There Is No Single Route to Startup Success: The Lean Approach Better Suits Ordinary Founders

Originally published 2022-09-30Robin’s commentary

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Collected in Robin Shen’s Field Notes · Content type and attribution are shown above

English translation of the Chinese post originally published 2022-09-30. Translated 2026-10-30 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文

Reading guide

Robin says there is no single route to startup success. The lean startup approach recommends moving quickly in small steps. Some people instead spend three or four years building a major product that takes the market by storm, and that can work too. But in his personal view, the lean startup approach is better suited to ordinary founders.

Key points

There is no single route to startup success.
The lean startup approach: move quickly in small steps.
Some founders spend years preparing a major product, but the lean approach better suits ordinary people.

One clear path continues into the distance among several branching routes, suggesting choice and focus. — Entrepreneurship & strategyThematic illustration · AI generated

Full text — English translation

There is no single route to startup success. The lean startup approach recommends moving quickly in small steps. Some people spend three or four years preparing a major product that takes the market by storm, and that is certainly an option too. Purely from my own perspective, the lean startup approach is a better fit for ordinary people starting a business.

These articles are personal notes, book excerpts, and collected reprints. Figures and events reflect the time of the original publication, are not current information, and do not constitute investment advice.

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