Lean Startup Approach Research Articles

Higher Education Institutions as Strategic Centers for Promoting Social Innovation in Gerontology: Insights from the Senior Innovation Lab Training Initiative.

Social innovation and gerontology develop a wide range of actions aimed at supporting and improving the needs of long-lived populations. Higher education institutions (HEIs) are drivers of change, and their potential to develop solutions through teaching students' social innovation skills should be considered in the field of longevity. This article reports the results obtained by the Senior Innovation Lab (SIL) training initiative. Challenge-based learning, design thinking, and lean startup approaches were implemented in training 26 participants with the final aim of developing innovative solutions to previously identified long-lived population needs. Final products were innovative ideas developed through collaboration between students, academic staff, and business employees, indicating the importance of adopting entrepreneurial approaches in academic teaching. The participants identified motivation and perseverance as the most relevant entrepreneurial skills and most of them also perceived that they possessed it. The participants also considered spotting opportunities (chance to add value) as the most desired skill throughout the whole experience. SIL's assessment showed that social innovation methodologies contributed to the development of learning strategies, enabling potential solutions for the ageing challenges.

Beyond the land of the living death: early-stage transformational entrepreneurs in digital healthcare as liminality navigator

PurposeThe lean startup approach (LSA) is extensively utilized by early-stage entrepreneurs, with “pivot” serving as a key pillar. However, there is a research gap concerning the boundary conditions impacting LSA and pivot decisions, especially when addressing societal challenges, as in the context of transformational entrepreneurship. In this regard, the healthcare sector, further compounded by a lack of research on startups and scale-ups, presents an embraced opportunity to provide multiple contributions for both theory and practice.Design/methodology/approachThe present investigation employs a grounded approach to explore the experiences of the co-founders of a fast-growing Italian e-health startup. A narrative strategy was employed to organize conditions and evolving strategic action/interactions into three different pivoting phases of the startup – before the pivot, its enactment and aftermath – with primary and secondary data collected over a period of one year.FindingsPivoting in digital healthcare unfolded as a liminal experience marked by factors such as high regulation, multiple stakeholders, technological and symbolic ambivalence, resource-intensive demands and institutional actors acting as pathway pioneers, leading to an information overload and unforeseeable uncertainty to manage. These factors challenge entrepreneurs' ability to attain optimal distinctiveness, presenting the paradoxical need for vertical flexibility for scaling up.Social implicationsBy uniquely illuminating the sector’s constraints on entrepreneurial phenomena, this study provides a valuable guide for entrepreneurs and institutional actors in addressing societal challenges.Originality/valueThis study introduces a process model of transformational information crafting when pivoting, highlighting the role of entrepreneurs' transformational stance and platform-mediated solutions as engines behind strategies involving information breaking and transition, preceding knowledge-driven integration strategies.

Struggling financially but feeling good? Exploring the well-being of early-stage entrepreneurs

Purpose Many individuals start a new firm each year, mainly intending to become independent or improve their financial situation. For most of them, the first years of operations mean a substantial investment of time, effort and money with highly insecure outcomes. This study aims to explore how entrepreneurs running new firms perform financially compared with the established ones and how this situation influences their well-being. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire survey was completed in 2021 and 2022 by a representative sample of N = 1136 solo self-employed and microentrepreneurs in the Czech Republic, with dependent self-employed excluded. This study used multiple regressions for data analysis. Findings Early-stage entrepreneurs are less satisfied with their financial situation, have lower disposable income and report more significant financial problems than their established counterparts. The situation is even worse for the subsample of startups. However, this study also finds they do not have lower well-being than established entrepreneurs. While a worse financial situation is generally negatively related to well-being, being a startup founder moderates this link. Startup founders can maintain a good level of well-being even in financial struggles. Practical implications The results suggest that policies should focus on reducing the costs related to start-up activities. Further, policy support should not be restricted to new technological firms. Startups from all fields should be eligible to receive support, provided that they meet the milestones of their development. For entrepreneurship education, this study‘s results support action-oriented approaches that help build entrepreneurs’ self-efficacy while making them aware of cognitive biases common in entrepreneurship. This study also underscores that effectuation or lean startup approaches help entrepreneurs develop their startups efficiently and not deprive themselves of resources because of their unjustified overconfidence. Originality/value This study contributes to a better understanding of the financial situation and well-being of founders of new firms and, specifically, startups. The personal financial situation of startup founders has been a largely underexplored issue. Compared with other entrepreneurs, this study finds that startup founders are, as individuals, in the worst financial situation. Their well-being remains, however, on a comparable level with that of other entrepreneurs.

