Book SummaryRunning Lean, by Ash Maurya

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Running Lean

Why do so many business models fail? According to entrepreneur, Lean Canvas creator, and best-selling author Ash Maurya, it’s because entrepreneurs assume they already know what customers want and finalize their plans before testing their ideas. As a result, they create rigid plans that they can’t easily adapt to customers' actual preferences.

In Running Lean, Maurya suggests that you can avoid this pitfall by adopting continuous validation and iteration. This approach helps build and sustain a flexible business model that evolves alongside customer preferences.

(Shortform note: Why is it important to create a flexible business model? According to business experts, the...

Running Lean Summary Part 1: Articulate Your Hypotheses and Draft Your Business Model

The first step toward drafting a successful business model is to articulate your hypothesis regarding the factors that will drive its success. During this step, Maurya uses terms like "hypotheses" or "assumptions" to emphasize that your ideas are educated guesses that require validation through research, experimentation, and real-world feedback. He recommends using a Lean Canvas—a condensed, one-page framework that encompasses nine essential elements of a business model, which we’ll explore later in this section—to structure and visualize your hypotheses.

(Shortform note: Maurya adapted this framework from the Business Model Canvas by Alexander Osterwalder and Yves Pigneur, authors of Business Model Generation. The Business Model Canvas offers a comprehensive framework tailored for established businesses seeking to assess existing strategies, analyze competitors, or design new ventures. In contrast, the Lean Canvas is crafted for startups, concentrating on pivotal business aspects like problem-solution fit...

Running Lean Summary Part 2: Test Your Hypotheses and Refine Your Business Model

Now that you've created one—or several—Lean Canvases, let's focus on testing your hypotheses to validate their viability and ensure a solid foundation for your business.

In this part of the guide, we’ll explore Maurya’s four testing stages for validating and refining your hypotheses, along with specific objectives to focus on during each stage:

1. Investigate the problems.
2. Validate the solution.
3. Run pilot tests.
4. Launch and optimize.

Let’s explore each of these stages in detail.

Test Stage #1: Investigate the Problems

During the first stage of testing, your objective is to thoroughly understand your target customer group’s problems to determine whether you're developing an offer that addresses their genuine needs.

(Shortform note: While Maurya’s testing process has you investigating customer problems after drafting your business model, Osterwalder and Pigneur (Business Model Generation) suggest that you [investigate customer problems before drafting your business...

Shortform Exercise: Create an Overview of Your Business Model

Create an overview of your business model by defining the customer group you’ll target, identifying their problems, and determining how you’ll solve these problems.

Think of one product or service you intend to offer and briefly describe it. (For example, you intend to offer comfortable orthopedic shoes.)

Shortform Exercise: Validate Your Hypotheses

According to Maurya, testing the hypotheses that underpin your business model is key to building a successful business. In this exercise, we’ll walk you through the process of designing customer interviews, creating prototypes, and conducting pilot tests.

Write down the nine key hypotheses underlying your business model: customer groups, customer problems, value offer, possible solutions, touchpoints, profit sources, expenses, key performance indicators, and competitive edge.