EIR, Cyriac Roeding. My research team helped me document case studies, interview hundreds of startups, and filter thousands of stories. I want to thank Marisa Porzig, who logged countless hours documenting, cross-referencing, and investigating. Additional case studies were developed by Sara Gaviser Leslie and Sarah Milstein. Traditional publishing is a complicated and insular business. I benefited from advice and connections from many people. Tim Ferriss and Ramit Sethi set me straight early on. I am also grateful to Peter Sims, Paul Michelman, Mary Treseler, Joshua-Michéle Ross, Clara Shih, Sarah Milstein, Adam Penenberg, Gretchen Rubin, Kate Lee, Hollis Heimbouch, Bob Sutton, Frankie Jones, Randy Komisar, and Jeff Rosenthal. At Crown, the herculean task of turning this idea into the book you are reading fell to a huge team of people. My editor, Roger Scholl, saw the vision of this book from the very beginning and shepherded it through the entire process. I want to also thank Tina Constable, Tara Gilbride, and Meredith McGinnis and everyone else who worked on making this book a reality. Those who had the misfortune of reading an early draft know just how much gratitude I owe to Laureen Rowland, who provided essential editorial help on an unbelievably tight schedule. If you enjoyed any part of this book, she deserves your thanks. My adviser, partner, and consigliere throughout the publishing process has been my phenomenal agent, Christy Fletcher. She has the uncanny ability to predict the future, make things happen, and keep every stakeholder happy—all at the same time. She truly understands the modern media landscape and has helped me navigate its crazy waters at every turn. At Fletcher and Company, I also want to thank Alyssa Wolff, who has been a tireless advocate and gatekeeper, and Melissa Chinchillo, who is working to bring this book to new regions and languages. I know it is a cliché to say, “None of this would have been possible without the constant support of my loving family.” But in this case, it is simply the truth. My parents, Vivian Reznik and Andrew Ries, have always supported my love of technology while still insisting on the importance of a liberal arts education. Without their constant love and support, I would never have had the courage to step into the void of entrepreneurship or have found my own voice as a writer. I know my grandparents have been with me every step of this journey—they believed deeply in the power of writing and took supreme joy in my sisters’ and my every accomplishment. To my sisters Nicole and Amanda and my brother-inlaw Dov, I can only say: thank you for supporting me all these years.
My wife, Tara Sophia Mohr, has been a constant source of joy and comfort every step of the way. She has experienced every stress, every high, and every low through this very lengthy process. Tara, you are an incredibly brilliant, strong, and compassionate woman. Words cannot express how much I appreciate your steadfast support, your overwhelming love, and the daily adventure that is our life together. Thank you.
About the Author ERIC RIES is an entrepreneur and author of the popular blog Startup Lessons Learned. He cofounded and served as CTO of IMVU, his third startup. He is a frequent speaker at business events, has advised a number of startups, large companies, and venture capital firms on business and product strategy, and is an entrepreneur-in-residence at Harvard Business School. His Lean Startup methodology has been written about in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Harvard Business Review, the Huffington Post, and many blogs. He lives in San Francisco.