Lean Startup Movement Makes An International Pilgrimage with Authors of forthcoming The Lean Entrepreneur

December 12, 2012 - In the past 3 years, lean startup pioneers Brant Cooper and Patrick Vlaskovits, authors of The Lean Entrepreneur, have lead over 100 workshops across 25 countries. Recently they traveled from California to take Mexico by storm, thanks to the educational visionaries at Tecnológico de Monterrey, Campus Chihuahua. Initiated by Alberto Araujo and Antonio Rios, the North Region Dean and the Dean of Business and Humanities respectively, lean startup methodologies were further introduced through a two-day workshop with over 1,000 students and faculty.

"We continuously stress the importance of getting out of the building to everybody who will listen. We definitely drink our own Kool-Aid and believe getting to personally know and work with lean startup entrepreneurs across the globe is the most effective way to teach those hungry to succeed", says Vlaskovits.

For those unfamiliar with "Lean Startup", it's an entrepreneurial methodology based on validated learning, scientific experimentation, and iterative product releases that stress a build-measure-learn business growth loop. Originally coined by Eric Ries and based on principles by Steve Blank, the lean startup methodology is designed to help improve startups' odds for success, eliminate uncertainty, and push people to work smarter, not harder.

Araujo and Rios are championing entrepreneurial education in Mexico, teaching lean startup, customer development, the lean entrepreneur value stream, and marketing segmentation to their students with forward thinking course texts like Cooper and Vlaskovits' The Entrepreneur's Guide to Customer Development. The Chihuahua Campus is the first campus to include these topics in their curriculum. Bringing in international speakers and creating partnerships with local entrepreneurs, Araujo and Rios are tirelessly working to build the next generation of technology leaders in Latin America.

As it turns out, it's working. There are already startups making a lot of noise in Chihuahua. Inode Entertainment develops mobile games and recently eclipsed 200 million downloads. Rewards.to improves the way people find jobs or home rentals with referral incentives and was a finalist at TechStars Microsoft in Seattle. Many of the Startup Weekend winners and finalists are based out of Innovation Park at the Chihuahua Campus, which is looking to open its doors to US-based startups. Through a partnership with the Chihuahua IT Cluster, this is a unique opportunity as a nearshore, lean outsourcing alternative.

Cooper and Vlaskovits are looking to spearhead the next wave of opportunities with select cities and schools looking to drive entrepreneurship. Their much-anticipated second book, The Lean Entrepreneur, expands upon their previous work, giving the reader a "roadmap" for lean startup execution with real world case studies both inside and outside technology-driven endeavors. Much like their life changing workshops, the book is sure to make a permanent mark on the startup landscape and set the tone for the future of entrepreneurs worldwide.

The Lean Entrepreneur is available for pre-order at LeanEntrepreneur.co.