Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for startups

A simple definition of a Minimum Viable Product? It’s the version you can test with your earliest customer to see if they recognize the value the solution can deliver to them. When you show it to them for the first time, do they see the value? Can you validate that this feedback is positive and accurate? 

This is a necessary first step, before scaling up. With your Minimum Viable Product, you’re finding out who your product is really for. Just as importantly, you’re finding out who your product is not for - so you can focus on what’s important.

Serial tech founders will be more familiar with the definition than first-time startup CEOs. However, there’s even more to planning, building and testing a Minimum Viable Product.

Sometimes, your Minimum Viable Product needs to be ‘good enough’. Sometimes, it needs to work perfectly

With the benefit of 30+ years of experience in building and advising tech companies, 555 vCTO knows that there are MVPs… and then, there are not-so-minimal MVPs.

If your startup is in fintech, healthtech, or another highly-regulated sector, you may face a more demanding situation with your MVP. If your first test has to move $1 million from one account to another, it simply has to work. If there’s safety involved, an error, even at the MVP stage, can be embarrassing and ultimately fatal to your long-term success.

555 vCTO helps you understand what you need from your Minimum Viable Product. Learn what’s required at this early testing stage and get the help you need to build the technology that will open doors to future customers and open the wallets of Angel and VC investors.