misterfergusson

The Lean Startup

An evergreen almanac for the aspiring entrepreneur. Yet the always up-to-date builder in founder mode won’t learn much.

Eric Ries bestseller The Lean Startup was first published in 2011. It is still a valuable read 14 years later. To start out with a definition of the term ‘startup’, Ries defines it as:

A startup is a human institution designed to create a new product or service under conditions of extreme uncertainty.

I found this an important differentiator from contemporary methods that tend to downplay the human element faced with seemingly insurmountable challenges. James Clear wrote in his book Atomic Habits that

You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems.

Understanding our human fallibility encourages the creation of systems that are capable of withstanding conditions of extreme uncertainty. I remember this quote often for it is hard to be disciplined and easy to quit. Ries main argument in The Lean Startup centers around mitigating the emotional element by building a product with a mindset that is obsessed with rapid iterations and experiments, validated learning, and not falling in love with the product but the problem.

The Lean Startup method is designed to teach you how to drive a startup. Instead of making complex plans that are based on a lot of assumptions, you can make constant adjustments with a steering wheel called ‘Build-Measure-Learn’ feedback loop. Through this process of steering, we can learn when and if it’s time to make a sharp turn called a ‘pivot’ or whether we should ‘persevere’ along our current path.

Ries describes the ‘Build-Measure-Learn’ feedback loop. It’s a method used by most contemporary startups: create a dirty product (the so-called minimum viable product) that can be built fast, share it with your ideal target customer, track and measure how and whether they use the product, and learn from the customer feedback to inform your product roadmap. In the example of the shoe e-commerce store Zappos, its founder assumed people would want to buy shoes online. To validate his hypothesis he went to visit physical shoe stores, ask for permission to take pictures of shoes, and post those pictures online. When a user would want to order a pair, he would go back to the store, buy the pair, package and ship it. Today Zappos is owned by Amazon and valued at more than a billion dollars.

Only 5% of entrepreneurship is the big idea, the business model, the whiteboard strategizing […]. The other 95% is the gritty work that is measured by product prioritization decisions, which customers to target and listen to, and having the courage to subject a grand vision to constant testing and feedback.

Grit is one thing. Grit informed by validated customer feedback and directed towards the problem the product is trying to solve is everything. This idea of falling in love with the customer’s problem is so obvious and known all-around that most founders will fall prey to their shiny product with curated color theme, intricate feature functionality, and the hours spent on building it when later on nobody wants (to pay for) it. Y Combinator’s slogan is ‘Make something people want’, not what you think they would want.

A startup’s job is to (1) rigorously measure where it is right now, confronting the hard truths that assessment reveals, and then (2) devise experiments to learn how to move the real numbers closer to the ideal reflected in the business plan.

To conclude, The Lean Startup remains a powerful reminder that entrepreneurship is a journey of disciplined exploration rather than blind ambition. By focusing on validated learning, Ries provides a roadmap that urges founders to confront reality and make informed adjustments along the way. It is hard to build a great product or service. While seasoned entrepreneurs may already recognize the importance of rapid iterations and customer obsession, The Lean Startup presents these concepts in a way that’s both actionable and refreshingly human-centered. I omitted the treasure trove of stories Ries included, but it’s an invaluable guide for anyone willing to approach innovation with humility, resilience, and a willingness to embrace failure as a step toward lasting success. Similar, more modern, methods to build a startup are distilled under the regime of Founder Mode or Netflix’s Culture Memo.

Catch The Greenlights

Lean your elbow out the window and cruise down story lane with Matthew McConaughey—a father, actor, and walking wisdom whisperer.

Greenlights, according to Matthew McConaughey, are an affirmation of our way. They signal go, advance, carry on, continue. They are a shoeless summer and give us what we want. He uses green (street) lights as an affirmative analogy to follow the signals of our universe.

Persist, pivot, or concede.

