A minimum viable product is the smallest version of your idea that can deliver real value to a real user. The goal isn’t to ship a small product, it’s to ship a learning instrument dressed up as a product. You’re trying to find out whether your assumptions hold, and the cheapest way to test them is to put a real version in real hands.
Why it matters
Every week you spend not shipping is a week you don’t learn. The MVP frame protects you from the most expensive form of self-deception: building a polished version of the wrong thing.
Common mistakes
- Confusing MVP with prototype. A prototype is throwaway; an MVP is what you start a company on.
- Padding the scope. "I’ll just add this one thing" is how 5-day builds become 5-month builds.
- Skipping the marketing site. If no one knows the MVP exists, you don’t learn anything from it.