The Impact of prototyping on the survival chances of digital early-stage startups: Findings and insights from explorative expert interviews

The products of digital entrepreneurs are highly innovative, and their business models contribute to the prosperity and further development of the economy and society. However, studies indicate that most of all startups fail, particularly during the early stages of their business journey Prototyping as part of Lean Startup or Business Model Testing approaches, can assist digital early-stage startups in navigating uncertainty and achieving successful product launches. However, these methods are applied very individually and there is little empirical research on best practices. We therefore conducted 65 explorative expert interviews and asked successful startups about their prototyping practices. Our results include learnings on the prototyping process and the testing format, the role of the founding team during prototyping practices, the customer focus and the role of networks. Our study adds important details to theory and practice of the innovation and prototyping processes of digital early-stage startups. Our results offer actionable advice and guidance to any current and potential entrepreneur, but especially to first-time founders and less experienced executives in early stage-startups. Additionally, our contribution enhances the theoretical understanding of the Lean Startup approach and prototyping practices.

Strategy Based Technology-Based Startups to Drive Digital Business Growth

Lean startup methodology-based strategic formulation to promote the expansion of technology-based startup businesses in Indonesia. About 75% of developing startups fail to expand appropriately, which is a relatively high startup failure percentage. Failure of startups is influenced by time and the relevant industry. Due to the wrong approach being chosen from the startup's first year to its fourth, it was unable to expand. The goal of this study is to develop new general methods for company growth based on the lean startup approach. The goal of this study is to use the Delphi technique to find startup failure indicators, and then to select the primary failed cause using the Analytical Network Process (ANP). The research's next phase is to develop the plan after the failure factor has been determined. The researcher acquired 8 as a consequence of this study. 55 indicators of startup failure factors and factors. Using the ANP model, 10 priorities were determined. addressed by developing a new approach utilizing agile development and the minimal viable product idea. technique, human resource management, and customer relationship management. eventually acquired a fresh approach that entrepreneurs may utilize to promote growth.

Development of Java Hands Startup Business Idea Model by Lean Startup Approach

Exporting is one of the activities that help increase a country's foreign exchange income. However, there are still many export commodities that have not been maximized. One of them is handicrafts. Java Hands is an e-commerce company aiming to sell handicrafts made by Yogyakarta artisans to overseas markets. Based on the observations made, there are fluctuations in the value of Indonesia's handicraft exports. Only one country controls the value of exports. Java Hands aims to increase interest in crafts and help artisans find new markets. The Java Hands build process is designed with a lightweight startup approach. This approach makes work more efficient and faster. Lean Startup consists of three phases. This is market validation, product validation, business validation. After completing these three phases, your existing data will be analyzed and a prototype of your Java Hands application will be created.

A model of social responsibility for start-ups: developing a cross-fertilisation of responsible innovation, the lean start-up approach, and the quadruple helix approach

ABSTRACT In this paper, we cross-fertilise responsible innovation (RI), the Lean Start-up approach (LSA) and the Quadruple Helix approach (QH) within one model: the social responsibility for start-ups model (SRSM). SRSM aims to instil responsibility into the start-up innovation process by ensuring that the voices of stakeholders from all four helices are taken into account, whilst providing an assessment of current impacts in these areas compared with the ambition of start-ups. This helps to identify room for improvement in order to provide an iterative, lean approach for start-ups to inform the strategy of the start-up cycle, which incorporates the four helices of the QH, and the four process requirements found in RI theory (anticipation, reflexivity, inclusiveness, and responsiveness). This model works as a way to operationalize responsibility in start-ups. This paper fills a gap where there is a lack of suitable approaches for start-ups to follow and implement.

