HACKER Q&A
📣 MaknMoreGtnLess

Is an MVP the first thing a startup should build?


It seems to be widely believed that:

1. entrepreneurs shouldn't waste any time getting their ideas to collide with reality

2. Building an MVP, that helps visualize their ideas, should be the first thing a startup should build

i. Does this hold up to your experience?

ii. What are the pros and cons of this (MVP first ASAP) approach?

iii. Are there better approaches that have worked better for you?

  👤 nivertech Accepted Answer ✓
You need to find the fastest and cheapest way to de-risk your startup idea.

That can be MVP or it can be something else. For example if you're a FinTech lending startup, then you better prove that your loan algos/model are profitable, rather than building UI wireframes and mockups. You can do this by backtesting your models or building a simulation.

"The Lean Startup" book by Eric Ries is already 10-11 y/o, so it's not up-to-date and with lots of gaps.

Also, ignore most of the data-driven methods, as they require lots of data which will not be available for pre-launch product. Instead you need to build a theory about your potential users' needs, and focus on shipping something first.

I suggest to get familiarized with the following methodologies:

  - JTBD (Jobs To Be Done)
  - 5 Whys
  - GIST (Goals->Ideas->Steps->Tasks) method (partialy data-driven)
  - Google Ventures Research Sprint
  - Google Ventures Design Sprint
If you still decide to ship an MVP - focus on a single most important feature. Use nocode/lowcode tools if possible. Or use some addon/plugin/widget for an existing platform: i.e. a chatbot, Slack/Teams app, twitter bot, Chrome extension, etc.
👤 MaknMoreGtnLess
Happy to expand on this, but unless, the founders fit the exact beachead market the MVP is testing to help solve problems of, finding alternative ways to discover the beachead market than through an MVP, is a way more effective way to learn.

Definition of MVP: an actual product being built to "validate the product" with the beachead customers needs.

It's important to call out and define what an MVP means because other people might mean "cheapest market discovery tool" instead of "cheapest product validation tool" - very different things

👤 gashmol
IMHO its better to start with a UI prototype. It's much faster and cheaper while still being effective.