Thread by @thisiskp_

A lot of founders I speak to are very attached to their MVP or v1

They often feel proud of it and hang onto it despite signs that it isn’t giving them or their customers what they need

Here’s how to have a healthy relationship with your MVP 👇🏽

(A thread 🧵)

Build around a thesis 🔮

For many founders, their MVP is their first public creation so naturally they are attached

But an MVP is only an experiment 🧪 infact just a curious question on whether users are even remotely interested in your offering

Is it solving a problem?

Make it about 1 or 2 core actions 🎯

Don’t expect your users to rave about your comprehensive product, that’s for a later stage

An MVP should ideally just enable and track 1 or 2 core actions

Ex: For a dating app, number of swipes

For a marketplace, no of items listed/day

Find a wedge for a GTM 🗡

An MVP will help you search for the real asset

“A clear go-to-market strategy”

This is the “lever” you’ll need to enter and exploit a huge market with a clever angle

What is it that the competitors are missing? What makes your offering unique?

An MVP gets people talking abt you 🗣

In my opinion, a startup is dead by default and awakens through the word of mouth from customers and people in the market

An MVP lets others play w your product and think about it

Even if it’s just a few users

Build a MOAT from day 1 🛡

The best MOAT I know of is community

Start with the 1st user, share stories, draw feedback, iterate & serve them well

Gradually they’ll rally around your product

Supplement your MVP 😎

Often times, a scrappy MVP won’t do it all for the user, substitute a part of it with manual intervention

Be the wizard of Oz for some flows

Don’t automate too early, you’ll miss the valuable lessons

Look for ways to interface directly w customers

Ship often but waver less 🏆

Once you are getting resonance from a clear set of audience, keep iterating and serving them in novel unique ways

Be flexible w the features

But be firm on the vision

Shipping is a great way to show how fast you can move based on feedback

Overall an MVP is not something you’d have to be proud abt 👀

It’s the experiment and the subsequent lessons which are more important

An MVP is just a vehicle

That’s why so many successful founders laugh at their own MVPs after a few months

That’s all 😀

Hope this helps to be less attached to your MVP and more focused on your audience and the problem at hand

Thanks for reading 🙏

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