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MVP and Lean Startup Steps: What Should be my First Decision!
The First MVP and Lean Startup Steps
So what are the very first MVP and Lean Startup Steps I should take? Clearly this is my first question. Should I just start to develop an MVP in the form of the simplest course possible and see if anyone will purchase it? Is that the first of the Lean Startup Steps? Should I make a list of all the features that the product might contain and try to narrow it down to the ones I think are most crucial?
Wait, don't some Lean Startup advocates suggest that a Minimum Viable Product can just be a webpage that allows people to click on an order or preorder page? That’s certainly more of a minimum product than even the simplest course. So maybe I need to see if people will go to a webpage and preorder the course.
I can sum up my answer to all of the above in a word: "No!"
The first of the Lean Startup Steps is determining what you want to learn from the Minimum Viable Product!
Questions to Determine What to First Learn from an MVP and Lean Startup
Lean Startup MVP question 1: What are you uncertain about that could dramatically influence success? This question serves as the first filter to uncover what to test with your MVP Lean Startup.
Lean Startup MVP question 2: Can this uncertainty be best resolved through an MVP in contrast to less labor intensive methods? If so, an MVP and Lean Startup might be the right steps. Alternatively, if you can truly verify information with some simple library research or a few phone calls, don't build an MVP to resolve this particular uncertainty!
Lean Startup MVP question 3: How minimum can you build your product, yet still remain viable enough to resolve a critical uncertainty? If it can be pretty darn minimum yet remain pretty darn viable, developing the product to resolve that specific uncertainty might be the first of your steps! If, however, resolving the uncertainty requires that you build a minimum viable product that, despite being an MVP, is nevertheless expensive and complex, try to address other concerns first.
In my next MVP-Lean Startup blog, I will strive to answer the questions above to figure out how I should start.
My Journey's First MVP Lean Startup Lesson: The earliest of many Lean Startup steps is determining what you want to learn from the Minimum Viable Startup!
What are your thoughts about the Minimal Viable Product (MVP) and Lean Startup Steps?
Thoughts
By:Kyle M.
I think that the steps are very good. I would definitely want to try to take them before wasting time developing a fully fleshed idea that wont sell. I've seen a personal friend spend over a year developing a fully featured web service, without testing the waters with it. When he finally released it, it never sold... After considering these steps, I might even reject a business idea if I can't create some kind of MVP to test the waters with my product or service.
MVP Lean Startup observation
I think these questions provide a clear thought process to address tactics on how to implement a lean startup model. I like the approach of trying to provide the minimal viable product. This deters a person from including non value added service or increasing startup costs by adding features that are not immediately necessary.
An experiences entrepreneur may have knowledge of tactics that add value, but are not critical to success and drive up both costs and time for implementation. This may be something that a first time entrepreneur may want to avoid with a MVP lean startup.
MVP and Lean Startup Steps
The questions outlined are very helpful in determining if an MVP is necessary. In many cases, there are ways to avoid an MVP and I feel these questions can help vet that desire. I have personally seen entrepreneurs be so in love and focused on their idea that they have to build it, when in reality it’s not necessary. There are other ways such as research, surveys, to identify if there is a place for a product or idea without building it. And if you do decide to build an MVP, make it simple, and let your target market dictate how they want you to improve. And focus on what makes your product unique and borrow the pieces that others have already perfected. The MVP can save one a lot of wasted time and money if used properly. Although it does depend on the product and industry. In some cases you can just get away with describing your product and seeing who is interested and then build it after the fact (as long as you fully disclose this to your consumer). In summary,the lean start-up steps make sense and the MVP could be very helpful if applied correctly.
Learn Startup Steps
I think that the steps make a lot of sense. I especially like Step #2 which focuses on the importance of understanding if a minimum viable product will help test the market and understand what customers are looking for or of something more extensive, or even simpler, needs to be done to test the market. I definitely can see the usefulness of MVP, but it seems that it may not work for all industries. Some industries will benefit exponentially from it, as it may help determine what specifications customers want from a product before extensive work is done to create certain parts of the product that customers don't find valuable. Other industries may not have this luxury as the finished product may not look anything like the pieces that go into it. I am thinking specifically about the consulting/research industry which focuses on pulling lots of information together to create a report for customers. If customers are shown one piece or another they may not find anything very useful, but after analysis, the information may be crucial. Overall, I think that the MVP could be very beneficial to many industries, but Step #2 determining whether it is the correct fit for a specific business is vital because if someone wastes time using a MVP that is irrelevant, they may lose their advantage over competitors.