Startups and Lean Startup approach in building innovative companies creating unique market values – theoretical considerations

The article explicates the Lean Startup methodology, a popular framework for constructing nascent and pioneering startup enterprises. Since its inception, this methodology has garnered recognition from academic scholars and business practitioners. Its precepts, grounded in Agile Project Management and the Customer Development philosophy, are ideally suited for implementing innovative projects to introduce product, technological, or organizational innovations into the market. Many of them are focused on creating solutions to support innovation in the green sectors of the economy. Many of them are focused on creating solutions to support innovation in the green sectors of the economy - in particular, those related to the ICT industry. In addition, the importance of technologies created by startups in terms of positive environmental impact has been reflected in scientific works worldwide. They have a powerful impact on the building and dynamic development of green economies manifested in various aspects of society. The significance of startups for advancing economies across the globe has been acknowledged for many years, as they exert a substantial influence on critical economic spheres, including the labor market, technological advancement, and the progress of every industry in which innovative solutions are employed. Despite the challenges, startup entrepreneurs can act as powerful change agents, reducing inefficiencies, creating jobs, and boosting economic development. Through these activities, startups stimulate the sustainable growth of economies. The Lean Startup methodology allows testing the created value before introducing it to the market. Thanks to the application of Customer Development guidelines where, through an iterative process of creating innovation, it is tested by a panel of potential customers. Successively created value is supplemented with additional elements that potential users constantly verify. In this way, the value delivered to the market is ideally suited to the requirements and expectations of its buyers. The article also reviews the literature on startups regarding their impact on the Sustainable Development (SD) of enterprises and entire economies. The most important concepts were presented, and an attempt was made to define the concept initially. The last part of the article systematically presents the limitations and directions of further research and startups and the possibilities of using Lean Startup.

Evaluating education innovations rapidly with build-measure-learn: Applying lean startup to health professions education

Purpose The Lean Startup approach allows innovators (including innovative educators) to rapidly identify and refine promising ideas into models that actually work. Our aim is to outline key principles of Lean Startup, apply these to health professions education, and illustrate these using personal experience. Methods and Results All innovations are grounded in numerous assumptions; these assumptions should be explicitly identified, prioritized, and empirically tested (‘validated learning’). To identify and test assumptions, innovators need to get out of the office and interact with customers (learners, teachers, administrators, etc). Assumptions are tested using multiple quick cycles of Build (a ‘minimal viable product’ [MVP]), Measure (using metrics that relate meaningfully to the assumption), and Learn (interpret data and decide to persevere with further refinements, or pivot to a new direction). The MVP is a product version that allows testing of one or more key assumptions with the least effort. We describe a novel ‘Lean Education Canvas’ that synopsizes an innovation and its business model on one page, to help identify assumptions and monitor progress. We illustrate these principles using three cases from health professions education. Conclusions Lean Startup has tremendous potential for rapid, robust innovation and evaluation in education. Practice points The Lean Startup approach allows innovators (including innovative educators) to rapidly identify and refine promising ideas into models that actually work. All innovations are grounded in numerous assumptions; these assumptions should be explicitly identified, prioritized, and empirically tested (‘validated learning’). To identify and test assumptions, innovators need to get out of the office and interact with customers (learners, teachers, administrators). Assumptions are tested using multiple fast, iterative cycles of Build (a minimal viable product), Measure (using metrics that relate meaningfully to the assumption), and Learn (interpret data and decide to persevere with further refinements, or pivot to a new direction). The ‘minimal viable product’ (MVP) is a version of the product that allows innovators to test one or more key assumptions with the least effort.

The role of age and business coaching in the relationship of lean startup approach and innovative work behavior of women entrepreneurs during COVID-19.

