In 2007 I started a company that imported electric scooters from Shanghai, China, to the US. My goal was to displace Vespa with a more environmentally friendly product.

I did everything wrong in that business. I didn’t know Lean Startup and I didn’t have QuickMVP. I spent thousands on our initial products. I spent three months developing a gorgeous website. My best friends were my business partners. I even had my mother design our logo!

Six months into the business I silently gave up. We only sold one scooter. I blamed myself for being inexperienced, I blamed my partners for not working hard enough. It never dawned on me that maybe no one had a need for electric scooters.

About two years later I decided to restart the business and test out these new techniques called “Lean Startup.” Watch the below video for the rest of the story.