Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
In one sentence
The smallest version of your product that lets you learn whether you're on the right track.
The simple version
An MVP isn't a cheap or broken product. It's an experiment. You build just enough to test your biggest assumption with real people — sometimes that's a landing page, a video, or doing the service by hand.
Why it matters
Building the full thing first can take a year. An MVP can give you the same answer in weeks.
How to do it
- 1Name the single riskiest assumption in your idea.
- 2Ask: what's the fastest way to test it with real users?
- 3Build only that — cut everything else.
- 4Decide upfront what result counts as 'yes'.
- 5Launch, measure, learn, repeat (Build → Measure → Learn).
Real-world example
Zappos' founder tested whether people would buy shoes online by photographing shoes in local stores and buying them at full price when an order came in. No warehouse, just proof.
What the books say
“The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
“If you are not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late.”
Common mistakes
- Adding 'just one more feature' before launching.
- Building an MVP without deciding what you're trying to learn.
- Treating the MVP as the final product.
Questions people ask
Does an MVP have to be software?
No. A landing page, a spreadsheet, a manual service or a pre-order form can all be MVPs.
How minimal is too minimal?
It's too minimal if it can't actually test your assumption. It's too big if you're building things that don't help you learn.
References
- [1]
- [2]
More books on this in the library
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
Unorthodox product management guide for startups from Tony Fadell, covering processes for MVP building, team leadership, and product iteration based on iPod and Nest experiences. Key use cases include rapid prototyping and scaling hardware-software products. Offers a hands-on alternative to theoretical PM books like Inspired.
Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making
A practical startup and product-building book by Tony Fadell that shares hard-won lessons from building world-changing products at Apple, Nest, and other ventures. It covers how to go from idea to product, lead teams, navigate investors, and make products that truly matter—highly relevant for startup founders learning to build and ship things people love.
Build
Written by Tony Fadell, the creator of the iPod and Nest, this book shares lessons on product development and leadership. It offers insights into building innovative products, making it a great resource for product-driven founders.
Growth Hacking
Spanish-language book on growth hacking that teaches a systematic, fast-paced experimentation method to grow businesses (physical or digital). Reviews highlight its value for startup founders and marketers who already know some digital marketing and UX and want to level up their skills, complementing frameworks like Scrum, Sprint, and Lean Startup to build high-performing, innovative companies.
Hacking Growth: How Today's Fastest-Growing Companies Drive Breakout Success
Sean Ellis and Morgan Brown outline growth hacking tactics for founders, including cross-functional teams testing acquisition, activation, retention levers. Key metrics like viral coefficient and North Star Metric drive scaling teams via rapid experiments. Vs Blitzscaling, it focuses on data-driven efficiency over pure speed.
Do More Faster: Techstars Lessons to Accelerate Your Startup
Brad Feld compiles accelerator tactics for founders to accelerate growth through rapid iteration, team building, and customer validation. Key metrics include weekly progress velocity and milestone achievement for scaling early teams. Vs. Blitzscaling, it focuses on structured acceleration for pre-scale startups.
Learn next
What is a startup?
A startup is a new business searching for a model that works, under a lot of uncertainty.
Product-market fit
When you've built something a real market badly wants — and you can feel the pull.
Do things that don't scale
Early on, win users by hand and look after them personally — automation comes later.