The Lean Startup Newsletter - October 8, 2014

The Lean Startup Newsletter - October 8, 2014 by Eric Ries

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10/8/2014

In the first lecture of Stanford’s free online “How to Start a Startup” course, Y Combinator President Sam Altman and Dustin Moskovitz of Facebook and Asana pose the question "Why build a startup?" Altman gave an answer that really resonated with me: “You should only start a startup if you feel compelled by a particular problem and that you think starting a company is the best way to solve it.”Watching the first lecture made me think about the difficult aspects of building a startup that aren't always covered in the media as well as some of the particular challenges the tech industry faces today, and so I wanted to share two other pieces I've been thinking about this week:"You can't always trust your instincts"I highly recommend Paul Graham's terrific essay on the counterintuitive nature of startups, which is derived from his guest lecture in the third lecture of the Stanford class I mentioned earlier. It's not the pipeline

After speaking to 712 women who left tech, Fortune's Kieran Snyder concluded "women are leaving tech because they're unhappy with the work environment, not because they have lost interest in the work." More Lean Startup news:As we gear up for the Lean Startup Conference in December, I also wanted to share some news from the Lean Startup Productions team as well as a recent interview where I spoke about the intersection of Lean Startup and Design Thinking:Introduction to Lean Impact webcast: 10/28The next webcast from Lean Startup Productions is for those of you working in mission-driven organizations. You can check out past webcasts, "Lean Startup 101" with Janice Fraser and "What Should You Really Measure?" with Alistair Croll and Danielle Morrill here.Lean Startup and Design ThinkingI spoke with the design blog Digital Telepathy about the importance of cross-functional collaboration, the intersection of Lean Startup and Design Thinking, and the need to build new kinds of companies that don’t rely on traditional siloed structures.

Interested in input or facing a roadblock?The How, a project of Lean Startup Productions, is seeking questions from smart startups. If you've got a startup problem you're trying to solve, we want to connect you with experienced entrepreneurs who can offer ideas for you to consider.

Cheers,Eric

Eric Rieshttps://twitter.com/ericrieshttp://www.startuplessonslearned.com