The purpose of the startup approach is to find an appropriate course of action that adds value to the economy’s development. This study is aimed to determine the effect of the lean startup approach with mediating effect of business coaching to foster innovative work behavior in women entrepreneurs. Additionally, the study also examines the moderating effect of age on the lean startup approach and innovative work behavior. A quantitative approach was employed. The findings show that the relationship between the lean startup approach and innovative work behavior is significant. Moreover, the findings also revealed a significant mediating effect of business coaching and moderating effect of age. This research encourages practitioners and scholars to deal with women entrepreneurship incubation initiatives in the lean startup methodology. Furthermore, this study also leads to a deeper understanding of women’s ideas for business exploration, growth, and implementation. The study contends that guidelines and directives are critical for creative entrepreneurial behavior.

Pivoting and its Challenges: Pushing the Frontiers of an Emerging Domain

This Symposium examines entrepreneurial pivoting and its challenges through the lenses of key theoretical conversations motivating research on this topic. While pivoting has become increasingly ubiquitous in new venture strategy, particularly with the rise of the Lean Startup approach, pivots can also be challenging to effectively execute. Yet, scholarly research on this topic is still nascent. This Symposium seeks to bridge this gap by providing a deep dive into key theoretical conversations related to pivoting research, with the aim of exploring key commonalities and differences between different “theoretical conversations” that can inform further research. To this end, the Symposium will bring together scholars doing frontier research on pivoting who will reflect on the state of entrepreneurial pivoting research and its implications for stakeholders from the perspective of different theoretical conversations (e.g. cognition and pivoting, learning and pivoting, the “historic turn” in pivoting, firm governance and pivoting, and business model innovation and pivoting). The symposium will start with an introduction of pivoting research, and then will feature insights from each of the panelists, followed by integrative comments from a distinguished scholar discussant, and finally, an Q&A discussion session with the audience. The Symposium intends to provide participants with a cross-cutting, multidisciplinary understanding of the frontier theoretical conversations on entrepreneurial pivoting and its challenges.

Understanding digital entrepreneurial intentions: A capital theory perspective

PurposeDigital entrepreneurship is a highly topical, sub-specialist and contemporary branch of entrepreneurship which is providing ever-increasing range of platforms for pursuing entrepreneurship-related career options. While the academic discourses in this area are increasingly growing, there is an equal level of scant attention paid to inquire how proclivity toward this career choice is developed and influenced. In the present study, this gap has been addressed by identifying major antecedents of digital entrepreneurship intentions under the aegis of capital theory.Design/methodology/approachUsing the survey data from 287 respondents, structural equation modeling was utilized to explore the association of four antecedents: digital entrepreneurial competence, innovative cognition, social media adroitness and digital entrepreneurship role models on the goal intentions. Subsequently the association between goal intention and implementation intention to start a digital venture was also examined.FindingsThe analysis confirms the significant impact of the identified antecedents on the digital entrepreneurial volition of potential entrepreneurs. Our results demonstrate that innovativeness has the greatest impact on the goal intentions to create new digital ventures followed by the presence of role models. Digital competence is also a significant contributor in enhancing the propensity to start digital ventures while being digitally adroit has the least impact on such inclination. Lastly, our study provides empirical evidence to the linkage between goal and implementation intentions.Originality/valueThis paper informs practice on entrepreneurship education especially the role of skill-based education programs to enhance the information technology–related knowledge of students and incubation support for hands-on-training on the various dimensions of digital ventures. At policy-level institutions providing entrepreneurial education can design special tasks and learning activities that are focused on acquainting students with design thinking perspectives and lean start-up approaches.

Lean Startup Approaches(LSAs): Convergence, Integration and Improvement

Lean Startup Approaches (LSAs) consist of Business Model Canvas (BMC), Customer Development (CD) and Agile Development (AD), which are lauded for their pragmatic approach to entrepreneurial problem solving and decision making. Based on the long-term practice of LSAs, it is found that LSAs have the limitations of "multi-customer" and "multi-product", which inhibits the iterative function of BMC, thus restricting the deep integration of BMC, CD and AD. We conducted the business experiment method to optimize LSAs. First, the business model iteration canvas (BMIC) is innovatively designed to restore the iterative function of the canvas; secondly, the customer insight is organically implanted into the canvas to improve the business insight of LSAs; thirdly, given an advanced LSAs framework and model, entrepreneurs need to quickly iterate their business model through "single customer group, single product", and then return to the real scene through customer group management and product management.