Life is this simple. Sometimes greenlights are all about timing and intuition and the ability to let go and go with the flow. Matthew McConaughey was born to middle-class parents in Uvalde, Texas. His parents fought their own demons, divorced, and remarried twice. His childhood was anything but a greenlight. Yet, he doesn’t reflect on his challenges with grief or guilt, but with a caring almost forgiving optimism. It is an acceptance that he his who is because of his past.

One memorable story illustrates the value of effort. In high school, McConaughey owned a pick-up truck that he used to take girls muddin’ and make his way to the front row of concerts. He traded it for a shiny red sports car, hoping it would do the work for him. Instead, he found his social life dwindling—realizing that effort, not appearances, makes connections. There are other stories worth recounting. A time when he thought he could wing an acting job only to learn on set that his entire monologue is in Spanish and he hadn’t memorized a single line. Another time when all the jobs he could get were romantic comedies and how he felt stuck in a rut.

McConaughey writes not to remember, but to forget—a practice that explains his ability to stay present and live fully in the moment. Thought is the enemy of flow is an expression to counter procrastination. McConaughey illustrates with Greenlights how we can gain freedom from downloading all our thoughts and ideas and notions and worries and excitements onto paper, shelf them, and allow ourselves to enjoy this life while we get to live it.

First impressions matter, and the hardcover design of Greenlights delivers. From inspirational quotes, self-reflection, and notes from the past to photographs from all stages of his life. It’s an interesting size too, not too big, not too small. Just browsing through it, without reading specific paragraphs, is a boon in and of itself. McConaughey’s writing comes across as authentic, sometimes raw, and it is an entertaining style that makes it hard to put this one down. While he reflects on acting roles, this book is by no means an acting guide nor a 101 to make it in Hollywood.

McConaughey is a walking wisdom whisperer. As such, I believe it only makes sense to close out with much needed wisdom for all of us who are afraid to step into the light:

Time to get rid of the filters. Make my life my favorite. Movie. Live my favorite character. Write my own script. Direct my own story. Be my biography. Make my own documentary, on me. Nonfiction. Live, not recorded. Time to catch the hero I’ve been chasing, see if the sun will melt the wax that holds my wings or if the heat is just a mirage. Live my legacy now. Quit acting like me. Be me.

A Walk in the Woods with a Side of Politics

Nick Offerman takes us on a journey where nature meets unburdened thoughts.

Nick Offerman is known for his stoic, anti-government persona Ron Swanson. In the 2021 book “Where the Deer and the Antelope Play: The Pastoral Observations of One Ignorant American Who Loves to Walk Outside”, he is a staunch advocate for agrarianism. In other words the social and political philosophy that advocates for a return to subsistence agriculture, family farming, widespread property ownership, and political decentralization. I read it with mixed emotions from relatable excitement about the great outdoors to sheer disagreement about historical facts.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play is a three part storyline that appears to be loosely connected in time. The first part centers around the great outdoors. The second part is about farming. The third part reminded me a wee bit of John Steinbeck’s “Travels with Charley In Search of America”. Offerman uses a clear and creative voice to lay out his themes which seem to start with the land and concludes in critique of societal and government use of it. While the accounts of getting a group of friends wandering into the wild to reset, rediscover, and enjoy mother nature are truly inspiring, I found it hard to read through the political commentary that weaved like an eel through every other sentence. It is undoubtedly difficult to take a political position when your line of business is entertainment. I admire his openness about his positions, but question his judgment to conflate them with storylines depicted in this book. Perhaps, it would have been more digestible if it were balanced across the political spectrum beyond Democrats and Republicans, because both sides are not a black and white chunk of failed or successful policies and there are more than those two major parties.

A wonderful feature of this book is by far the longing it ignites to explore a remote location. Even if you can’t afford to travel to Yosemite and hike Glacier Point. Your closest ridge, hill, or mountain will do. Furthermore, Offerman makes insightful points about how we use our resources and what it really means to be a self-sustaining society. Lastly, my favorite part was simply talking shop – the thrill of working with wood; the blessing of boating a body of water; or, simply adoring mother nature and the beauty that we – as Americans of these United States – can find if we dare to venture outside.

