Way

Teaching GE to Think Like a Startup (Fortune)

Eric Ries: Why Companies Need To Create An Entrepreneurial Culture (Forbes)

In Eric Ries’ new book, he tells companies to turn every unit into a cash-strapped ‘startup’ (TechCrunch)

How companies can keep their 'start-up DNA': Eric Ries (CNBC Squawk Box)

Why big companies need to innovate like entrepreneurs (Wired UK)

EDITOR'S CHOICE: The Startup Way (800CEOread) (a terrific in depth review) 

Silicon Valley Vs. Wall Street: Can the New Long-Term Stock Exchange Disrupt Capitalism? (WSJ) (nice piece about our efforts with The Long Term Stock Exchange)

One final reminder!  

Each copy of the first printing of the hardcover edition of The Startup Way in the US and Canada contains a unique code that grants you access to bonus features at thestartupway.com/bonus. Register with the code in your copy to get access to a five-part video series, a visualization of The Startup Way, bonus MVP examples courtesy of Intuit, and more.

If you're outside the US or purchased via Kindle or Audible, sign up on the site without a bonus code and you'll receive some bonus materials as well.

As always, thank you for your support, and I look forward to hearing what you think as you delve into the book.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Publication Day for "The Startup Way"


Today, my new book, The Startup Way, finally hits bookshelves! It's a huge day for any author, but I also hope it can be a huge day for the future and growth of the startup movement and for the future of our country.

I want people to use my book as a way to start conversations about the critical roles of innovation and sustainable growth everywhere from startups to large corporations to public policy. Together, these institutions can help transform the United States into a thriving entrepreneurial nation that supports and values all of its citizens. The success of the startup movement is about so much more than making cool new products; it's about adapting our country for an uncertain future that holds as many opportunities as it does challenges.




In order to start those discussions, though, people need to read the book. I've always found that the best book recommendations come from the very same source that has powered the startup movement so far: smart, creative, busy people. People like you. We have so many ways of getting information today, and I would really appreciate you using any channel you feel comfortable with to tell your friends and colleagues about The Startup Way. Here are a few suggestions for spreading the word:

1. Share the book socially. Conversations at cocktail parties or over the dinner table are welcome, as, of course, is social media. If you do post online, it would be great if you tag your enthusiasm with #StartupWay. I've included some ideas below and encourage you to create your own based on your experience with the book.
Insights on how continuous innovation leads to continuous transformation in @ericries new book The #StartupWay. http://bit.ly/2y3lIeY
The #LeanStartup has grown up to become The #StartupWay, w/innovation framework for orgs of every size. Out now! http://bit.ly/2y3lIeY
Entrepreneurial mgmt is difference btwn modern & old fashioned co’s. @ericries new book #StartupWay shows why. http://bit.ly/2y3lIeY

2. Write a review on Amazon. The book got some amazing blurbs in advance of publication, but reader reviews also have a huge effect on the buying decision. If you enjoy the book it would mean a lot if you could take a few minutes to write a positive review. Thank you!

3. Pick up a copy. Or five! Every sale makes a difference, even more so if it's from a local retailer, and the first week's sales can make or break a book's trajectory. I encourage you to grab copies for you and your colleagues. We’ve created resources on the Startup Way website for people who buy the US hardcover edition -- there’s a code in each book -- that I hope will help facilitate group discussions.

I am deeply grateful for your support throughout this process. It was an honor to see the impact that The Lean Startup had on so many and to have the support of such terrific friends and readers. I’m hoping The Startup Way will continue that conversation and am so glad to have you along for the ride.

Wednesday, October 11, 2017

We’re Programming Around Your Needs: Highlights of Lean Startup Week 2017

Guest post by Jennifer Maerz, Program Chair of Lean Startup Co.

