it’s human nature to assume that when we see a mistake, it’s due to defects in someone else’s department, knowledge, or character, - Eric Ries

The critical first question for any lean transformation is: which activities create value and which are a form of waste? Once you understand this distinction, you can begin using lean techniques to drive out waste and increase the efficiency of the value-creating activities.

definition of a startup: a human institution designed to create new products and services under conditions of extreme uncertainty.

Startups are different: too much budget is as harmful as too little — as countless dot-com failures can attest — and startups are extremely sensitive to midcourse budgetary changes.