Lean Thinking as a Catalyst for Social Change

The Lean Startup method is now being used by entrepreneurs and social enterprises of all levels to create scalable, sustainable models for social impact.

According to Eric Ries, Author of the Lean Startup and Founder of the Lean Startup movement, “Lean Impact is turning Lean Startup into a road map for social good organizations...”

Creating social change is slightly different than running a startup, so the Lean Impact and Lean thinking movement is adapting Lean principles to the unique challenges and opportunities of organizations working for the social good. The principles in The Lean Startup is forming a new framework that meets the unique challenges of social good organizations: nonprofits and social enterprises.

Lean Impact still encourages testing and experimentation, it values customer feedback over intuition, and uses iterative methods instead of “waterfall” development but now for the social good. For more information visit www.innovatorsplussocialgood.org

Presenters

Brant Cooper

Co-Founder

Moves the Needle

Brant Cooper helps organizations big and small innovate. He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller, The Lean Entrepreneur, and is a sought after speaker, advisor and mentor.

He has over 16 years experience helping companies bring innovative products to market. His startup career includes Tumbleweed, Timestamp, WildPackets, inCode, and many others. He has experienced IPO, acquisition, rapid growth, and crushing failure.

Brant previously authored The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development, the first purpose-written book to discuss Lean Startup and Customer Development concepts, earning a distribution of over 50k. He has worked with thousands of entrepreneurs across the globe.

Brant is the Co-Founder of Moves the Needle Group, which has advised the innovation practices of such leading companies as Qualcomm, Intuit, Capital One, Pitney Bowes and Hewlett-Packard.

Jeremiah Gardner

Author, Speaker, Mentor

The Lean Brand

My name is Jeremiah.

I’m an author, mouthpiece, mentor, and bulldog lover.

Ultimately, all of my work is about helping people reframe the way they think about brand development – especially when it comes to entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs.

I wrote, The Lean Brand, a book about disruptive brand innovation. In short, the book provides a framework for organizations (big and small) to retake control of their brand development and become intentional about it’s formation, growth, and sustainability.

Jon Kolko

Dir

Austin Center for Design

Leanne Pittsford

Founder

Start Somewhere And Lean Impact

Leanne Pittsford is the CEO of Start Somewhere, a design and technology agency for social good organizations. She’s also the founder of Lesbians Who Tech, the community of queer women in tech. She also created the When You Work at a Nonprofit Blog & Lean Impact, an organization helping social good organizations use Lean Startup principles.