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play is a mixed bag. Although it can delight nature and adventure fans, its preachy moments can feel like being shouted at from a soapbox, leaving an unpleasant residue.

On a side note: the artwork on the dust jacket is beyond beautiful with color, font, and design outcompeting for the spotlight.

Measure What Matters

Glimpse into the world of OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), a framework that John Doerr—an experienced entrepreneur and venture capitalist—champions as a tool for business success.

The book’s opening chapters lean heavily on Silicon Valley nostalgia, with Doerr recounting his experiences with industry giants like Google, the Gates Foundation, and others. The narrative suggests that because these influential figures embraced OKRs, the framework must hold the key to their success. However, beneath the surface of these sometimes dull anecdotes lies a collection of case studies so specific to the companies highlighted that they may feel distant and impractical for most readers. Moreover, it could be argued that Google’s success was due to sheer determination, personnel, and execution rather than the conformity value derived from OKRs.

While the book attempts to convince the reader of OKRs’ power, it falls short of offering concrete evidence that OKRs were the true drivers of these companies’ achievements. Instead, the book often reads as a celebration of Silicon Valley’s luckiest moments rather than a practical guide. Doerr fails to discuss the downsides and shortcomings of OKRs, and when OKRs reach a point of draining value, he conveniently sees exceptions to the rules. Setting meaningful objectives, defining key results, and seeking alignment with the broader organizational goals are common managerial practices. Yet, for all the praise and excitement around OKRs, the book lacks the depth needed to explain how to consistently apply this framework in the real world. If you’re searching for a detailed, step-by-step guide to OKRs, this book might leave you wanting more. It’s an inspiring read, but more of a spark than a complete roadmap. Skip this one.

The Ride Of A Lifetime

Robert Alan Iger chronicles his ascend to power from his beginnings in television to running the Disney entertainment conglomerate.

The Ride of a Lifetime is partitioned into ‘Learning’ and ‘Leading’. Each part contains seven chapters. While the subtitle implies an autobiography or account of leadership, it is written as a collection of stories that nearly all center around mergers and acquisitions. The historical order is somewhat chronological, but Iger often jumps ahead in time and references the outcome as he builds his storyline. Iger heavily relies on the interactions with Steve Jobs to capture the reader’s interest, but it frequently feels like a detractor from his own story. The detractions persist throughout the book. How did Disney Animations lose its creative edge? What management decisions attempted to prop up Disney Animations, but failed? Why was buying Pixar preferable over buying other (smaller) studios or making investments into proprietary creative labs?

To my surprise, very few sections in this book deal with personal crisis management, managing reports, and details about the grand strategy behind his actions. This conveys the notion that Iger and Iger alone created Disney as we know it today. Buying Pixar, Lucasfilm, Marvel, and Fox must have come with complex problems, power struggles, or setbacks. Yet, Iger presents a colorless, passionless account with few details on stalemate negotiations, stubborn opposition, and how the leadership team solved these situations. When he does mention a tricky situation (take the failed purchase of Twitter), he often resolves it by compromise or quitting. This might be the one, great lesson of Iger’s career as depicted in this book: his true career was not in leadership but in closing deals. Like a shark, Iger kept pushing forward, expanding, and growing Disney. The few leadership lessons he did outline are found in the appendix; they are often repetitive and to an extent obvious, which in summary leaves the reader a bit unsatisfied. To some readers, this book will feel like an insightful account of corporate consolidation; to other readers, this book will feel like a bland account of someone who is driven by ulterior motives with a lack of humility and integrity. To me, it felt like an interesting story that could have been great if it included more personal reflection, struggle, and failure. To anyone reading this book, it will show the power of corporate consolidation and the importance of quality connections to make deals happen.