Lean Startup: a comprehensive historical review

Rafael Fazzi Bortolini,Antonio Ghezzi,Angela De Moura Ferreira Danilevicz,Marcelo Nogueira Cortimiglia

doi:10.1108/md-07-2017-0663

Rafael Fazzi Bortolini, Antonio Ghezzi + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1108/md-07-2017-0663

Copy DOI

Abstract

PurposeThe primary goal of a startup is to find a viable business model that can generate value for its customers while being effectively captured by the startup itself. This business model, however, is not easily defined, being a consequence of the application of tools involving trials, data analyses and testing. The Lean Startup (LS) methodology proposes a process for agile and iterative validation of business models. Given the popularity and importance of such methodology in professional circles, the purpose of this paper is to conduct a historical literature review of existing academic and professional literature, correlating LS concepts and activities to previous theory and alternative business model validation methods.Design/methodology/approachA historically oriented systematic literature review employing snowball sampling was conducted in order to identify academic and professional literature and references for iterative validation of business models. A total of 12 scholarly journals and professional magazines dealing with strategy, innovation, entrepreneurship, startups and management were used as data sources. The extensive literature review resulted in 963 exploratory readings and 118 papers fully analyzed.FindingsThe results position the LS as a practical-oriented and up-to-date implementation of strategies based on the Learning School of strategy making and the effectuation approach to entrepreneurship; the authors also identify a number of methods and tools that can complement the LS principles.Originality/valueThis paper identified and synthesized the scientific, academic and professional foundations that precede, support and complement the main concepts, processes and methods advocated by the LS methodology.

Highlights

There is no single, universally accepted definition of ‘startup’ (Eisenmann et al, 2011; Paternoster et al, 2014)
A business model defines how a firm creates and delivers value to its customers, while an capturing a share of it so as to be economically and financially sustainable (Teece, 2010). Startups find it difficult to use traditional business planning (Blank, 2013), whose premise is that future results can be extrapolated based on the analysis of past experiences (McGrath 2010), because there is no past experience in a startup besides the uncertainty of its ag essentially innovative nature
We found that the main theoretical and conceptual bases that explain and academically justify the Lean Startup (LS) methodology are (i) explicit on the concepts that characterize the Lean philosophy of management (Deming, 1986; Ohno, 1988; Krafcik, 1988; Womack et al, 1990), (ii) implicit in the implementation of principles of the Learning School of strategy (Lindblom, 1959; Quinn, 1978; Mintzberg, 1978) and (iii) implicit on the emerging streams of Effectuation (Sarasvathy, 2001) and Bricolage (Baker and Nelson, 2005) concerning Entrepreneurship theory of new venture formation

Summary

Introduction

There is no single, universally accepted definition of ‘startup’ (Eisenmann et al, 2011; Paternoster et al, 2014). For Eisenmann et al (2011), startups are ventures created to launch new products in the market. Ries (2011) describes startups as ventures designed to create a new product or service under market conditions of great uncertainty. Startups find it difficult to use traditional business planning (Blank, 2013), whose premise is that future results can be extrapolated based on the analysis of past experiences (McGrath 2010), because there is no past experience in a startup besides the uncertainty of its ag essentially innovative nature. A em business model is rarely fixed and is usually built upon trial and experimentation, especially in new ventures (Cortimiglia et al, 2016; Cosenz & Noto, 2018; Yang et al, 2018). The success of an organization comes from the ability to adapt its business model dynamically and effectively

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion