Last night I had the privilege of moderating a panel discussion with four other lean startup practitioners at the Ballston BID Launchpad in Arlington, VA. The event was organized by Lean Startup Machine, and the five of us will all be mentoring at the upcoming Lean Startup Machine DC on September 20-22.
Moderator
Teague Hopkins – Founder of THG, Lean Startup Coach. THG helps teams at corporations, nonprofits, universities, and government agencies innovate more efficiently and effectively.
Panelists
Frank DiMeo – VP, Technical Staff at In-Q-Tel. In-Q-Tel is a not-for-profit venture capital firm that invests in high-tech companies to help the CIA and other intelligence firms equipped with the latest in information technology in support of United States intelligence capability.
Frank Taylor – CEO of Restin, Head of Partnerships at Fosterly. Restin provides robotic massage chairs for rent and lease to the engagement marketing industry and for various applications in the corporate wellness & hospitality space. Fosterly is a platform to organize and share entrepreneurial knowledge.
Bruce Mancinelli – Executive Director, Incspire. Incspire is a business incubator education program that supports emerging businesses and startups through the pairing of mentor teams to each incubated company in the program.
Laura Kennedy – Head of Corporate Development, Living Social. Living social is a deal-of-the-day company that features discounted gift certificates usable at local or national companies. Based in Washington, D.C.
Panel Recording
Topics
- What was your first introduction to Lean Startup?
- An introduction to the components of Lean Startup Methodology.
- How have you implemented the lean startup methodology at your company?
- What’s the most surprising thing you’ve learned from running an experiment?
- We’ve all heard about skunkworks. The goal is to insulate innovation teams from the culture and oversight of the larger organization. To be successful, do companies need to separate those doing innovation from those running operations?
- What will we learn at Lean Startup Machine?
- What are some tips for getting the most out of Lean Startup Machine?