Nail It then Scale It: The Entrepreneur's Guide to Creating and Managing Breakthrough Innovation: The lean startup book to help entrepreneurs launch a high-growth business

by Nathan Furr, Paul Ahlstrom

Why do most new businesses fail, yet a few entrepreneurs have a habit of winning over and over again? The shocking discovery of years of research and trial is that most startups fail by doing the “right things,” but doing them out of order. In other words, human nature combined with our entrepreneurial drive puts us on autopilot to become part of the 70% to 90% of ventures that fail.

From Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs, the Nail It Then Scale It method is based on pattern recognition of the timeless principles and key practices used by successful entrepreneurs to repeatedly innovate. These processes and principles have now been distilled into a handbook to guide entrepreneurs and innovative product managers to victory.

Stop following conventional wisdom and join the few entrepreneurs that can consistently take their innovative idea all the way to a successful company launch.

Comments about the book:

"Nail It then Scale It does a great job synthesizing the current thinking around disruptive innovations and entrepreneurship and channeling it into an actionable set of frameworks and processes. Both the recommended actions and there sequence seem very practical to me, and I think this should serve as a great tool for start-up teams. Congratulations."

Geoffrey Moore, Author of Crossing the Chasm, Escape Velocity and Inside the Tornado


"The principles in Nail It Then Scale It provide a proven formula for entrepreneurial success. The truth is that most successful businesses are not built on one extraordinary idea. Instead, they are built on many ideas, followed by tons of hard work, research, iteration and listening to customers who articulate their pains and problems. The NISI checklist in the appendix is pure gold for entrepreneurs!"

Clate Mask, CEO and Co-Founder of Infusionsoft


"How rare to find practical, hands on advice from someone who has actually done it. I read it with a perspective of "take home value" and I found ideas that I could apply in every chapter. In my world time is the most precious commodity so it is the ultimate compliment to say that your book was well worth the time I spent reading it. Wish I had read this 30 years ago."

Gary Kennedy, CEO Remedy Informatics

"Nail It then Scale It has changed the way I think about being an entrepreneur. We’ve been in 50 customers’ offices, have 6 commitments to beta our product and have created and sent out a marketing piece – but the best part is we haven’t spent a cent on development yet. Nathan and Paul have saved us thousands of dollars.”

Kevin Santiago, Founder Cymphonix, MobyQ and serial entrepreneur

Genres: Business, Entrepreneurship, Startup, Nonfiction, Personal Development, Self Help, Buisness

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Jose Papo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fantastic read. It blends in a simple way Customer Development, Lean Startup and Business Model Generation in a clear and compelling read. These new ways of creating new products, services and companies are best summarized by the fantastic phrase always said and really executed every day at amazon: "Start with the customer and work backwards"

[Curt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always knew it was better to be agile, keep investment low, try things until you find success. But these guys have formula-ized it. And it seem very powerful.

[Marv · Rating 5 out of 5]

I use the process and principles outline in this book every day. If you are starting a new business I suggest you use your time and resources wisely. Don't reinvent the start up, drive down a well proven path. Nail it Then Scale it shows entrepreneurs step by step how to follow an step by step lean development method, through discovery and development, entrepreneurs will be able to adapt and adjust quickly to create the product their customers actually want. The Nail It Then Scale it approach will enable you to pivot with agility as you fine tune your business.

[Shelley · Rating 3 out of 5]

as a business book, it has 3 good ideas. And they're worth reading the book to discover. but really. it's badly formatted (even self-published stuff should look better than this) - it's so badly formatted that it's distracting to read. Long repetitive explanations, overly formal language. That said, got some good bits. But will now promptly donate it to the library.

[Eliot · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book covering the basic reasons why startups fail and what they need to succeed - big theme is that startups scale too early, and don't learn from experience. A bit like a light version of The Lean Startup with some additional insights from the author's experiences as a VC.

[Collette Brennan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first entrepreneurial read, and I'm glad it was. The insights here are priceless if you plan on starting a company or working for a startup. Although the beginning seemed a little repetitive, overall I believe this process could make or break a company.