A qualitative research study of the tech startup journey through entrepreneurial pivoting

PurposeAs part of the entrepreneurial journey, high-tech entrepreneurs are faced with the need to develop a competitive value proposition and leverage emerging technology to strengthen the value proposition. Entrepreneurial pivoting can be adopted to address this requirement since it enables the startup to validate and refine the company’s strategy and business model. Therefore, this research study provides an empirical investigation of the pivoting concept explained in the context of the lean startup approach (LSA) and technology entrepreneurship to improve the understanding of the entrepreneurial journey for high-tech entrepreneurs.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative research method was conducted by interviewing 30 high-tech entrepreneurs across the United Kingdom to validate the theories behind the LSA and identify new insights on entrepreneurial pivoting.FindingsThe research study has validated the existing types of pivots and identified two new pivots (giving 16 in total). The study has validated the existing 11 factors that trigger a tech startup to change its direction and identified three new factors (giving 14 in total). The research study also determined that there can be a domino effect in pivoting and the value proposition can be created and sustained through pivoting.Originality/valueThis study provides empirical evidence on pivots and the factors associated with pivots. Furthermore, it helps in understanding the influence of the phases of technology entrepreneurship on pivoting. The study also discusses the challenges faced by tech startups while pursuing pivots, the domino effects in pivoting and has found evidence that pivoting eventually leads to achieving the desired results.

Women Entrepreneurial Innovative Behavior: The Role of Lean start-up and Business Coaching

The main objective of a startup is to discover a suitable plan of action that can create value for growth in the economy. This research provides evidence and allied vision engrossed on three perspectives: business coaching, lean start-up approach, and innovative work behavior of women's context in solar energy entrepreneurial action. Moreover, the study is based on a quantitative method, and results indicated that it has a significant impact on the lean start-up approach on innovative work behavior and has a significant mediating effect on business coaching. This study helps researchers and practitioners cope with the entrepreneurial incubation programs for women entrepreneurs in the lean start-up approach. Moreover, this also contributes to the deep understanding of women's exploring, building, and implementing business ideas. Additionally, the study argues that guidance and directions are important for innovative entrepreneurial actions.

System Dynamics and Lean Approach: Development of a Technological Solution in a Regional Product Packaging Company

This study was performed in a regional product marketing company located in Ciudad Obregón, Sonora, México, where a problem was detected in empirical decision-making due to their recent incorporation into the market. Thus, the objective of this study is the shelf-product production link, where the interest is in knowing the behavior of the main variables that influence the system. System dynamics methodology follows six steps: (1) Map the process under study with the value stream map (VSM); (2) Create a causal diagram; (3) Elaborate the Forrester diagram and equations; (4) Validate the current model; (5) Simulate scenarios; (6) Create the graphical user interface. The main results were the design of the scenarios starting from a robust system dynamics model, three scenarios, and the graphical interface. For this purpose, Stella Architect Software was used as it has special attributes to create a graphical user interface. Furthermore, all the elements of the VSM were added under the Lean Startup approach. Significantly, the inadequate management of the materials was detected, which is why the recommendation was to separate the packaging of dry and cold products to care for food innocuousness and the cold chain. Likewise, processing time decreased, reducing material transfer, which was detected by applying a future VSM based on the Lean Startup methodology. The technological solution in this study is a contribution based on social sciences and mathematics (nonlinear equations) using dynamics simulation to observe the complexity of system behavior.

