Agile  in  a     Lean  Startup   BOOTSTRAPPING  AND  RUNNING  AN  AGILE  DEV  SHOP   

Agile  in  a  Lean  Startup   Agile  methods  are  managed  differently  in  the  larger  enterprises  and   established  organizations  than  in  small,  lean  startups.    In  this  talk,  I’ll  share  my   experiences  with  the  small,  fast,  agile  development  team  that  inspired  us  to   start  Improving.       We’ll  talk  about  how  to  run  your  business  on  the  “build,  measure,  learn”   mantra  using  agile  product  and  project  management  techniques,  as  well  as   agile  development  and  operations  techniques.    We’ll  also  discuss  how  much   process  is  enough  process,  tight  agile  team  formation,  and  pitfalls  that  keep   your  team  from  really  performing  and  maturing  as  you  get  comfortable  with   your  product,  process,  technologies,  and  organization.       Concepts  will  apply  to  true  start-­‐up  businesses,  as  well  as  lean  innovation   centers  in  more  established  companies.     

Speaker:  Todd  Girvin   [email protected]   Cofounder,  Improving  Enterprises   SVP,  Microsoft  Technology  Practice   former  Microsoft  MVP  for  C#   creator  of  the  AgileDotNet  conference   @tmgirvin   http://www.linkedin.com/in/tmgirvin     http://tmgirvin.com     

Speaker:  Todd  Girvin   •  7  startups  before  Improving   •  Each  progressively  more  agile   •  Finally  did  it  right  with  Friendzy   •  Started  Improving  to  bring  agile  methods  to  IT   •  Developed  courseware  using  Scrum   •  Taught  our  Marketing  to  use  Scrum   •  Continue  to  consult  and  mentor  teams  on  agile  methods   •  Huge  fan  of  The  Lean  Startup,  by  Eric  Reis   

What’s  the  difference?   STARTUP   •  Resource  constrained:  $,  ppl   •  High  risk   •  Limited  funding   •  Time-­‐to-­‐Market   •  Minimum  Viable  Product  iffy   •  !(“If  you  build  it,  they  will  come.”  )   •  Fewer  stakeholders  ==  good   ESTABLISHED  COMPANY   •  Chance  of  more  $$$   •  Can  borrow  ppl   •  Established  clients   •  Trust  from  the  market   •  Too  many  cooks  ==  risk   

Why  agile  methods?   Makes  problems  visible   Early  access  to  alpha/beta  product   “Make  mistakes  more  quickly”   

Agile  Software  Business   Build   Measure   Learn   

Recommendations   1.  Team  Formation   2.  Just  Enough  Process™     3.  Techniques/Practices   4.  Measurements   5.  Tools   

Team  Formation   •  1  to  10s  –  prefer  fewer   •  Team  Ownership:  everyone  pitches  in   •  Variety  of  skills/roles:   •  UX,  Dev,  QA   •  Ops/Build/Installer,  presenter,  SM/PM   •  Product  Owner  –  still  the  hardest  role   

Just  Enough  Process   START  WITH…   •  Scrum  –  light  weight   •  Sprint  planning   •  Daily  Scrum   •  Sprint  review   •  Pull  from  XP   •  Stories   •  TDD   ADD  LATER…   •  Continuous  Integration   •  Pairing     •  for  onboarding   •  for  hard  problems   •  Gated  Check-­‐in   •  Continuous  Deployment   

©2012 Improving Enterprises, Inc. • Business  Case   • Financing   • Scope  &  Approach   • Contracts   • Ini6al  Release  Plan   • Assemble  Team   Sprint  Planning   1  day   • Acceptance     Defined   • Team  commits   • Tasks  created   Product  Owner   establishes  vision  and   priori6zes  Product  Backlog   Sprint 1  to  4  weeks   Team  (BA,  QA,  Dev,  etc.)  creates   and  es6mates  Sprint  Backlog  (tasks)   Poten6ally   Releasable   Daily  Scrum <  15  minutes   Burn  Down   Sprint  Review 1/2  day   Sprint  Retrospec6ve 1/2  day   Burn  Up   velocity   Scrum 

Techniques/Practices   •  Prioritized  backlog   •  Story  form  of  requirements  –  light  weight   •  Short  increments  –  1  or  2  weeks   •  Automate  Everything   •  Unit  test  everything  –  preferably  TDD   •  Continuous  Build/Integration  Testing   •  Automated/Continuous  Deployment     •  Split-­‐Run/Multivariate  Testing   

Measurements   TEAM  HEALTH   •  Velocity   •  Impediments   •  Quality  Issues   •  Happiness   Dangerous:     •  Utilization,  Time  Tracking   BUSINESS  HEALTH   •  Revenue   •  Profits   •  Conversion  Rates   •  Network  Effect   “Vanity  Metrics”   •  Visitors,  New  Users   

Tools   •  TFS  Service   •  Team  City   •  Power  Shell   •  Skype   •  Google  Analytics   •  Custom  Reporting   Others?   

What’s  similar?   STARTUP   •  Risk  of  defunding  or  market   shutout     •  Need  to  deliver  value  quickly   •  Keep  burn  rate  low   •  Competitive  edge  in  continuous   innovation   ESTABLISHED  COMPANY   •  Risk  of  defunding  or  change  in   strategy     •  Need  to  show  progress   •  Spend  money  wisely     •  Keeping  company  relevant   through  continuous  innovation   Others?   

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