Product 101: Build Your MVP

Content

A Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is often described as the smallest version of a product you can build. But “smallest” by itself is not very useful. The better question is: what are we least certain about, and what is the smallest experiment we can build to find out whether we are wrong?

In this meeting, we’ll look at MVPs as tools for learning rather than stripped-down versions of finished products. We’ll explore how to identify the assumptions underneath an idea, determine which assumptions are the riskiest, and design an experiment that tests them with as little time and effort as possible.

We’ll also discuss why cutting features does not mean cutting the parts that make the product trustworthy or usable. Sometimes the most important parts are the boring, expected ones that users rarely mention until they are missing.

Using examples such as the early experiment that eventually became Zappos, we’ll examine how founders and developers can test demand before investing heavily in infrastructure, features, or engineering.

The goal is to leave with a practical framework for deciding what to build first—not based on what looks impressive, but on what will teach you the most.