[Gabe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. He knew what he was talking about. So many people have been able to start off because of him. The best comprehensive review and summary ever can be found here: http://abinoda.com/book/nail-it-then-...

[Benjamin Rytting · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you want to be an entrepreneur, it's a good read

[Ujjawal Chauhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three good ideas from the book:
1. Nail the problem: Talk to your customers - a lot.
2. Nail the solution: Experiment/prototype/analyze/iterate
3. Nail the scale: Scale only when the time is right and business model/revenue streams are figured.

To add, we're between 1-2 right now, and few weeks ago, we provided our product solution free of cost to companies and expected this was a good idea - since there was no friction for them to use it so they'd at least try. But we realised that these people were not serious about using it, did not value it, and provided almost zero constructive feedback.

One personal takeaway just was to have our customers pay us from Day 1. It is really a counterintuitive but great advice: people associate higher value to goods that they pay for, and for you as an entrepreneur, it really puts the customer you want to target in clear sight. Also, the paying folks are great for advice and uncovering painpoints - because they're very vocal about what they like or dislike - they're paying us after all and no one pays for something they don't want to use.

Since the time we've put a price label to it, we've already found good customers, who're ready to pay us, and boy, they are very gung-ho what they like or hate about it! Time to rejoice and build better!

[Caolan McMahon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most American business books, this is a patronising sales pitch made of cherry-picked case studies and anecdotes, with few counter-examples to tease-out the detail and nuance.

It is obsessed with providing a marketable programme and N-step guides to success. It is repetitive, often re-telling the same story in a later chapter with little extra context, and uses every trick available to pad out pages and justify it's price tag.

Thankfully, the advice itself continues to be very sensible and rescues what is otherwise a terrible execution. It will often sound obvious, but hearing the advice anew is a great reminder to actually apply it.

This book is similar to 'The Lean Startup' - which I read 6 years ago now. I think I preferred 'Nail It Then Scale It' and you don't need to read both.

[Manuel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un excelente libro sobre metodologias para las etapas iniciales y mas criticas de las startups, especialmente de tecnologias de informacion y comunicaciones. Condensa, filtra y estructura muchas metodologias en boga como Customer Development de Steve Blank, Lean Startup de Eric Ries y Business Model Canvas de Alexander Osterwalder, para de una manera practica, proponer una metodologia bien estructurada de como reducir el 90% de las causas de fracaso de una startups, que tienen que ver mas que nada con encontrar el problema y solucion para un mercado especifico.

[Ryan Seamons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect book for seeing a different view on starting a business. Nathan outlines the framework that allows entrepreneurs to actually test ideas before wasting time and money (which many entrepreneurs end up wasting). Good examples and outline about how to deal with the tech and market risks involved in ideas.

Definitely keep this close for the day when I start my business.

[Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Feedback is critical to the success or failure of a business. And it's important not to focus on the positive feedback that might validate your business model or assumptions. Rather, it's the negative or constructive feedback that's important. Be brutally honest with yourself. This will enable you to deliver products the market wants, not what you think they want.

[Carlos Gómez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excelente libro para entender una de las muchas metodologías que pueden ser tomadas al momento de emprender un negocio. Es una guía paso a paso con ejemplos reales de empresas que han optado por seguir sus recomendaciones.

[Garin Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Must read for every entrepreneur bringing new products to market. It answers the great question: how do you reduce the extreme uncertainty? Similar to The Lean Startup, but a different methodology.

[Zakir Jaafar · Rating 5 out of 5]

More simplified version of Ash Maurya's book but worth the read

Great book on the steps using Lean Principles. I recommend this book together with Ash Maurya's book on Lean Canvas.

[Jed Merrill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best business book I've read since SCRUM: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time.

[Najib Adderume · Rating 5 out of 5]

an amazing book for startup business owners and entrepreneurs

[Connor Wood · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked how this book removes entrepreneurship from only belonging to the hardworking and the luck and into the world of facts, validity, and sure-fire methods.

