Is Lean Still Lean? | From Market Strategist to SaaS Founder

Verena and Simon revisit one of the foundational frameworks in startup building - the Lean methodology - and ask whether it still holds up in the age of vibe coding and no-code.In this episode they explore how Eric Ries' build-measure-learn loop has been reshaped now that building a product is up to 10 times faster and 10 times cheaper than the traditional 100k, 12-to-18-month build. They dig into the hidden danger of that speed: founders skipping validation altogether because building is suddenly easy, and finding out there's no customer only after they've spent the money. Their takeaway - speed solves the build, but not the clarity of knowing what you're actually testing.Verena sits down with Aneta, founder of Aithea.Aneta is a Munich-based founder with over 16 years in the compliance industry, building an AI-powered marketplace that helps organisations self-assess their financial crime risks and get matched to the right technology vendors - effectively replacing the expensive consultant for businesses with limited budgets.Aneta shares how deep market knowledge from her years as a global market strategy planner became her real validation, why she landed on a product "way beyond an MVP," and the honest reality of pricing something the compliance industry has never seen before. She also reflects on the trap of perfectionism, the unglamorous surprises of going from no-code prototype to live product - databases, hosting, password resets, notification emails - and learning to take the cut on feature creep and just launch.👉 Learn more: millionlabs.com 👉 Follow us on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MillionLabs