The Lean Startup
by Eric Ries · 2011
Build-measure-learn: validated learning over big plans.
About
The book that popularised MVPs, validated learning and the build-measure-learn loop.
Official summary
Applies lean-manufacturing thinking to startups: treat the company as a series of experiments, ship a minimum viable product, measure real behaviour, and decide whether to persevere or pivot - supported by innovation accounting.
Why it’s an important read
It gives founders a shared language and a disciplined process for reducing uncertainty - the default operating system for early-stage product work.
A foundational text on iterating toward product-market fit with minimum waste. Some ideas are now common sense precisely because of this book.
