MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
An MVP is the simplest version of a product that can be released to early customers, containing only the core features necessary to test a business idea and gather real user feedback.
A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a development strategy where a new product is created with just enough features to be usable by early adopters. The goal isn't to launch a polished, feature-complete product, but to get something into users' hands as quickly as possible to validate your assumptions and learn from real feedback.
Rather than spending months or years building a feature-rich product that nobody wants, you build the minimum viable version, launch it, learn from user behavior, and iterate. An MVP focuses on solving one core problem exceptionally well.
In practice
- Dropbox's MVP was a simple video demonstrating how the product would work, which generated 70,000 email signups overnight, validating demand before writing any code
- A SaaS startup built an MVP in 6 weeks with just 3 core features, launched to 50 beta users, and used their feedback to shape the next 12 months of development
- A food delivery startup tested their MVP by taking orders via a simple website and personally delivering food from local restaurants, before building any logistics software
- An e-commerce brand validated their product idea with a one-page Shopify store and Facebook ads, confirming $10K in sales before investing in inventory and branding
Not sure how this applies to you?
A senior engineer walks your site, your search presence and the way enquiries reach you, then writes down the three things worth fixing first. You keep the document either way.