Lean Startup and the business model: Experimenting for novelty and impact

Lean Startup has been impacting how startups and incumbents innovate their business models. However, academic understanding of Lean Startup and the associated experimentation process is only emerging. Recent academic critique of Lean Startup by Felin and colleagues (in press) highlights the inadequate guidance provided for hypotheses generation; limits of experiential learning from customer feedback; and the incremental nature of experimentation outcomes. Yet, Lean Startup has not been conceived for ideation, but rather for fostering iterative experimentation to reduce uncertainty, engage stakeholders, and promote collective learning. Taking a process perspective on experimentation, we suggest that novel business models can emerge during experimentation. We contribute a more positive perspective on the opportunities of Lean Startup and highlight how it can enable continuous innovation and stakeholder engagement for novelty and impact.