Lean Analytics

Lean Analytics shows us why the best startups and companies are able to make data-driven decisions. Have you ever wondered how to measure success? How could you measure your entrepreneurial progress?

Alistair Croll gets to the bottom of these questions in his book Lean Analytics. Even though the book was published back in 2013, the topic has lost none of its relevance – quite the opposite. In this review, you will find out why I still think the book is far too long and bloated.

How can I use data to see whether I am on the right track? Which data might be relevant to me, and which data do other (similar) companies measure? Alistair Croll answers these and many more questions in his successful book Lean Analytics.

In very simple terms, we learn why it is so crucial to be able to say, based on data, whether you are really making progress toward your ambitions. Far too often, assumptions are made without really making the effort to think about how you could make your assumption measurable.

Whether software, marketplace or app, whether a digital or a physical product: on the road to success, you will keep forming hypotheses about what a customer probably wants and what they do not. In Lean Analytics, we learn which possible metrics you could use to measure success/progress.

The book is therefore best suited for those to whom the topic is completely new. Hence the book’s balancing act: on the one hand, it tries to pick up newcomers, and on the other, to go into depth. That does not work. To be interesting for beginners as well, (in my opinion basic) topics such as the Lean Startup model are covered once again.

Whether entrepreneur or intrapreneur, far too often we develop something and invest a lot of resources in an idea without thinking about how we can measure whether we are on the right track. Of course, we could look at our bank account at the end and measure success by how much money comes out, but by then it is usually too late.

On the road to success, you climb many small steps, and each of them can be made measurable somehow. That is exactly what the book is about. Even though I find the topic incredibly exciting and relevant, the content could have been cut drastically. As much as I like real-world examples, in Lean Analytics they were (unnecessarily) dragged out.

On top of that, while the book keeps talking about focusing on your metrics and deciding based on them, it repeatedly strays from its actual topic itself. It works in Lean Startup, digital business models, marketing funnels and other standard models. All important topics, yet the author keeps losing focus himself, which adds to the length. So for me, despite its exciting and relevant topic, it is only a weak book.