Visionary Entrepreneur vs. Lean Startup: Why They're Not Incompatible
Build a test you can fail — that's how big visions actually survive
By Tristan Kromer · Quick Answer: Being a visionary entrepreneur and using lean startup methods are fully compatible. Lean doesn’t mean doing whatever customers say — it means listening for the real underlying need (not “faster horses” but “faster transportation”). As entrepreneurs, we should design experiments we can genuinely fail, because early testing preserves the time and cash needed to pivot when a vision isn’t working — exactly how Twitter emerged from Odeo’s failed podcasting concept.
At the risk of rehashing an argument, there is an ongoing misconception that creating a company under a lean startup approach is incompatible with a big entrepreneurial vision. Paul Higgins recently published an article in Entrepreneur Country Magazine based on his blog post again suggesting that the lean and big visionary entrepreneur were incompatible. Some of the reasons were worth thought and response:
Customers Don’t Know What They Want
Henry Ford allegedly once said, “If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” So if customers can’t be trusted to know what they want, what hope is there for building a company on ‘lean principles’ through experimentation and constant customer feedback?
This quote is often thrown in the face of the lean startup advocates, but it is hugely misunderstood. No one in their right mind says you should do what the customer tells you to do. You don’t go out and build faster horses…instead you listen for the real need. Customer: My horse doesn’t go fast enough Entrepreneur: Why do you want to go faster? Customer: It takes a long time to get to the supermarket. Entrepreneur: Aha! No need for a faster horse…the key is faster transportation. Or alternatively, some sort of home shopping network powered by a series of interconnected tubes.
Early Adopters aren’t the Late Majority
Proponents of ‘lean’ would say that having a vision (Visionary Entrepreneur) - as Ries calls it, a “true north” - doesn’t stop you testing user behavior in small batches. Twitter’s use amongst friends and family in its early days was said to be wildly addictive… But I’d argue that no user experience within a small, like-minded group of Twitter fans can prove much about the likelihood of it becoming a global communication and publishing standard.
Admittedly, the only thing that’s going to conclusively prove that a product can go global is going global. So I would tentatively agree with the second statement, but that says nothing about the value of early testing in a sample population. Twitter is a great example of this. Had the founding team not tried Odeo’s podcasting concept and flailed, they never would have bothered with Twitter. Evan Williams and Biz Stone would have perhaps continued to build and build for years before releasing to customers and figuring out it was a waste of time. Releasing the product early, while they still had time and cash to try something new, allowed them to succeed after what could have been a catastrophic failure. The harder they are, the better. Then if you still see some sliver of an early adopter community saying, “Hey…this thing is cool…” now it’s time to buy a year’s worth of ramen and buckle down for some work. So if you’re going to do a lean startup, go out there are build a test you can fail. You learn nothing by creating a test you know you’ll pass.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a visionary entrepreneur still use lean startup methods?
Absolutely. Being a visionary entrepreneur and practicing lean startup are not incompatible. Having a bold, long-term vision — what Eric Ries calls a “true north” — doesn’t prevent you from testing assumptions in small batches, gathering customer feedback, and iterating. The lean approach actually helps visionaries validate and refine their vision rather than building blindly for years.
Why doesn’t the Henry Ford “faster horses” quote disprove lean startup?
The quote is widely misunderstood. Lean startup doesn’t mean doing whatever customers tell you to do. It means listening for the real underlying need. When a customer says “I want a faster horse,” a smart entrepreneur digs deeper to discover the actual problem — faster transportation — and then innovates a solution the customer never imagined. That’s exactly what lean experimentation enables.
Do early adopter results actually predict mainstream success?
No single early test can conclusively prove a product will go global — only going global proves that. But early testing is still enormously valuable. Twitter’s story illustrates this well: the founders first tested Odeo’s podcasting concept, learned it was failing, and pivoted to Twitter while they still had time and cash. Without that early signal from a small adopter community, they might have wasted years on the wrong product.
What’s the most important thing to do when running a lean startup experiment?
We should design tests we can genuinely fail. As the article emphasizes, you learn nothing by creating a test you know you’ll pass. The goal is to build something quickly, put it in front of real users, and look for honest signals — even if that means discovering your idea doesn’t work. A real failure early on gives you the runway to pivot toward something that does.
How did Twitter’s pivot show that lean and vision can coexist?
Evan Williams and Biz Stone had a vision for Odeo as a podcasting platform, but lean experimentation revealed it wasn’t working. Rather than doubling down for years on a failing concept, they pivoted to Twitter — and found early addictive engagement among a small group. That pivot, born from honest testing and a willingness to fail, ultimately led to a global communication platform.
Comments
Loading comments…
Leave a comment