Why Ukrainian Startups Threw Away The Lean Startup — And Never Looked Back
Ukrainan startup founders threw away the lean startup and the reason is simple:
Because Lean Startup Benefits the U.S. Business Ecosystem — Not Ukrainians
When Ukrainian founders were confronted with real problems — drones, energy, communication, civilian protection — they quickly discovered something:
The Lean Startup and Lean Scaling frameworks were never designed to benefit them nor their ‘customers’: civilians and soldiers.
They were designed to benefit Silicon Valley, U.S. investors, and the Lean Startup Mafia.
Ukrainian founders of startups, innovators in Ukraine in general including servant leadership of Ukraine realised:
- Lean Startup serves VC portfolios, not citizens.
- Lean Scaling serves corporate consultants, not soldiers.
- Build–Measure–Learn serves accelerator KPIs, not survival.
- MVP thinking serves U.S. startup ideology, not independence.
So they didn’t reject it because of war.
They rejected it because the incentives are wrong.
The beneficiaries are wrong.
The power structures are wrong.
The Lean Startup was and is written, promoted and used for the U.S. startup machine, not for founders of startups, directors of scaleups or leaders of countries that need real solutions during a crisis or a war in cities and on the battlefield fast.
Reach out
If you’re done with value-based Silicon Valley doctrines promoted by The PayPal Mafia & The Lean Startup Maffia and really want to help people in your network using methods that actually work, reach out to us at The Virtual Business School by filling in this form and we will contact you immediately for a short intake and a fast low-cost and free quote.
Warm regards,
Tony de Bree
