Running Lean — 10th Anniversary Edition
Time flies. It’s been 10 years since the last edition of Running Lean. Since then, I’ve spent thousands of hours training and coaching hundreds of product teams, coaches, and stakeholders all over the world. My goal was to further test and refine the systematic step-by-step process first laid out in the book — moving beyond my own products and across a diverse set of products and industries.
While the book answered some questions, I was faced with a barrage of challenging follow-on questions like:
- How can I get my investors (and stakeholders) to buy into my idea with just a Lean Canvas?
- How do I run problem interviews around desire-driven products like video games or fashion?
- How do I apply Running Lean to non-tech products and services?
The new edition addresses all these questions and more.
Along the way, I developed additional business modeling tools, newer and better validation strategies, and more practical techniques synthesizing concepts from a wide range of methodologies and frameworks, including Lean Startup, Design Thinking, Business Model Design, jobs-to-be-done, Systems Thinking, Behavior Design, and many more.
I found that to achieve breakthrough innovation under conditions of extreme uncertainty, one shouldn’t be limiting themself to just one framework, but rather using the best from all of them. While these frameworks overlap, each has a specific superpower that makes it stand out above the others. I’ve curated these superpowers into a new framework of frameworks (the Continuous Innovation Framework) that is laid out in this book.
In addition to the Lean Canvas, the book also covers:
- the traction roadmap for better idea sizing,
- the customer factory metrics model for better risk prioritization, and
- the customer forces behavior model for better understanding your customers.
In this 10-year anniversary edition of Running Lean, you’ll find:
- More effective stress testing techniques for shaping your early business model,
- A completely revised problem discovery interview script for uncovering real customer problems worth solving,
- A battle-tested process for building products you know customers want and don’t just hope they want.
If you’ve read this far, you’re probably thinking that this edition isn’t just a minor lift of the last edition. And, you’re right. The third edition packs in 120 more pages and aside from a few paragraphs, this book is a complete rewrite.
Here’s what one of our long time practitioners and coach had to say after an early-access review:
To me, this could easily be a new book, rather than a new edition. At the very least, it’s so different that just another edition doesn’t do it justice. I was planning on a quick run-through but it really needs a decent amount of examination.
- Ross McKay — Professional Mentor
And Ross would know as he’s made everyone read the previous edition :)
My Personal Why
When people tell me they wish they had read Running Lean sooner, I reply: “Me too.” I’ve made every mistake in the book and I used the last edition to clarify my own thinking. This edition is about refining that thinking.
I wrote the last edition of Running Lean for myself.
The third edition is for you — the entrepreneur.
My mission with Running Lean (and my company: LEANSTACK) is democratizing how entrepreneurship is taught and practiced. In short, I’d like to help the next generation of entrepreneurs to, at least, avoid making the same mistakes.
Life’s too short to build something nobody wants.
This is where you come in…
I Need Your Help
If you find this book and mission worth supporting, please take a moment to preorder the book today.
Running Lean 3e is available for preorder from many retailers, including Amazon.com. The book currently shows the list price ($39.99) but you won’t be charged until the book comes out on March 7th, 2022, by when Amazon’s discounting algorithm should drop the price to under $25. So think of the preorder more like a reservation.
Why Preorder?
The reason I’m asking is that preorders drive how much support retailers, influencers, and new readers give a book — especially a seemingly old book. This in turn helps drive the reach and impact of a book. Yes, it was a lot easier and tempting to wipe the slate clean and write a shiny new book, but I chose the harder (and still believe) right path of updating the book.
I strongly believe this book will be well worth the read for both new and old readers alike.
As an added bonus, I’m including replays of my 30-Day Business Model Design workshop ($749–999 value) if you preorder the book before 11:59 PM CST on March 6, 2022.
How to claim the 30-Day BMD workshop bonus
- Preorder the book (Amazon, Indiebound)
- Forward your receipt to preorder@leanstack.com
- Check your inbox for a link to the workshop replays
This book is the product of 10 years of rigorous testing, hundreds of product case studies, and thousands of iterations. I’m excited to share it with you. And hope you share it with others too:
