Lean Startup: Opportunity Discovery or Opportunity Creation?

Abstract

This paper situates lean startup within the debate on whether opportunities are discovered or created. Drawing on complexity theory, lean startup is described as a technique that enables an entrepreneur to search for peaks on a fitness landscape. While much of the lean startup literature characterizes this as a discovery process, we demonstrate that a dancing fitness landscape also resembles opportunity creation. We then explore the implications of this finding for theory and practice.