For eight years, our flagship conference has focused on sharing stories and lessons of putting Lean Startup’s entrepreneurial methodology into practice. We’ve hosted talks, workshops, and interactive sessions on the challenges and successes of modern management techniques from a wide variety of business leaders around the world. Lean Startup Week (Oct. 30 - Nov. 5 in San Francisco) allows you to experience seven days of interactive innovation training from our experts and true Lean Startup practitioners—in a city that’s known for being the hotbed of high-growth startups and iconic tech companies (not to mention a great place to eat, drink, sightsee, and shop while you’re talking shop).

This year, we’re really honing in on the feedback from our past conferences, as well as our smaller, more focused conferences in New York and London this year. What we heard was that you want more opportunities to have your specific challenges answered—so to that end, we’ve added new sessions where you can ask our experts your questions directly, including Roundtable Discussions and Live Office Hours with Eric for all attendees, along with our regularly popular sessions such as Speed Mentoring, Networking Dinners, and our Women’s Breakfast. We’re also working very closely with all of our speakers to ensure that the expert knowledge they impart is not only in line with Eric’s new book, The Startup Way, but focuses on actionable takeaways.

We want you to leave Lean Startup Week feeling like you understand your next steps when you’re back at your office trying to put all the pieces together. Because while it’s great to feel inspired after a conference, we can have a bigger impact when we leave you feeling empowered to make entrepreneurship a core function of your organization. And that kind of empowerment only comes when you have 90+ speakers and mentors offering you practical, actionable knowledge, learned from their time in the trenches.


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Here are some of the specific things we want to help you tackle:
  • Connecting with like-minded entrepreneurs and experts who share your challenges and concerns
  • Turning an old school-minded organization on to modern entrepreneurial management techniques
  • Starting and scaling an innovation practice in your organization
  • Connecting Lean methodology to hiring, team-creation, organizing boards, leading engineering teams, and more
  • Ensuring your organization remains committed to innovation practices as you grow

We’ll help you with these solutions by approaching them from a variety of formats:

Highlights include:
  • A rare workshop with Eric Ries (co-led by Lean Startup Labs senior faculty member Marilyn Gorman) on enterprise transformation using the Lean Startup way on Oct. 31 (limited to the first 200 Gold Passholders.) Side Note: Eric and Marilyn will be doing a webcast as a preview to their workshop on Oct 11. Sign up for free here.
  • Justin Rosenstein, co-founder of Asana, presents a new approach to thinking about your startup's culture from the ground up, mapping the idea of intentional culture design to the familiar tenets of product research, design, and management
  • Tim O’Reilly, founder & CEO of O’Reilly Media, discusses how to avoid getting sucked into the vortex of me-too thinking by ensuring all the parts of your business work together, a theme from his new book, WTF? What’s the Future and Why It’s Up to Us
  • Anil Dash, CEO of Fog Creek Software, on mindfully building modern companies in a more humane and ethical way
  • Chip Heath, best-selling author & Stanford Graduate School of Business professor, on The Power of Moments in creating organizational change
  • Zach Nies, VP of Education at Techstars & Marcus Gosling, VP of Product at Long-Term Stock Exchange, co-host Startup Office Hours, an interactive Q&A where  you can ask the experts your questions on sustainably implementing Lean Startup and other like-minded methodologies into your growing business
  • Vanessa Colella, Head Of Citi Ventures & Chief Innovation Officer, Citi, on how Citibank uses growth boards to provide seed funding to internal startups
  • Alex Osterwalder, co-founder of Strategyzer, on protecting your organization from disruption
  • Eric Ries & GE FastWorks Co-Founders Viv Goldstein & Janice Semper on GE’s Startup Way strategy
  • Bionic CEO David Kidder and Procter & Gamble CTO Kathy Fish on P&G’s innovation pathway
  • Making diversity & inclusion an actionable, trackable metric at your company with industry thought leaders, including eBay’s Helen Kim, CodePath’s Michael Ellison, Pivotal’s Michele Perras, and Intuit’s Cassie Divine
  • Innovation, Impact & Design Thinking for social good with IDEO.org

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Sounds great! So how to attend?

