What is an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) and why does your business urgently need it?

The most costly mistake of novice entrepreneurs

Imagine you have a “brilliant” idea for a mobile app. You ask for a loan of S/ 50,000, hire programmers and lock yourself in for a full year to develop it with all the functions imaginable. Finally, you launch the app with great pride and... no one downloads it. You just made the most classic and lethal mistake in the business world: building something that no one wants.

To avoid this financial tragedy, the movement Lean Startup introduced a concept that changed the history of technology: The MVP or Minimum Viable Product.

What does MVP really mean?

The acronym MVP comes from English Minimum Viable Product (Minimum Viable Product). This is not an "incomplete", "mediocre" or "error-ridden" product. An MVP is the most basic version of your product that allows you to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about your customers, with the least possible effort.

Your only and main objective is not to make millions on day one, but validate a business hypothesis. You want to answer the question: Are there really clients willing to pay for the solution I am offering?

Anatomy of a Perfect Minimum Viable Product

• Must be "Minimum": It should only include the main functionality (Core Feature). If your app is for ordering taxis, the MVP only needs a button to order the taxi and a basic map. Zero customizable avatars, zero point systems, zero community forums.
• It must be "Viable": Even though it is basic, it should work stably and solve the user's main problem effectively. If the app crashes when trying to order the taxi, it is not viable.

How giants like Airbnb and Dropbox used MVP

Before they were billion-dollar empires, these companies started with ridiculously simple MVPs:

• Airbnb: The founders did not build a global reservation system. They simply created a static website with photos of their own apartment and offered inflatable mattresses for conference attendees. When they got 3 paying clients, they validated that strangers were willing to sleep in other people's homes.
• Dropbox: Its founder, Drew Houston, didn't even build the software in the beginning. He just made a 3 minute video simulating how file syncing would work. The video went viral and their waiting list went from 5,000 to 75,000 people in one night. The claim was validated without writing a single line of complex code.

Wallpay and agile development

If you have a technological business idea, don't jump into the void. At our agency we help you define the essential characteristics of your product to launch a functional MVP to the market in record time. Let's build fast, measure the response of Peruvian users and iterate towards success.