Issue #16: Building a minimum viable product (MVP)
Reading time: 4 minutes, 31 secondsBuilding a minimum viable product (MVP) is a crucial step for any start-up.
It's a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and validate the product idea.
This approach helps to reduce risk, save resources, and speed up the product development cycle.
The V in MVP means viable i.e. can you generate revenue with it?
Building an MVP is not always straightforward, and there are several ways people can get it wrong.
Including too many features: It can be tempting to pack as many features as possible into your MVP, but this can lead to bloated, complex, and costly development.
Ignoring user feedback: Gathering feedback is the whole point of building an MVP. If you're not actively seeking user feedback and making improvements based on it, you're not doing it right.
Focusing on design over functionality: While it's important to have a functional and user-friendly design, it's not necessary to have a polished final product at the MVP stage.
Setting unrealistic timelines: Building an MVP takes time and effort. It's important to set realistic timelines that take into account potential setbacks and delays.
Overestimating the market demand: Building a product without a clear understanding of the market demand can lead to failure. You need to validate your product idea and ensure that there is sufficient demand before investing too much time and resources.
So, how do you approach building an MVP successfully?
1. Identify your riskiest assumption is crucial
The next step is to identify the riskiest assumption that your MVP is based on.
This is the assumption that, if it is not correct, will cause the entire product to fail.
You may know what this is already. But if not here are 3 steps to identify the riskiest assumption:
Create a hypothesis: Start by outlining your assumptions and create a hypothesis around them. Be as specific as possible and write down the key metrics you will be tracking to measure the success or failure of your hypothesis. For example, if your solution is an app that helps people track their fitness goals, some of the assumptions you might make are that people want to track their fitness goals, they will find the app easy to use, and that the app will help them achieve their goals.
Validate your assumptions: Once you have your hypothesis, you need to validate it. Conduct surveys or customer interviews to gather feedback and data to support or disprove your assumptions. Look for patterns and identify trends that could indicate potential problems or opportunities. If we take our earlier example of a fitness goal tracker, this step would look to interview a range of people - maybe gym goers, runners, or just people in your network on if they think it’s important to track their goals. Bear who your target audience is as if you’re not targeting gym people there’s no point asking them.
Prioritize your assumptions: Once you have validated your assumptions, prioritize them based on the level of risk they pose to your business. Focus on the assumptions that are most critical to the success of your startup and require further testing or validation. This will help you to allocate your resources and time more efficiently and effectively.
2. Focus on the core features and show people
Identify the core features that are essential for your MVP and prioritize them. Keep it simple, and avoid including any unnecessary features.
Once you've launched your MVP, gather feedback from your early customers and use it to improve your product.
Treat this process as setting up experiments that are designed in a way that allows you to learn as quickly and as cheaply as possible.
Example 1: Zappos RAT
Tony Hsieh founder of Zappos (acquired by Amazon) wanted to start an online shoe store, but as none existed he were concerned that people would not buy shoes online without trying them on.
He designed an experiment where he went to local shoe stores, took pictures of shoes, and put them online.
When the shoes sold out, he would buy them from the local store, ship them to the customer, and return a profit.
This experiment validated the assumption that people would buy shoes online without trying them on.
Example 2: Dropbox MVP
Dropbox launched an MVP in 2008 that was just a simple video demonstrating their product.
The video went viral, and Dropbox was able to raise $1.2 million in seed funding just weeks later.
Simple tests like these go a long way to proving out the business is viable.
Iterate and improve - building an MVP is not linear
It is important to recognize that building an MVP is a process, and not a linear one at that.
This means that the process of building an MVP will involve multiple iterations of development and testing, with feedback being used to refine the product.
It is important to be adaptable and flexible, and to embrace changes as they come.
This graph by Y-Combinator shows this process:
Conclusion
Building an MVP is an essential step for any start-up, but it's important to approach it correctly.
By avoiding common pitfalls and following the actionable advice provided in this blog, you can increase your chances of success.
Remember, the MVP process is iterative, and it's essential to gather feedback and make adjustments along the way.
With a successful MVP, you'll be on your way to building a product that solves a real problem for your customers.
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