Also, Eric Ries himself says his "Lean Startup" methodology is adapted from the widely-adopted "Lean Manufacturing" methodology, which in turn is based on Toyot

Also, Eric Ries himself says his "Lean Startup" methodology is adapted from the widely-adopted "Lean Manufacturing" methodology, which in turn is based on Toyota's TPS: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_manufacturing http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/12/what-is-lean-about-lean-startup.html http://www.startuplessonslearned.com/2009/12/what-is-lean-ab... The fact that it is based on Toyota should be a clue that the "Lean" methodologies are not about size, but about efficiency. "Lean is centered around preserving value with less work" There are people using "Lean" as a new buzzword for small.