# The Lean Startup by Eric Ries

32 Hacker News commenters recommended The Lean Startup by Eric Ries and 6 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 5 of 13 months; owners who said how long report a median of 10 years (5 owners). It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Recommended as a foundational guide to fast, validated product building that shaped many founders' thinking; the most common caveat is that some tactics and examples are now dated.

## Why people recommend it

- Re-read and recommended to others (5 comments): "It was a big influence on me and something I recommend and quote often." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48482539)) "Your book The Lean Startup helped me so much. I read it tens of times." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48487432)) "I've read the Lean Startup several times, and I'm a huge fan." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48481577))
- Shaped how readers think about startups (5 comments): "The Lean Startup had a huge influence on how I think about startups and product work" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48479342)) "it has shaped the way I think about building products" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48481992)) "it helped shape my couple of startups that I did" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48484412))
- Pushed readers to build their own companies (3 comments): "The book had a big part in pushing me towards doing my own lean startup just a year later" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48477624)) "Your first book was my like my bible, used many of the concepts when building gomacro.ai" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48479637)) "it helped shape my couple of startups that I did" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48484412))
- Guides AI product and agent work (2 comments): "Your first book was my like my bible, used many of the concepts when building gomacro.ai" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48479637)) "The methodology and philosophy guide my agentic workflow construction." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48536080))

## What people warn about

- Useful only in narrow contexts (3 comments): "the generalized ideas and statements are of very little value without a keen sense of applicability in context" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47439598)) "basically a suboptimal strategy that produces acceptable outcomes only in the most fruitful circumstances" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47435845)) "likely applicable only within a very narrow niche" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47435258))
- Poor fit for frontier AI companies (2 comments): "The lean startup methodology is fundamentally antithetical to companies like OpenAI" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48481510)) "short term validation -- is a poor proxy for the core risks in frontier companies" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48559210))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [The Gervais Principle by Venkatesh Rao](https://hackerapproved.com/p/gervais-principle.md): 32 recommend
- [Incorruptible by Eric Ries](https://hackerapproved.com/p/incorruptible.md): 23 recommend
- [The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt](https://hackerapproved.com/p/goal.md): 21 recommend
- [Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss](https://hackerapproved.com/p/never-split-the-difference.md): 13 recommend
- [The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick](https://hackerapproved.com/p/mom-test.md): 10 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/0670921602?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780670921607) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "The Lean Startup by Eric Ries", https://hackerapproved.com/p/lean-startup/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).