The MVP or minimum viable product is a term that has been popularized by Eric Ries with his Lean Startup methodology. The MVP concept is based on the idea that “a good MVP provides just enough value to get customers hooked.” In this article, we will look at 5 steps for creating an MVP and what you need to think about when building an MVP for your startup.
Let’s first look at what MVPs are not. MVPs are not presentations or prototypes. A slide deck is best used to show off your idea and get feedback on it before you start building anything whereas a prototype may be useful for testing product-market fit. MVPs aim to test the market itself by releasing an early version of your product to real customers generating real revenue.
At Seedology, we have seen companies that have spent tens of thousands of dollars building features and functions into the first version of their product that customers don’t need or desire. That is why MVPs are so important, they allow you to test your assumptions and validate whether or not there’s demand for what you’re building before investing in the development of a full-scale product. This validation comes from running an experiment – releasing MVP versions of your product on real customers so that they can try it out and give you feedback. MVPs are also used to acquire initial customers before building a full-scale product because they can be made available at lower costs than final products, which means that the risk is reduced for both the business (you) and your users (who try out your MVP).
MVPs should only be created when you’re ready to start gathering feedback, which means that MVPs are best used in situations where you can release your product quickly and inexpensively. MVPs need real customers so they cannot rely on assumptions or hypotheticals about what people want. MVPs can be used to validate ideas, but this should only come after you have gathered enough feedback and input to build the first version of your MVP through market research and planning.
The MVP process is broken down into five steps:
Prepare and research the market
Get ready to build your MVP
Launch your MVP
Start analyzing
Iterate
In step one you need to make sure that you have done some initial planning about what MVP versions of your product would look like. MVPs are not just collections of features so you need to decide which parts of your product should be included in MVP versions and which can be cut back or simplified. By planning MVP versions, you will have an easier time when it comes to designing them because you already know what needs to go into each one.
In step two you need to get ready to build MVPs so you can start planning how they will look. This means figuring out what your MVP release plan is and getting the resources you need for building MVP versions of your product, including time and money. This is where Seedology can help with both the financing and development of your MVP. Our equity MVP program helps early stage companies plan, design, and launch their MVP in exchange for equity. It is an exclusive program that can be a great route to help get your MVP produced without significant personal investment.
In step three you create MVP versions of your product for real customers to try them out and provide feedback. MVPs are not intended to be used as a product in itself, they’re just early versions of your final product which you release to real customers so that they can tell you what’s missing or wrong with the MVP version of your product.
In step four you analyze customer feedback and data gathered from MVP experiments. This is different from testing MVPs because you’re reviewing actual data regarding how users interact with your MVP product. This data will inform the production of future MVP versions and eventually, your final product.
In step five you iterate your MVP based on the results from customer feedback and data gathered from MVP experiments. This is where you use what you have learned to improve your product before moving on to a full-scale version.
In Conclusion
MVPs are used for various reasons depending on the type of business, but they all share an important common goal: to learn as much as possible about your target customers. MVPs are designed to answer key questions that can’t be answered until you’ve actually built MVP versions of your product and released them to real customers who provide feedback.
All in all, a well-engineered MVP will not only allow you to get to market faster and more affordably, it will also allow you to provide your customers with a better, more stable, and well-thought-out product that meets their needs and desires.
If you’re interested in learning more about MVPs or our Equity MVP Program, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team.
