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Minimum Viable Product Explained

The document discusses the concept of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), emphasizing its role in gathering valuable user feedback rather than generating profits or focusing on scalability. It highlights the importance of building an MVP quickly, ideally within weeks, and iterating based on customer input. Additionally, it outlines key do's and don'ts for creating an MVP, stressing the need for outreach and user engagement to validate the product idea.

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Ashutosh Kumar
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32 views3 pages

Minimum Viable Product Explained

The document discusses the concept of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), emphasizing its role in gathering valuable user feedback rather than generating profits or focusing on scalability. It highlights the importance of building an MVP quickly, ideally within weeks, and iterating based on customer input. Additionally, it outlines key do's and don'ts for creating an MVP, stressing the need for outreach and user engagement to validate the product idea.

Uploaded by

Ashutosh Kumar
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Note5: Minimum Viable Product

- Lecture Notes by Dr. Rahul


Kapoor
MVP
Now that you have done some market research, interviewed potential customers
and firmed up your idea, it is time to build a Minimum Viable Product (MVP).
It is very hard to talk to prospects if you don’t have anything to show. An industry
professional will give you time out of goodwill to answer market research
questions. But if you can put something in front of them, they will talk to you with
rigour and excitement.

What is a Minimum Viable Product?


An MVP is your first product release with only the most critical features (that
work!)
Your MVP can be a natural extension of speaking to potential customers.
Customise an offering for only one customer, for only the most urgent and
presumably useful features.

💡 Don’t mistake an MVP for something that is low quality or half cooked.
The idea is to make less but make great!

Why build an MVP?


The goal of the MVP is to receive valuable feedback. This will determine the future
direction of your startup, your customer validation and product development
process.
Please re-read the above statement! “The goal of the MVP is to receive valuable
feedback.”
The goal is:

Note5: Minimum Viable Product - Lecture Notes by Dr. Rahul Kapoor 1


NOT to generate profits

NOT to think about the final product

NOT to think about scalability

Sure, if you can sell a paid trial with your MVP, that’s great to keep startup
finances ticking. But the only focus should be to recruit the first users for your
offering.
Once people use your product, you will know if and how much customers are
willing to pay.
Early user feedback can save you months or years of aimless product
development. It’s easier to pivot early than if you have heavily invested in your
product.
REAL validation will happen when people use your product. Your startup grind is
just about to begin! :)

How long does it take to build an MVP?


The answer is: “not 2 years.”
Ideally, your MVP should only take a few weeks to build (except if you are in an
industry where there is heavy regulation and long product lifecycles like banking,
biotech, manufacturing, etc.)

The founders of AirBnB, Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia, used their own apartment
to validate their idea of peer-to-peer rentals. They created a basic website and
posted pictures of their property. They targeted tech conference attendees at a
single conference and found three people who were willing to pay $80 per night.

Even after that they did not start building a product for everybody. Their target
audience, at first, were similar to themselves, that is hosts who lived near high
profile events. They continuously made small iterations to keep building on user
feedback.

Check out the story of AirBnB’s MVP: [Link]

Assignment

Note5: Minimum Viable Product - Lecture Notes by Dr. Rahul Kapoor 2


As a fun exercise, I would like you to check out the first versions of Twitter, the
well know social media service:
[Link]

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a small step.”

Some Don’t’s about MVPs


1. Don’t worry about scaling. Only think about being useful to one or few users.

2. Don’t fall in love with your MVP! Think about the problems it can solve.

3. Don’t build new features in isolation without customer feedback.

4. Don’t think about launching big. MVP is not the time to do press releases or
give media interviews!

5. Don’t be inflexible about user feedback. Stay open minded.

6. Don’t just execute, execute, execute. Learn and discover!

“Build it and they will come”


An MVP will cause you to spend substantial amount of time doing outreach. You
will have to cold call/email potential users, send DMs on LinkedIn or Twitter,
schedule meetings and much more.

You will also realise that several followups are needed to get feedback. You might
have to come across as slightly annoying too. But all this will teach you that “Build
it and they will come” is the biggest startup myth ever! You and your team will
have to be the engine that drives user growth!

Note5: Minimum Viable Product - Lecture Notes by Dr. Rahul Kapoor 3

Common questions

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Customer feedback plays a critical role in the iterative process of developing an MVP by guiding necessary product adjustments and enhancements. By engaging with initial users, entrepreneurs can gather insights into what features or aspects need improvement or are appreciated. This ongoing loop of feedback and iteration ensures that the product evolves to meet actual user needs, making the development process more responsive and aligned with market demand .

Customer feedback from an MVP can inform marketing and product development strategies by identifying core user demographics, preferences, and key product features that resonate with users. This information allows for tailoring marketing messages to highlight these aspects and attract similar users. Product development can focus on refining existing features and adding new ones that are highly requested, thereby increasing product-market fit and ensuring that both marketing and product strategies are aligned to user needs and competitive positioning .

Entrepreneurs might face challenges such as difficulty in reaching potential users, unresponsiveness, and the need for persistent follow-ups to collect valuable feedback. To mitigate these challenges, entrepreneurs can employ various outreach methods like cold calling, emailing, or leveraging social media platforms. Being slightly persistent in follow-ups, framing questions to elicit constructive feedback, and building relationships with early adopters can help in overcoming these obstacles .

When deciding the features to include in an MVP, key points to consider include identifying the most critical features that align with solving the primary customer problem to ensure functionality. The focus should be on features that provide immediate value to the user rather than comprehensive offerings. Additionally, features should be developed based on potential customer feedback scenarios and should be aligned with achieving the goal of validating the product concept .

The concept of MVP prevents extensive product development based on assumptions by prioritizing early user feedback over making a fully developed product. By launching a product with only the most critical features, startups can test and validate their ideas without a significant upfront investment. This approach allows founders to make informed decisions based on actual user interactions and adapt their product according to real customer needs, thus avoiding the risk of developing features that may not be demanded .

Common misconceptions about MVPs that entrepreneurs should avoid include thinking that it should be a low-quality product, focusing on scaling too early, building features without customer feedback, falling in love with the MVP rather than being objective, and expecting media coverage or large-scale public launches. Entrepreneurs should aim to solve specific user problems, be flexible with user feedback, and prioritize learning and discovery over mere execution .

It is recommended not to focus on scalability when developing an MVP because the primary goal at this stage is to validate the product concept through user feedback rather than to grow the business. Scalability concerns can divert resources and attention away from ensuring that the core idea effectively meets user needs. Focusing on being useful to initial users and refining the product based on feedback should take precedence over scaling operations prematurely .

The use of MVP aligns with the strategic objective of managing limited startup resources efficiently by focusing efforts on developing only the essential features required for early validation. This targeted approach reduces upfront investment in development and mitigates the risk of channeling resources into features that might not be viable. By prioritizing feedback and validation, startups can allocate resources more effectively based on actual needs and potential returns, optimizing their limited budgets .

The story of Airbnb illustrates the principles of developing an MVP through the founders' approach of using their own apartment to validate their business idea. They created a basic website and targeted tech conference attendees as their initial market. With limited features, they were able to obtain user feedback, validate demand, and make incremental improvements based on customer interactions. This allowed them to refine their model and gradually expand their audience, demonstrating the MVP's role as a stepping stone for further development .

The key purposes of developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) include receiving valuable feedback from the initial users, which helps in determining the future direction of a startup, validating customer needs, and guiding the product development process. The MVP is not meant for generating profits or focusing on the final product or scalability. The goal is to recruit first users who can provide insights on customer willingness to pay and necessary improvements .

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