15min
Sprint offers an effective method to test hypotheses and solve problems. It is a real study guide that teaches, step by step, how to create a prototype that can show the success or failure of a project in just five days. It is an essential tool, not only for startups that need to test their ideas, but also for those working on the evolution of established projects.
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Analysis and key concepts
01.
The Sprint method: five days of work to save time and money
02.
Setting the stage before starting the sprint
03.
Time factor and how it affects productivity
04.
Monday, the day of questions
05.
Tuesday, the day of potential solutions
06.
Wednesday, choosing the best solutions
07.
Thursday, going from the storyboard to a realistic prototype
08.
Friday, the demo day
09.
Quotes
10.
Take-home message
Generating ideas is crucial, as it is too easy to get bogged down by long-term projects that are based on questionable hypotheses. Sprint is a structured method that allows us to analyse specific problems and test new ideas quickly and thoroughly.
This method gives us the chance to “travel into the future”, envisioning the end product and the reactions of target customers before committing our money. When a risky idea succeeds in a sprint, the financial return is extraordinary. However, the most important thing is to identify failures, even if they are painful: to work with maximum efficiency means to detect deficiencies in five days.
How the sprint is organized: on Monday a problem is identified and we choose the topic our team will focus on. On Tuesday, possible solutions are suggested and “drawn”. On Wednesday the best solution is chosen, one that can turn into a testable hypothesis. On Thursday, a realistic prototype is created, which will be tested by real (or potential) clients on Friday.
The bigger the challenge, the better the sprint: if we are about to start a project that might take months —or even years— to develop, the sprint is the perfect launching point. More than anything, it is useful to test the relationship between the project and the customers: new ideas tend to fail because we take it for granted that the clients understand them. We must create the right alignment between the client and our ideas so that we’ll be able to reverse-engineer them and become aware of what must be developed.
You'll have 7 days free, and if you're not satisfied after 30 days, you can get your money back.
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The author
Originally from Wisconsin, John Zeratsky worked for a few years at Google, then YouTube, and finally Google Ventures, where he supported some of the company's most promising investments. He co-authored Sprint, the bestseller written with his friend Jake Knapp, as well as several contributions in publications, such as Time, The Wall Street Journal, and Wired, amongst others. After travelling for two years with his wife aboard their boat, John went on to work as an investment consultant, even giving classes at institutes such as Harvard University and the London School of Economics. In 2020, he co-founded Character, a company that invests in startups.
Braden Kowitz is a cofounder of Range, a consulting company for startups that counsels them on innovation and development processes.
Jake Knapp has worked between Google and Google Ventures for more than ten years; as a designer, he co-founded Google Meet and helped create products such as Microsoft Encarta and Gmail. He published the bestseller, Sprint, with John Zeratsky, and has been a guest lecturer at prestigious institutions, such as MIT and Harvard Business School. Thanks to his experience in time management strategy, he has worked as a coach at around 150 companies, including Lego, Slack, Uber, NASA, and Ideo. Today, he lives in San Francisco with his wife and two children, and manages Time Dorks, a newsletter dedicated to time management, with Zeratsky.
Edition
Publishing house:
Simon & Schuster
Year:
2016
Pages:
256
ISBN:
978-0593076118