"Do You Really Need That Yet?" - Why Thinking Lean Can Save You Time, Money, and Burnout

Seven years.

That’s how long I’ve been coaching founders, running entrepreneurship workshops, and helping people grow their businesses - all without a professional website.

Sounds counterintuitive, right? Especially in an age where we’re told, “You need a personal brand!” or “Build your online presence or no one will take you seriously!”

Here’s the truth: I was getting consistent work through being headhunted, recommended, and via LinkedIn. People found me because of the value I was creating - not because I had a slick digital shopfront.

Only now, after years of delivering value, building a reputation, and evolving my offer, have I finally invested in a professional website: The Disruptive Realm.

Not because I needed it to start. Because now, it serves a real purpose. Even then - it’s an MVP.

That’s the heart of “thinking lean.”

Thinking Lean ≠ Thinking Small

A lean approach doesn’t mean being frugal to the point of scarcity. It means being strategic. It means experimenting, testing, and listening before overbuilding.

Too many founders start with what they think they need: a beautiful app, a full brand identity, investor pitch decks. But often, these are distractions from what the business truly needs - clarity on the problem, a validated solution, and early revenue.

Lean isn’t just trendy. It’s evidence-based. Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup popularized it, but it’s rooted in solid business logic. Research shows that startups that build iteratively and test continuously survive longer and grow stronger. CB Insights reported that 42% of startups fail because there’s “no market need.”

That one insight should stop us all in our tracks.

My Website Wasn’t the Starting Point - It Was the Outcome

I didn’t avoid the website because I don’t value branding. I waited because I had other priorities:

• Deepening my coaching practice
• Designing entrepreneurial learning experiences
• Building a network and reputation that generated organic work

Now, I have more clarity - on my mission, my offer, and my audience. That clarity made the investment worth it.

But even this website is just the beginning.

It’s an MVP - a first iteration. Over the coming months, I’ll be analysing its impact, reviewing analytics, and listening closely to feedback. Because like any product, it should evolve based on how it serves you, the community it was built for.

And if you do visit it - I'd genuinely welcome your feedback.

Pilots Over Perfection

One of the most powerful (and underused) strategies in early entrepreneurship is piloting.

Want to launch a coaching app? Run a group coaching cohort on Zoom first.

Building a B2B platform? Deliver the same outcome manually through Notion or Google Docs.

The scrappier your first version, the more you’ll learn. And the better your final product will be for it.

When founders say, “But won’t that make me look unprofessional?” I say: Nothing looks more professional than solving a real problem well.

Thinking Lean Is Also About Founder Well-being

This isn’t just business advice - it’s mental health advice.

Founders who overbuild early often get stuck. They invest emotionally and financially into something that hasn’t been tested. When feedback inevitably comes in, they feel crushed. Or worse, they keep investing to justify the sunk cost.

Thinking lean protects you from that.

It lets you fail small, learn fast, and adapt without burnout. It keeps your ego and identity from being tied to a product that’s still finding its shape.

Build What Matters, When It Matters

So yes, I have a website now. I’m proud of it. It reflects the growth of my coaching practice and the evolution of my brand. But it’s still lean. It’s still a work in progress.

Would I have gotten here faster if I built it earlier? No.

I might have built something that didn’t reflect the business I actually needed to grow. I might have gotten distracted by design over delivery.

Instead, I chose to learn, coach, adapt - and then build.

Here’s what I want you to take away:

• Lean is not about scarcity - it’s about clarity.
• You don’t need the app, website, or perfect brand to start.
• Validate first. Build second. You’ll save yourself more than money - you’ll save your energy, your direction, and your sanity.

✨ Curious to see what I eventually built (MVP and all)? Take a look at The Disruptive Realm. It’s where strategy meets soul - and the next experiment begins.