If you haven’t been to one of our Lean Startup Conferences, this is the year you won’t want to miss. So get ready to take selfies with the Bay Bridge, snag a burrito in the Mission district, and step foot into some of the hottest tech companies up and down Market St. We have passes for all budgets:

Gold Pass - For those who are serious about diving deep into the Lean Startup methodology and getting hands-on experience, join us for the full seven days of innovation training at Lean Startup Week (Oct. 30 - Nov. 5). This is perfect for teams looking for their best off-site yet! Register here.

Silver Pass - For those who are tight on time but want to get highlights of what we offer, get access to the two-day main conference on Nov. 2 & 3 and a seat at our Ignite Opening Night on Nov. 1.

Bootstrapper Pass - Offers the same benefits as the Silver Pass, but brings the cost of the conference down to $350 for people who otherwise wouldn’t be able to attend (think: fledgling solopreneurs, employees at very young startups, and small non-profits). Apply for a Bootstrapper Pass here.

Livestream - Because we’re all about community building, we invite you to host or join one of our free livestream meetups. Get details here. You get all the mainstage talks and the most popular breakouts, along with access to live Q&A and moderated chat.

Volunteer - If you’re a student, you can apply to volunteer here. Pitch in for a shift, and we’ll give you a Silver Pass.

We hope you’ll join us in San Francisco at the end of this month!



Monday, October 2, 2017

Two Weeks until "The Startup Way"

“Mission critical reading.”
    -- Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and co-author of the #1 New York Times bestsellers The Alliance and The Startup of You 


In just a few weeks, my new book, The Startup Way, will be available in print, digital, and audio formats.

One of the most gratifying parts of writing a book is heading off on tour with it and finding out how it’s engaging actual readers. Some of the most inspiring conversations I’ve had about my work have happened at book events, and I’m looking forward to more of them. I can't wait to get out on the road with The Startup Way and talk to you about the methods and principles of modern management.

Here’s the current list of my planned stops. If your city is on the list, come by and say hello! More information and tickets available at the links below:

10/16 | Philadelphia, PA | 6:45pm | Prince Theater
     In conversation with Adam Grant, author of Give and Take, Originals, and Option B
10/17 | New York, NY | 12:00pm | Grand Central Tech
10/18 | New York, NY | 7:00pm | The Strand
     In conversation with Beth Comstock, Vice Chair of GE
10/19 | Cambridge, MA | 7:00pm | First Parish Church
     In conversation with Tom Eisenmann, Harvard Business School professor
10/24 | Los Angeles, CA | 8:00pm | Ann and Jerry Moss Theater
10/25 | Los Angeles, CA | 7:45am | Cross Campus Downtown LA
10/25 | San Francisco, CA | 6:30pm | Commonwealth Club of San Francisco
     In conversation with Todd Park, former US CTO



Meanwhile, I’m offering early access to a special 5-part video series on The Startup Way for those of you who pre-order. Enter your order confirmation information at bit.ly/thestartupway to see the videos. I had a great time exploring another medium for sharing my ideas and hope you find the series beneficial in advance of the release of the book. I can’t wait to hear what you think. Join me on Twitter using #StartupWay to share your reactions.



“If The Startup Way can transform the federal governmentand it hasit can transform your company. For everyone who's thought 'there has to be a better way,' here's your proof and a playbook to make it happen.” 
    -- Jennifer Pahlka, Founder and Executive Director, Code for America 



Finally, the 2017 Lean Startup Week is themed around The Startup Way. October 30 through November 5, we're gathering thousands of thought leaders in downtown San Francisco for a week of keynote talks, interactive workshops, speed mentoring, roundtable discussions, industry dinners, innovation bootcamps, and startup tours. You'll take in the book's concepts and learn from technology thought leaders like Tim O'Reilly and Anil Dash, seasoned enterprise leaders including Viv Goldstein and Janice Semper of GE, founders of high-growth startups like Justin Rosenstein of Asana, government innovators from the NSA and 18F, and non-profit practitioners deep in the trenches. Plus, every attendee will receive a copy of the book. I hope you'll join me there.