Lean Startups and Sproutcore (opens in new tab)

We are still using the 1.x branch of Sproutcore.

The widgets are really useful. Your apps will not be very different if you use them with the same theme every time but I think it's ok for a demo to show customers during the Problem Interview phase.

I agree that the state model is a bit overly complex but if you go past the learning curve it can work well. Also there are ways to kind of bypass it and use an approach more similar to what Backbone/Spine does. There is a recent blog post by the SC team that shows you you can do that with 2.0 branch: http://blog.sproutcore.com/sproutcore-2-and-ajax/

I can see why you would say that, especially back when we initially started looking at it (before Yehuda went over to Strobe), but more recently the docs/tutorials have become much better. We have invested a decent amount of time learning the framework and it has become really productive for us. Also, I haven't seen anyone using statecharts with the other frameworks. Not that they aren't, just haven't seen it. If you don't really know what statecharts are or what it means to have one backing your application, I would recommend just looking into it. It was eye-opening (for me at least).

It is more than a business plan. I have been reading Eric Ries's The Lean startup, and I find that the ideas shown there are more focused as defining a process to deal with uncertainty in startups using scientific methods. It is amazing!.

It definitely helps your business plan, but I think it goes beyond just the business plan, it actually provides a process to align and direct your startup to success.