Lean Startup Navigation

I've started reading Lean Analytics, and I feel like I've had an epiphany. It's not a miraculous vision of the future, but it feels like a light bulb just went on in my head.

Running a startup is a lot like leading an expedition. You know pretty much where you started, and you kinda know where you want to be. (You might not be able to pin it on a map, but you'll know it when you see it.) And sometimes your destination moves while you are on your way.

You need to survey the landscape, identify a likely route, follow that route, and monitor your progress. Sometimes you'll realize that your not quite on the right track, so you'll need execute a course correction, a pivot.

You might need to plot a path around The Abyss of Over-Planning and tread lightly through Feature Bloat Tar Sands, but you can't get to your destination without starting, and you're better off knowing your relative progress from where you started, even if you're not sure of the distance remaining to your destination.

Granted, knowing that distance remaining will make many decisions simpler, but sometimes you have to accept that your best guess is all you've got. And you make DAMN sure that it's your BEST guess based on the information you have.

The key point here is that it all requires data, navigation data. So you need ways to get that data (metrics) and ways to interpret it (analytics).

Sometimes navigation is easy and you can see exactly where you are and where you need to go. But sometimes your GPS is broken and it's too cloudy to steer by the stars, so you estimate; you use "dead reckoning". That's when having a compass and a speedometer comes in real handy. More metrics.

Even if you know exactly where you are at every moment, as if you had Startup GPS, and you have a really good map, the obstacles and hazards ahead can move. You gotta keep your eyes open. And you still might not know where your destination is.