MVPs and Lean Startups: An Accessible Method May Not Produce Outliers

Originally published 2024-12-09Robin’s commentary (as of December 2024)

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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 2024-12-09. Translated 2026-11-04 with AI assistance. Historical figures and claims have not been updated or independently verified. 中文原文

Reading guide

Responding to an investor’s discussion of MVPs, Robin recalls that the concept came from, or was popularized by, The Lean Startup. It emphasizes low costs, rapid trial and error, feedback, and iteration, and may suit software-related industries better than fields such as biotechnology. He also recalls Peter Thiel’s skepticism toward lean startup thinking. Robin personally sees it as an intuitive, accessible entrepreneurial method. Yet he notes a paradox: the easier a method is for everyone to apply, the less likely it may be to produce outliers—and great ventures are usually outliers.

Key points

MVPs emphasize low costs, rapid trial and error, and rapid iteration.
MVPs are more applicable to software than to industries such as biotechnology.
An accessible method is easy to teach and can become the basis of successive entrepreneurship courses.
Methods that are easy to apply may be less likely to produce outliers.

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

Full text — English translation

It is time for another talk from our respected ‘Dahe-ge.’ Excellent investors are always thinking, drawing lessons, and developing their own frameworks of understanding and investment methods. Returning to the minimum viable product (MVP), my recollection is that it came from The Lean Startup—or was popularized by lean startup thinking. MVPs emphasize low costs, rapid trial and error, quick market feedback, and fast iteration and updates. They may be better suited to software-related industries. Some industries are less suited to this approach, biotechnology for example. I also recall that Peter Thiel, another Silicon Valley entrepreneurial luminary, was decidedly dismissive of The Lean Startup. Haha! Returning to the point, I personally think it is a fairly good and intuitive entrepreneurial method. If you do not know where to start when founding a business, the sequence from customer needs to MVP, product-market fit (PMF), and scaling offers an accessible process. It is comparatively easy to teach and pass on, which in turn leads to one entrepreneurship course after another. There is a paradox here. If entrepreneurship follows a method that everyone can readily apply, it often becomes harder to produce outliers. Yet great ventures are usually outliers.

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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