Lean Analytics: Use Data to Build a Better Startup Faster (Lean (O'Reilly))

by Alistair Croll

Offsetting this, however, is the huge amount of market control the company has. It could promote the app by giving away three hamburgers for free to everyone who installed it. The company would make back the money quickly in saved time at the cash register, and have access to a new marketing channel and untapped analytical insight into its customers. Intrapreneurs need to factor these kinds of constraints and advantages into their MVP far more than independent startups do. What’s more, as people start using your MVP, you have to manage the beta process carefully. You may be interfering with existing deals in the sales pipeline, or creating more work for customer support. If so, you need to have approval for the rollout and the buy-in of stakeholders. If you’re launching an entirely new product line, you may even have to camouflage it so you don’t cannibalize existing markets until you know it’s successful. This, of course, undermines your ability to use unfair advantages like an existing customer base.