Lean Startup

Michael Perry, founder of the innovative virtual employee Kit, grew his business from a small team housed in a 200-sq ft space (in the back of a law firm) to a company acquired by Shopify. He leads a dynamic presentation about what it’s been like on both sides of the table.

What happens when a small group of mavericks decide to launch an unauthorized version of Lean Startup inside a huge multinational firm like Cisco? Over 1,100 new organic-growth ideas, including a surprise Shark Tank-like ending. Presented by Steve Liguori, (Founder Liguori Innovation and former GE Exec Director of Global Innovation) with Alex Goryachev (Cisco Senior Director Innovation Strategy and Programs) and Oseas Ramirez Assad (Cisco Senior Manager, Business Development and Innovation Enablement.)

Future-thinking companies are operationalizing diversity of thought and redefining how they harness and retain talent. In this panel, guest speakers from Upwork, Code2040, and Andela debate and discuss the changing work environment with Lean Startup’s Melissa Moore, as well as what they’ve learned as they’ve built their organizations from the ground up. They’ll cover some of the key issues surrounding the future of the workplace, from hiring on-demand talent to providing an environment that allows employees to share their views, opinions, and authentic selves.

The decisions that we make in a given day are driven by numerous cognitive biases designed to save us time and energy. Often, these mental shortcuts serve us well, but occasionally, they lead us astray and drive us to make poor decisions — and this is particularly true about our health. Jawbone’s Kelvin Kwong will discuss the psychology behind decision making and how his team applies behavioral science research to build a product that changes how we move, sleep, and eat.

Lean Change CEO Michel Gelobter leads a panel discussion on what it means to run a non-profit organization or agency of social change with a Lean Startup foundation.

Charles Hudson is an entrepreneur who recently founded his own VC firm. He’ll provide real world perspective on what it means to source funding for your business. He’ll also talk about how his firm, which often invests in very early stage ideas, approaches working with startups.

Automation, innovative management practices, and real-time communication tools are creating new models for skilled work. Every professional relies on software to structure and assist their work, and as that software becomes more intelligent it will gradually play a larger role in day-to-day tasks. Eventually, AI-powered platforms will facilitate complex work (from taxes to lawsuits) as easily as Uber calls a cab. Roger Dickey, the founder and CEO of freelance developer platform Gigster, will discuss how marketplaces and intelligent software can combine to improve and accelerate professional work, while making it more fulfilling, more profitable, and more accessible.

Despite all the moaning and groaning about how difficult it is to bring about constructive change in large organizations, it can and does happen. We tell three true stories of such successful change, all of which were propelled, at least in part, in design thinking methods taught at the Stanford d.school. And none of which were instigated by top executives. The stories that we will tell, dissect, and discuss with the audience are about the San Francisco Opera, JetBlue Airways, and a social services agency called the Golden Gate Regional Center. Each of these interventions resulted in enduring changes that reduce hassles and enhance dignity and delight for employees and customers.

Over the last 10+ years we have seen a number of large enterprises experiencing (near) Kodak moment and struggling to drive growth as they navigate through long term disruption to their business. In this talk Sonja will share learnings from award winning innovation program at Pearson and will outline how principles and practices of Lean Product Lifecycle and active portfolio management can help companies navigate disruption, increase innovation and transform their portfolios and why mindset, leadership and cultural changes are key to success.

The attitude of the team that will work on a startup project is a critical first success factor, way before finding the product/market fit. Through a quick experiment and sharing an analysis of key startup activities, Philippe will demonstrate the value of some specific soft skills of any startup team.

When Salesforce set out to re-design our Core Products, we faced a daunting challenge. To move fast, a cross-functional team worked closely together to define, design, test, and iterate. We will talk about what this collaboration entailed, and lessons learned for design thinking & doing at enterprise scale. Guest speakers: Pratima Arora, Shawna Wolverton, and David Colby (Salesforce).

Lean Startup is often characterized as a scientific methodology, while the innovation process requires creative leaps of imagination. How do you reconcile these two worlds, let alone get them to exist in harmony? The intersection of these two concepts is the Grand Unifying Theory of product development. Stuart Eccles, co-founder of innovation studio Made by Many, will show you how to use Lean Startup to go beyond the testing of ideas and into the active generation of them.

Susana Jurado Apruzzese, an innovator at Telefonica R&D, will outline the main challenges large organizations face when they apply Lean Startup. She’ll share key tips for speeding up the innovation process and doing more with less while staying focused on company strategy, customers, and the market.

Join Kolonial.no’s Karl Munthe-Kaas as he shares the story of the online grocery he co-founded. Launched three years ago, Kolonial.no has achieved unparalleled growth in an underserved segment of the Norwegian e-commerce market. By using an aggressive Lean Startup approach, the company has grown to become the largest full assortment online grocer in Norway.

Mark Raheja, founding partner of organizational design firm August, discusses what it means to build and lead a team in an era of startups, digital nomads, and a gig economy.

Lindsey Gray, senior director of the NYU Entrepreneurial Institute, leads a discussion with successful startup founders—Christina Stembel, founder of Farmgirl Flowers and Huda Idrees, founder of healthcare startup Dot Health.

How do you create meaningful relationships with your most loyal customers? By measuring and learning about their needs in order to build the right product. For B2C, one of the best ways to measure in the early days of product development is by using social analytics. The data collected can help you understand your target better, deliver the right message, and develop a tailored experience.

In this opening presentation, Viv Goldstein, director of Innovation Acceleration and co-founder of FastWorks at GE, pulls back the curtain on how she and her team led a 124-year-old company through a revolutionary culture change.

Eric sits down with Lean Startup Labs faculty member Phil Dillard to discuss the state of Lean Startup, what every organization should be thinking about as it moves into the next decade and beyond, and the influence a long term innovation strategy has on the way products get built today.

Conference emcee Thuy Vu has a fireside chat with Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Michelle Lee about driving innovation in the US and why Lean Startup is a critical methodology for entrepreneurs and organizations.