The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is the version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort. The concept, popularized by Eric Ries's The Lean Startup, is central to modern product development.
The MVP is not a cheaply made or unfinished product; it must be viable enough to solve a single, core customer problem reliably.
The Purpose: Build-Measure-Learn The goal of the MVP is to test your central business hypothesis—is this problem worth solving, and will people pay for my solution?
- Build: Create the simplest possible solution to the core pain point.
- Measure: Release it to early adopters and track key metrics (e.g., retention, usage).
- Learn: Analyze the data to decide whether to persevere, pivot, or stop.
Common Founder Mistake Founders often confuse the MVP with the minimum feature set. They spend months building five features when only one is needed to test the market. The time saved should not be used to launch sooner, but to dedicate more time to the Learn phase.
- Example: Dropbox's first MVP was just a short video showing what the product would do—it proved people wanted the solution before a single line of synchronization code was written.
Key Takeaway: The MVP is a learning tool, not a product release. You launch an MVP not to sell, but to figure out what customers actually value.
