The lean startup method: Early-stage teams and hypothesis-based probing of business ideas
Lean startup methodology has rapidly become one of the most common and trusted innovation and entrepreneurship methods by corporations, startup accelerators, and policymakers. Unfortunately, it has largely been portrayed as a one-size-fits-all solution—its key assumptions subject to little rigorous empirical testing, and the possibility of critical boundary conditions ignored. Our empirical testing supports the key assumptions of the method, but points to business education of team members as a critical boundary condition. Specifically, MBAs resist the use of the method despite being in a strong position to leverage it. Results from a post hoc analysis we conducted also suggest that more engagement with the method relates to higher performance of the firm in the 18-month period following the lean startup intervention.