Theorizing Lean Startup Principles: An Action Regulation Theory Perspective

The principles of the lean startup approach are increasingly gaining relevance in theory and practice. At the same time, key principles such as ‘pivoting’ and the ‘build-measure-learn cycle’ remain under-theorized. This hurts the clarity of these concepts and it hinders more effective use of them in practice. We tackle both of these issues in this article. First, we draw on action regulation theory to theorize both ‘pivoting,’ as well as the ‘build-measure-learn cycle.’ Subsequently, we build on this theorizing to develop theoretically grounded design principles. This article contributes to both theory and practice. First, theorizing the lean startup principles improves the clarity of the focal concepts and helps to understand why, for whom, and when they work. Second, the developed design principles contribute to the increasing body of design knowledge which provides scientifically grounded guidance for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship educators.

Smart platform experiment cycle (SPEC): a process to design, analyze, and validate digital platforms

AbstractDigital platform business models are disrupting traditional business processes and reveal a new way of creating value. Current validation processes for business models are designed to assess pipeline business models. They cannot grasp the logic of digital platforms, which increasingly integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) to ensure success. This study developed a new validation process for early market validation of digital platform business models by following the Design Science Research methodology. The designed process, the Smart Platform Experiment Cycle (SPEC), is created by combining the Four-Step Iterative Cycle of business experiments, the Customer Development Process, and the Build-Measure-Learn feedback loop of the Lean Startup approach and enriching it with the knowledge of digital platforms. It consists of five iterative steps showing the startup how to design their platform business model and corresponding experiments and how to run, measure, analyze, and learn from the outcomes and results. To assess its efficacy, applicability, and validity, SPEC was applied in the German startup GassiAlarm, a service marketplace business model. The application of SPEC revealed shortcomings in the pricing strategy and highlighted to what extent their current business model would be successful. SPEC reduces the risk of building a product or service the market deems redundant and gives insights into its success rate. More applications of the SPEC are needed to validate its robustness further and to extend it to other types of digital platform business models for improved generalization.

Investigation of the “lean startup” approach in large manufacturing companies towards customer driven product innovation in SMEs

The agile product innovation method Lean Startup Approach is used by startups to quickly adapt to the fast changing market conditions and customer needs. The authors carried out a preliminary study which showed that global challenges such as digital transformation are urging companies to become more dynamic and flexible, and that this method is already used by large companies to meet the needs.Based on the preliminary study, the authors conducted in-depth interviews with experts to examine the procedure for introducing the Lean Startup Approach in large manufacturing companies, and examined the feasibility of applying the method to SMEs..

How Entrepreneurs make sense of Lean Startup Approaches: Business Models as cognitive lenses to generate fast and frugal Heuristics

The role of the business model (BM) as heuristics to support entrepreneurial and strategic problem solving at a cognitive level has been hinted at by extant literature, but left largely unexplored as of yet. This study is positioned in the emerging research on the cognitive individual microfoundations of Entrepreneurship and Strategy, and contributes to the discussion of how business models are used as heuristics, in the novel and relevant setting of Digital Entrepreneurship. We conducted a multiple case study on three digital startups that applied the emerging Lean Startup Approaches (LSAs) and embody technological development in their value proposition. We found that digital entrepreneurs applying LSAs as a systematic process to validate their business ideas rely on business models as cognitive lenses to make sense of LSAs and translate abstract guidelines into fast and frugal heuristics, in order to ‘make do’ with cognitive resource scarcity. These BM-generated heuristics in turn help entrepreneurs in the activities of: (i) making sense of entrepreneurial opportunities; (ii) formulating falsifiable hypotheses concerning their startups’ viability; (iii) filtering, selecting and organizing fuzzy and incomplete external and internal information; (iv) designing multidimensional customer experiments and tests revolving around the notion of value, through Minimum Viable Business Models (MVBMs); (v) prioritizing these experiments and tests to validate their early BM through analogical arguments; and (vi) processing the learning they obtain from experiments, and concretizing it in the form of BM pivots. We also provide empirically-driven insight on an integrative set of cognitive processes – namely (1) cognitive imprinting, (2) common language transfer; (3) attention intensity and (4) scientific and experimental cognition – that mold and blend together the BM-generated heuristics and explain how they are learnt, transferred, enacted, and how they persistently enable a cognitive transition to the application of a scientific method to Entrepreneurship based on more sophisticated experiments and metrics.