Eric Ries

Eric Ries was born September 22, 1978, and attended Yale University where he studied computer science and co-founded Catalyst Recruiting, an online recruiting forum for students, which he pursued part-time and which later folded during the dot-com downturn. While at Yale he developed early programming experience and interest in internet communities and software products. After Yale, Ries worked as a software engineer (including at There.com) and in 2004 co-founded IMVU, a social/virtual goods company, where he served as Chief Technology Officer and applied rapid experimentation and lean software practices to product development. Experiences at IMVU and exposure to Steve Blank’s customer development ideas were formative in shaping the Lean Startup approach. Beginning in 2008 Ries documented his methods on his blog “Startup Lessons Learned” and in 2011 published The Lean Startup, which synthesized lean manufacturing, agile software development, and customer development into a practical methodology for startups and intrapreneurs. The book became a bestseller, was widely translated, and established Ries as a prominent speaker, consultant, and educator on startup management and innovation. After advising and serving in entrepreneur-in-residence roles (including at Harvard Business School and IDEO), Ries founded the Long-Term Stock Exchange (LTSE) to create a public market structure aligned with long-term company incentives and he continues to advise corporations and governments on applying lean principles (including corporate programs such as GE’s FastWorks).