Metcalfe’s law: the value of a network as a whole is proportional to the square of the number of participants. In other words, the more people in the… - Eric Ries

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

Validated learning is the process of demonstrating empirically that a team has discovered valuable truths about a startup’s present and future business prospects

This is the same problem that established companies experience. Their past successes were built on a finely tuned engine of growth. If that engine runs its course and growth slows or stops, there can be a crisis if the company does not have new startups incubating within its ranks that can provide new sources of growth. Companies of any size can suffer from this perpetual affliction. They need to manage a portfolio of activities, simultaneously tuning their engine of growth and developing new sources of growth for when that engine inevitably runs its course.