

The Beatles: The Original Lean Startup - waxman
http://waxman.posterous.com/the-beatles-the-original-lean-startup

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jon_hendry
Oh good lord, this is just asinine. As if the Beatles were the first outfit to
start on a shoestring and then make it big.

I'm sure there are similar stories about early jazz artists, vaudeville acts,
English music hall performers, etc.

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waxman
Ha fair.

What's unique about The Beatles is the scale at which they transformed a
simple foundation into such an unrivaled commercial and artistic success.
Sure, there were earlier versions. But no other act went from shoestring to
massive influence in the way that The Beatles did.

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philwelch
I don't understand your point here.

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brudgers
From a organizational standpoint, the Beatles collapsed in less than ten
years.

Not to discount the artistic qualities of the Beatles' music, but the "Rolling
Stones model" has been successfully replicated far more frequently. Pick a
style, stick to it for the most part, minimize experimentation, and stay in
regular contact with your customers.

In other words, you're probably better off to focus on being a rock n' roll
band than to be the second band to use sitars.

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philwelch
The Beatles aren't even the best example of a commercially successful yet
artistically innovative band, when compared to acts like Pink Floyd, Led
Zeppelin, The Who, the Grateful Dead, Rush, Queen, Iron Maiden, Radiohead, or
Tool. Every single one of those bands was more innovative than the Beatles,
and while none of them may have sold quite as many records as the Beatles they
each maintain(ed) a very high level of popularity and success, even after
changes in style.

And if you're going to ask about commercial success, I would actually be
curious to know whether the Beatles' album sales were really that much more
lucrative than the massive arena tours half of these bands did or have been
doing for decades, or the endless touring of the Grateful Dead.

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stckrpnd10
Good comparison. Did Apple perhaps think the same thing? Their marketing (as
always) is brilliant as I would expect it as a nice push for iTunes & Ping.
It's hard not to like "Love Me Do." If the Beatles music changed over-time,
are you suggesting a pivot from the MVP? Perhaps just a change of times? Their
feat for being so liked/relevant for so long is nothing to sneeze at. Is that
possible for startups?

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NathanKP
I think that as far as longevity goes, both music and startups can vary in how
long they maintain audience interest. For instance, there are still people
today who like to listen to classical music, but that audience is still much
smaller than the audience who likes the latest pop star. The Beatles have
maintained a very loyal audience base, but as far as sales go they too are no
longer the most popular.

Just like music can slowly lose popularity as new generations become
interested in new genres, so web apps lose popularity over time. But I think
that decay is greatly accelerated by the fast moving nature of technology.
Therefore while 50 years doesn't move the Beatles into obscurity, and a couple
hundred years doesn't completely erase interest in classical music, just five
or ten years can sweep away a web app and replace it with something new.

It might be possible to create a startup which tries to maintain a small, very
loyal group of people who love the startup from the start and continue loving
it as it is for a long time, but just as in the music industry the best
results are achieved by constantly updating the style and techniques to match
what people want today.

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stckrpnd10
I agree with the above. I posed the question because it's an interesting
question on how does a startup (or band) maintain its base of loyalists -
especially if it stops evolving at some point. Comparing the two, I think
(we'd hope) that technology will evolve enough to replace itself quicker than
something like classical music. But, at some point, perhaps it won't or
there's a app that can last. For instance, I'm interested in how CraigsList
can keep its foothold / loyal followers? Sure has done an amazing job so far.

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wyclif
_Early successes like "Love Me Do", "Hold My Hand",_

That would be "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."

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mgkimsal
"Hold My Hand" was from the Rutles - it looks like the Beatles simply copied a
lot of the Rutles' better material.

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dflock
Ok, race to the bottom: how about 'Adam and Eve, the original lean..' - no
hang on: 'RNA: the original lean startup'. Oh: Quarks, the..

Anyway, I won the race. Can we stop now?

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macco
Nice title for link bait. You can't compare the beatles to a company - it
sounds good, but it is just wrong.

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durbin
I think "lean startup" has moved into a close second behind "social media
expert" as my most hated phrase.

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Tycho
Apple Records: the original incubator?

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edw519
Interesting analogy. A few other thoughts:

\- complimentary co-founders (Paul and John collaborated building stuff,
George was an expert at execution on the guitar, and Ringo kept them in sync)

\- release early and often (in clubs) to get user feedback

\- the perfect combo: a smart-ass team (Beatles) with a kick-ass product (pop
music) in a big-ass market (baby boomers).

\- the right advisers and CEO: Brian Epstein and George Martin. If it wasn't
for them, the Beatles might still be bootstrapping in Hamburg.

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mgkimsal
"release early and often" might as well be applied to their recorded output
too. How many bands today would be able to pull off 2 albums of 14 tracks each
per year for 2-3 years, including tours, movies and singles separate from the
albums? How many could do that with _great_ songs being written along the way,
seemingly progressing with each song?

