Sprint
Jake Knapp · 2016
Google Ventures designers Jake Knapp, John Zeratsky, and Braden Kowitz reveal the five-day sprint process their team used at Google and dozens of startups to solve big problems and test bold ideas with a realistic prototype and real customers, before building anything.
The Google Ventures playbook for compressing months of debate and risk into five days, build a realistic prototype and test it on real customers before you bet the company on it.
Three of the ideas you’ll keep
The Clif summary of Sprint pulls out 7 insights. Here are the first three.
- The **sprint** compresses months of arguing and endless meetings into a single structured week. Monday you **map** the problem, Tuesday you **sketch** solutions, Wednesday you **decide**, Thursday you **prototype**, and Friday you **test** on five real customers.
- Every sprint needs a **Decider**, the person with real authority, physically in the room, because a group of smart people 'brainstorming' without a decision-maker produces consensus mush, not a sharp bet worth testing.
- Knapp's rule of 'together alone': the best ideas come not from **group brainstorming** but from individuals sketching in silence, then the team voting, so quiet experts aren't drowned out by the loudest voice.
The other 4 — and the full 11-minute summary — are in the app.
What’s inside: 8 chapters
The whole summary runs about 11 minutes, read or listened to.
- The Idea Behind the Sprint
- Set the Stage: People, Time, and Space
- Monday: Map the Problem and Pick a Target
- Tuesday: Remix, Improve, and Sketch Solutions
- Wednesday: Decide and Storyboard
- Thursday: Build a Realistic Facade
- Friday: Test With Five Customers
- What the Sprint Really Buys You
Finish Sprint tonight.
Read or listen to the full summary in about 11 minutes, then keep the ideas with a minute of review a day. Start with the 2-minute quiz — no card required.
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