The Lean Entrepreneur

Introduction

WHAT IS THE LEAN ENTREPRENEUR?

It’s hard to know where you live on the curve. As far as we can tell, the arrow of time moves in one direction. You can never step in the same river twice (Heraclitus), and all that.

Change isn’t constant. We change constantly, but at different rates, depending on where we are on the curve. Fast change comes in times of cheap experimentation. Massive new life emerged on Earth during time periods in which a convergence of foundational platforms, like the different aspects of Earth’s biosphere, favored the emergence of diverse species, most of which failed. Massive new technologies emerge when the discovery and extraction of massive amounts of resources (water, minerals, fuel) provide low-cost industrial experiments, most of which fail.

Although our narratives of the past reveal eras of big change, those who lived during those times likely didn’t see it that way:

“Hey bro, pretty cool, we’re living in the Age of Renaissance, yeah?”

“Beats the Middle Ages, dude.”

“Word.”

The life you live defines normalcy.

Is change big or little? Dramatic or incremental? Permanent or cyclical? Disruptive or sustaining?

No one can pinpoint where we exist on the curve. Is change over or just beginning? Are we at an inflection point? Up or down? Is the end nigh, or is the Age of Aquarius approaching?

A broken clock is right twice a day.

How can we know ...