Why Corporations Need to Think Like a Lean Startup—Even When They Have Money to Burn
Holly Winn
Fractional CPO, CMO, CDO/CAO, & COO | Singer/Songwriter, Music Producer, Aspiring Composer | Founder | Tech & Education Enthusiast | Friend of the Guild | Metaverse Maven l Digital Transformation Champion & Change Agent
When I first read The Lean Startup by Eric Ries, I assumed it was a book for scrappy founders with limited resources—people trying to make the most of what little they had. And while that’s certainly true, what struck me most was how much larger companies need this mindset just as much, if not more.
Big corporations have money, teams of specialists, and well-established processes. But what they often lack is agility—the ability to experiment rapidly, pivot when necessary, and stay close to customer needs. They become slow-moving giants burdened by red tape, afraid to take risks because they have more to lose. Ironically, it’s this risk aversion that can make them vulnerable to smaller, faster competitors who do think like startups.
How Lean Startup Thinking Changed My Perspective
Reading The Lean Startup shifted the way I view business at every level:
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Applying Lean Thinking at Any Scale
Even in large organizations, teams can embrace the Lean Startup mindset by:
The companies that continue to thrive in the future won’t just be the biggest or the most well-funded—they’ll be the ones that can think and act like a lean startup, no matter their size.
What do you think? Have you seen examples of large organizations embracing (or struggling with) a lean mindset? Let’s discuss in the comments.