Perhaps you've had different experiences, but the issues raised in the book are things I've encountered repeatedly in new companies, and I've repeatedly seen new companies fail for exactly the reasons the book describes.
For many of us on HN there is little new information in the book. However, we have to recognize that the concept of experimenting with an MVP is completely foreign to many entrepreneurs, and even among those who know about and pay lip service to it, they very frequently can't commit to it in practice. I've seen this issue come up time and time with both new and seasoned, successful entrepreneurs. They think they know what customers want and cling to unproven notions irrationally. They get hyper focused on unnecessary features. They delay launches over fear of launching with an "imperfect" product, and also don't recognize that their vision of perfection is unproven and frequently flawed.
In fact, as a developer, this issues have come up in every project in which I've paired with a less-than-technical stakeholder. As someone who has been very active in startup communities, my observation has been that the tendencies the book intends to fight are rampant among non-technical founders.
I'm happy this book exists, because it's finally an easily digestible introduction to some baseline concepts that many entrepreneurs have a difficult time understanding and putting into practice.
Comments
Perhaps you've had different experiences, but the issues raised in the book are things I've encountered repeatedly in new companies, and I've repeatedly seen new companies fail for exactly the reasons the book describes.
For many of us on HN there is little new information in the book. However, we have to recognize that the concept of experimenting with an MVP is completely foreign to many entrepreneurs, and even among those who know about and pay lip service to it, they very frequently can't commit to it in practice. I've seen this issue come up time and time with both new and seasoned, successful entrepreneurs. They think they know what customers want and cling to unproven notions irrationally. They get hyper focused on unnecessary features. They delay launches over fear of launching with an "imperfect" product, and also don't recognize that their vision of perfection is unproven and frequently flawed.
In fact, as a developer, this issues have come up in every project in which I've paired with a less-than-technical stakeholder. As someone who has been very active in startup communities, my observation has been that the tendencies the book intends to fight are rampant among non-technical founders.
I'm happy this book exists, because it's finally an easily digestible introduction to some baseline concepts that many entrepreneurs have a difficult time understanding and putting into practice.