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The Lean Startup is a hyped-up trend that has misled many entrepreneurs into wasting their resources on useless experiments and false assumptions. Ries presents a naive and unrealistic view of how startups operate, ignoring the complexity and uncertainty of the real world.
The book lacks rigor and evidence. Ries relies on anecdotes and selective examples to support his arguments, without providing any data or analysis to back them up.
One of the most flawed concepts is the Minimum Viable Product (MVP), which encourages startups to launch subpar and incomplete products to the market, hoping to get some feedback from customers. This approach exposes startups to the risk of ruining their reputation, losing their competitive advantage, and alienating their potential users.
The Lean Startup devalues the importance of vision, creativity, and intuition in entrepreneurship. It promotes a mechanical and trial-and-error approach that suppresses innovation and originality.
Especially in the cybersecurity field, where my startup operates, the lean startup methodology is a recipe for disaster. Would you trust a cybersecurity solution that works on MVP to protect your corporate data? I doubt it. You need a reliable, robust, and secure product that can withstand the sophisticated and evolving threats of cyberattacks.
Thatās why I have lost hope that the pseudo-experts of venture capital, who claim to support innovation, understand the challenges and opportunities of the cybersecurity market. They demand unrealistic and unreasonable revenue targets in very early stages, without considering the potential and value of the product. They are looking for easy money, not investing in novum or innovation. Iām tired of hearing 2mm of revenue on pre-seed, seriously I'm done.
Look at these examples of successful cybersecurity startups that raised more than 3 million in seed funding 8 years ago and are now valued at least 150 million:
SentinelOne: This US-based startup offers an autonomous endpoint protection platform that uses AI to prevent, detect, and respond to cyberattacks. It raised $15 million in seed funding in June 2014 from Accel, Data Collective, Granite Hill Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, and Westly Group1. It is now valued at $8.9 billion after raising $267 million in Series F funding in November 20202.
Darktrace: This UK-based startup provides an AI-powered cyber defense platform that detects and responds to cyber threats across diverse digital environments. It raised $18 million in seed funding in November 2013 from Invoke Capital, Talis Capital, and Hoxton Ventures3. It is now valued at $1.65 billion after raising $50 million in Series E funding in September 2018.
Illumio: This US-based startup delivers a zero-trust security platform that prevents the spread of breaches inside data centers and cloud environments. It raised $34 million in seed funding in October 2013 from Andreessen Horowitz, Formation 8, General Catalyst, and others. It is now valued at $2.75 billion after raising $225 million in Series F funding in June 2020.
These startups had enough money to run a proper company, not to only try to survive at low costs. They invested in developing high-quality products that met the needs and expectations of their customers. They achieved impressive growth and valuation in a short period.
Now compare them with the startups that followed the lean startup methodology and accepted 30k in pre-seed funding. How many of them are still in business? How many of them have made any significant impact on the cybersecurity market? How many of them have reached at least 150 million in valuation?
Therefore, I urge venture capitalists to reconsider their expectations and demands from cybersecurity startups. Not every product can or should be released in a lean system, especially when it comes to the security and privacy of users and data. Please remember the examples of experimental airbags and covid vaccines, and how they could have disastrous consequences if they were not tested and validated properly. Cybersecurity is not a field where you can compromise on quality and reliability. It requires a different mindset and approach than other domains.
Please respect and support the innovation and potential of cybersecurity startups, and donāt judge them by the same standards as Pinterest or other consumer-oriented products.
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Itās been a pleasure to share this article with you today. I hope you found it informative and interesting. Iāll be back next Sunday with more insights and stories. Until then, I wish you a great day and all the best.š.