10. Lean Blockchain

For developers interested in building blockchain products, simply investing time in the technology is not enough. The blockchain stack comprises business logic integrated deeply into the technology models. As a result, an introductory level of familiarity with frameworks that formally describe the components of a startup and how to build a company around a product is necessary. This chapter begins with lean methodology, a model created by Eric Ries that relies on three core principles: 1) transform the most basic version of your idea into a product that a customer can interact with; 2) talk to your potential customers early and often; and 3) iterate over that basic model with feedback from your customer to achieve a full product that aligns with customer needs. And we keep in mind this quote from Eric: “As you consider building your own minimum viable product, let this simple rule suffice: remove any feature, process, or effort that does not contribute to the learning you seek.” Then, we present the business-model canvas that breaks down lean methodology into nine applicable components. In addition, we talk about Geoffrey Moore’s approach to product-market fit for high-risk, high-reward technologies. Following this discussion, we present three models to help determine whether your organization can benefit from using a blockchain. Once a decision has been reached on using a blockchain, the Hyperledger Project provides multiple options for enterprise-grade blockchains that can be customized and deployed. Finally, we end the chapter with a brief overview of Hyperledger Composer and the templates it provides for capturing business logic.