Did you see the movie Commando? In the film Schwarzenegger’s daughter was kidnapped by the bad guys but he was determined to release her. To do that he has got the motivation, the right attitude, the strength and the know-how. What else has he got? TOOLS (in his case an arsenal of weapons). Without those his chances would have been meager.
Every year millions of new startups are founded around the world but only about one fifth will be able to celebrate its 5th birthday. And only a tiny fraction will experience real success and exponential growth (the dream of entrepreneurs). You have to be good to survive and you have to be excellent to prosper.
On your journey you will use tools. But what does tool mean by definition?
“An item or implement used for a specific purpose. A tool can be a physical object such as mechanical tools or a technical object such as a web authoring tool or software program. Furthermore, a concept can also be considered a tool.”
For example, if you want to do accounting, you can do your own calculations on paper, in an accounting ledger, in an Excel table, using an accounting software or even an ERP system. We don’t have to use always the most sophisticated tools. What we need are tools suitable, relevant and economic in the present situation.
There are surprisingly few tools available specifically for lean startups to help them in the development process.
But we need such tools. The best if these tools are not random and independent ones, but those representing the concept and leading us step by step on our way of lean startup development.