Episode 41: Interview with Eric Ries, author The Lean Startup

Eric Ries is a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and author known for pioneering the lean startup movement. He is the author of the 2011 New York Times bestseller, The Lean Startup: How Today’s Entrepreneurs Use Continuous Innovation to Create Radically Successful Business.

Eric serves on the advisory board of a number of technology start-ups, is currently an IDEO Fellow and entrepreneur in residence at Harvard Business School. He writes the popular entrepreneurship blog Startup Lessons Learned.

In this interview, Eric discusses:

  • The crucial importance of experimentation
  • Why social entrepreneurs should build organisations for continued learning
  • How failure vitalises success
  • The importance of rewarding productive failure
  • How the growth trap can lead social entrepreneurs losing focus on impact