Lean Startup

Black Girls Code is a fast-growing non-profit that started with the kernel of an idea in Oakland, CA and has been iterating its way across the country. Kimberly will talk about Lean Startup ideas have helped the organization meet its vision.

The Lean Startup Conference 2013 | Various Speakers by Lean Startup

Kevin Dewalt, What Works in Silicon Valley Doesn't Work Everywhere: How to Apply Lean Startup in Asia--and Win the Emerging Global Startup Wars--and Win the Emerging Global Startup Wars Kevin is one of the top experts on applying Lean Startup ideas beyond Silicon Valley. With experience on the ground in Asia and regular contact with entrepreneurs around the world, he’s in an unusually good position to share a global perspective.

When Code for America started a new international initiative this year, the process pushed the whole organization to look at how it could run faster, with more experiments. Catherine will talk about launching, building and leading the new program, Code for All, the complexities of building a global network of civic hackers that fosters shared values while at the same time respecting local context, and the infectious effect the new program had on Code for America overall.

Toyota, the company that developed lean manufacturing practices, is today applying Lean Startup. Vinuth and Matt will talk about how they’ve convinced internal stakeholders at the company to respond to customer feedback and the proxies they’ve used for customer satisfaction in a research environment that prevents them from selling their products directly.

Organzitions go through predictable cycles. They begin by experimenting violently, but when they hit the hockey-stick curve, they need to execute on as few things as possible to meet demand–and then, as they attract competitors, they need to both at once. We know of nobody better than Kent to talk about the role programmers play in this cycle, and how can they up their game to support both execution and experiments.

A founder of LinkedIn and partner at Greylock, Reid has brings unusual depth to conversations about entrepreneurship. Eric Ries will interview Reid.

Kent will follow up his morning talk on the role of engineers in a hyper-growth company with an afternoon session that goes deeper into the topic and includes a meaty Q&A. Bring your questions for one of the people we’ve learned the most from on product development.

Opening Remarks: The Lean Startup Conference 2013 | Sarah Milstein & Eric Ries by Lean Startup

Experimenting On Experiments: Bringing Lean Startup To Scientific Research | Brian Frezza by Lean Startup

The mobile app environment presents a lot of challenges for people who want to test ideas quickly. Mariya knows the tricks and will explain how to make rapid progress in the strategic design and prototyping phase of mobile app development. This session is specially created for non-technical designers, product managers and entrepreneurs.

We hear often that Lean Startup principles can’t be applied in a regulated industry like healthcare. Mureen will challenge that idea with specific examples of the solutions and workarounds she’s found at Optum.

When you have an experienced team in place, one that hasn’t used Lean Startup principles, the ideas can sound like a lot of buzzwords at best and unnecessary change at worst. Nicole and Neelan–who were on opposite sides of the table initially–will discuss the conflicts they faced and the concrete steps that helped their company coalesce.

Established companies often have innovation teams dedicated to developing new products and new markets. But even those can be attacked by what Preston calls the antibodies of big companies. He has some great tips he’ll share on building a healthy innovation practice in that environment.

Stephanie knocked our socks off last year with a short talk on applying Lean Startup thinking to content strategy. We’ve brought her back this year to do a deeper dive and show some real-world examples of how text, deployed cleverly, can be a leading indicator of customer interest, before you’ve built anything else at all.

As companies grow, senior staffers often lose contact with customers–a potentially dangerous gap. Usha’s company has taken unusual and clever steps to keep its customers close to its executives, and she’ll break down what they’ve done that’s worked.

Sharethrough has been using Lean Startup methods since it was founded five years ago. Valerie will talk about the growing pains the company has faced as it has matured and how they’ve aimed to keep a Lean Startup approach very much in play.

Akash will look at key challenges faced by non-profit organizations, including unclear or overabundant metrics, long feedback loops and limited resources. Then he’ll show how Kiva has tackled those problems in ways that other organizations can apply, too.

Few companies have been as bold as Meetup in integrating Lean Startup practices throughout their product development cycle. Andres has been a leader in that process, bringing customer contact and experimentation to all levels of the organization, and he’ll examine how the company balances big-picture vision with everyday validation.

Beth has incredible experience working with customers in the developing world. She’ll offer very practical advice for connecting with customers who aren’t anywhere near you and/or with whom you have little in common.