How to Build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product): A Guide for Founders

How to Build an MVP (Minimum Viable Product): A Guide for Founders

"If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late." — Reid Hoffman (Founder of LinkedIn).

Founders often fall in love with their "perfect" vision. They spend 12 months building a feature-rich app, launch it, and... crickets. Nobody cares.

The MVP approach solves this. It's about building the smallest thing possible to test if people actually want your solution.

What MVP Is (and Is Not)

• Is Not: A shitty, broken product.
• Is: A product with just enough features to solve the core problem for early adopters.
• Analogy: If your goal is to help people travel from A to B:
  • Bad MVP: A single car wheel (Useless).
  • Good MVP: A Skateboard (Simple, but gets you from A to B).

Step 1: Identify the "Value Hypothesis"

What is the ONE thing your product does?

• Uber: Push a button, get a ride. (Not split fare, not schedule ride, not UberEats).
• Airbnb: Rent an air mattress on a floor. (Not entire villas, not experiences).

strip away everything else. Features like "Dark Mode," "Social Login," and "Profile Pictures" are distractions.

Step 2: Choose Your MVP Type

You don't always need to code.

1. The "Concierge" MVP

Do it manually.

• Example: Food delivery app. Instead of building an app, get orders via WhatsApp, pick up food yourself, and deliver it.
• Goal: Test if people trust you with food orders.

2. The "Wizard of Oz" MVP

Looks automated on the front, manual at the back.

• Example: Zappos (Shoe store). The founder took photos of shoes at local stores and put them on a website. When someone ordered, he bought the shoes from the store and shipped them. He held zero inventory.

3. The "Landing Page" MVP

Sell before you build.

• Action: Create a website describing the product. Add a "Buy Now" button.
• Result: When they click, show "Coming Soon! Join Waitlist."
• Goal: Measure intent. If nobody clicks, don't build it.

Step 3: Build & Launch (Timeline: 2-4 Weeks)

Use No-Code tools to move fast.

• Website: Webflow / Framer / Carrd.
• Database: Airtable / Google Sheets.
• Automation: Zapier.
• App: Bubble / Glide.

Rule: If it takes more than 1 month to build, it's not an MVP.

Step 4: Measure & Iterate (The Feedback Loop)

Once live, look at metrics, not vanity numbers.

• Vanity: "1000 page views." (Means nothing).
• Actionable: "50 signups" or "10 purchases." (Means people want it).

Talk to users: Ask "What specific problem did you use this to solve?" and "What was the most frustrating part?"

Common MVP Mistakes

1. Feature Creep: "Let's just add one more thing..." (Stop it).
2. Ignoring UI/UX: It doesn't need to be beautiful, but it must be usable. If users can't figure out how to click the button, you fail.
3. Solving a Non-Problem: Building a solution looking for a problem.

Key Takeaways

1. Speed is Safety: The faster you fail, the cheaper it is.
2. Fall in love with the problem, not the solution. The solution might change (Pivot), but the problem remains.
3. Launch is a process, not an event. You launch, fix, launch again.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should I charge?

Charge from Day 1 if possible. Free users give polite feedback. Paying users give honest feedback.

Does MVP mean "Buggy"?

No. It means "Limited Scope." The few things it does, it should do reliably.

Start small, think big. Explore more product management and agile development guides on Sproutern