[SeaRob · Rating 4 out of 5]

I came to Nail It Then Scale It (NISI) after reading Running Lean. It felt long-winded with too many anecdotes that didn't add much for me. I prefer the tighter, process-first approach of Running Lean. Perhaps my experience would have been different if I had read NISI first.

All said, the NISI process has many similarities to Running Lean and may be superior in the details (tighter design). The underlying premise for NISI is to stay laser focused on a customer pain point that is worth paying for and developing a sustainable business model around that.

I'll be revisiting both multiple times over the next year for a deeper understanding. They're both definitely both best suited for paper format over Kindle.

[AJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

The principles taught in here were fantastic and incredibly useful, especially for someone wanting to start a business. I’d give this book five stars if it were based solely on the message it conveys. However, the writing style of the book was not engaging. It felt a little rough and repetitive, as though it needed a tad more editing (some grammatical errors and confusing wording were pervasive). And, as a minor annoyance, the layout of how the text was printed was not the most visually appealing and threw me off during the whole read. Overall, it felt like Harry-Potter-level content written in the same spirit as a textbook that was printed on a Ron-Weasley budget.

[Sam · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this for class. It is more an easier-read textbook for starting a company, than anything else. The examples included are great: they illustrate the principles, break the monotony of droll readings, and are somewhat entertaining. The authors are experts in the field and communicate great knowledge. If I were to begin the process of starting a company, this would be one of my first resources I would turn to to help prepare myself. However, there is no real point in reading this unless starting a company is your objective.

[Christopher Derrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal Business & Business Thinking Book

If you're wondering if it's worth the money, just purchase purchase this . What is phenomenal about this book is that the authors actually have the experience over many years to give you excellent theory that is somewhat counter-intuitive (like the Aeroprise example), and then back that up with relevant examples from companies that you've either heard of, or will now understand why you've never heard of.
An excellent read for founders at any stage of business development.

[Dalyn Springer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has completely changed my mindset on business. I was very lost and confused on how I could potentially start a business, but this book has given me a plan of action. I actually know the next steps that I am going to take, and it has given me multiple different options in how to get there. The book is well thought out, and it is well written. It is not confusing at all in the way that you can achieve success. It also helps keep you from making very treacherous mistakes. A must read book, especially if you want to be successful.

[Jimmy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just another book that says nothing but some ubiquitous ideas.
5 topics:
1. Nail customer pain.
2. Nail solutions.
3. Nail market strategy.
4. Nail business model.
5. Scale it.
Sounds cool, isn't it? But the problems, just like other books, it just says how to test, not how to create.
How to nail a pain? How to nail a solution? The writer says: just write them down and test them.
Isn't that ridiculous? Isn't that hilarious? Who doesn't know that?

These authors are disgusting.

[Terence · Rating 3 out of 5]

My first thought was that there is nothing new here. But then I realized this was written 12 years ago.

This book summarizes a lot of important topics that product managers should know but don't always remember.

So I would recommend this book and think entrepreneurs should read it and use the tools.

[Kenzie Koehle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, I'll admit it: I didn't read the entirety of this book. I skipped a couple pages or chapters. Had to get this book for my entrepreneurship class, and while I learned some interesting things, this book isn't really my jam. But hey, at least I tried out entrepreneurship and know a little bit better about what it is!

[Rahul Amarasinghe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book about starting an innovation I've read so far. It covers a lot of the same topics as Innovators Method, but goes into more detail in certain areas. I would say the value of this book over something like Discovery Driven Growth is the focus and simplicity for entrepreneurs to use in practice.

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book , cover to cover , essential read for anyone considering business startup , Nathan describes the MVP process in great details , I wish he covered more on the financial model, short section

[Kyle Harrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nail it Then Scale it is another book that I frequently recommended to people to read, but had never read it myself. While the concepts in the book are interesting and useful, it was a difficult book to get through. The writing and flow felt fairly sporadic.