About this episode

Eric Ries discusses the common mistakes new founders make and the principles of the Lean Startup methodology.

When Eric Ries built his first startup, he believed he had the perfect plan. But when no customers showed up, the business collapsed, exposing a costly truth: being certain does not make you right. That failure forced him to rethink his assumptions and ultimately led him to develop the Lean Startup method, a new way of building companies grounded in testing, learning, and truth. In this episode, Eric chats with Ilana about why most startups fail before they even launch, how to test ideas early to uncover what actually works, and how leaders can build companies that scale without losing their values. Eric Ries is an entrepreneur, author, and startup strategist best known for creating The Lean Startup methodology, a framework that helps founders build businesses through rapid experimentation and continuous iteration. In this episode, Ilana and Eric will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:57) How His Childhood Curiosity Led Him to Computers (08:55) Dropping Out of Yale to Chase a Startup Dream (13:01) The Harsh Reality of the Entrepreneurship Fantasy (14:53) Why Silicon Valley Loves Failed Startups (19:37) Building, Scaling, and Leaving IMVU (23:09) Reinventing Your Identity After…

More episodes of Leap Academy with Ilana Golan

• Entrepreneur Magazine’s Jason Feifer: How to Build a Career Beyond Your Job Title | E159 · May 19, 2026 · 1h 2m
• Tim Draper: How I Spot Billion-Dollar Companies Before Anyone Else | E158 · May 12, 2026 · 55 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Leap Academy with Ilana Golan podcast page.