Lean Startup is really hard to apply to this kind of business. Even when he had them made 10k at a time, he was only able to eke out 75 cents of profit on each

Lean Startup is really hard to apply to this kind of business. Even when he had them made 10k at a time, he was only able to eke out 75 cents of profit on each one. If he tried a smaller batch, the production costs would have eaten him alive. That said, I could see making a first batch knowing it will sell at a loss just to test the market.