It’s time to go lean, entrepreneurs — or at least that’s what startup veteran, speaker and author Alistair Croll would tell you. He recently published a book called “Lean Analytics” that teaches aspiring business owners how to use data to test and refine their concept, before investing (and potentially wasting) money on an idea that will never sell.

There was a time when the business leader was the most convincing person in the room—think John Hamm in Mad Men. That’s because we didn’t have data, so we defaulted to whoever sounded smart. Today, the hard part is getting attention. So the economics have changed from “build it first” to “get the attention first,” Croll told me during an interview at my company’s Austin,TX-based office.

With so much on the line, it’s easy for the startup owner to become a micromanager, constantly hovering over employee shoulders with “helpful tips.” But real productivity and efficiency arise when employees are given the right tools and freedom to invest in the success of the company — not when they’re micromanaged. Here are a few ways a startup can create both a sustainable business structure and an efficient work culture.