(2023-05-26) Maurya Moving Beyond MVP

Ash Maurya: Moving beyond MVP. After 14 years, I'm abandoning the MVP. Because definitions matter.

At this point, almost anything used to learn from customers passes the MVP test, where P can be a
Promise (e.g., a landing page),
Prototype (e.g., working demo), or
Product (release 1.0).

Naming stuff is hard, so I'm choosing to keep it functional rather than trying to be clever.

MDVFP (pronounced MD VFP)
M: Minimum (the smallest feature set)
D: Desirable (that customers want,)
V: Viable (that makes your business model work)
F: Feasible (that you can build quickly)
P: Product (and package as release 1.0)

As for definitions, I won't give you one but three

Business model perspective:
The MDVFP is the smallest solution that creates, delivers, and captures monetizable value from users and customers.

Design Thinking perspective:
The MDVFP is the smallest desirable, viable, and feasible solution.

Jobs-to-be-done perspective:
The MDVFP is the smallest solution that causes a switch from an old way (existing alternatives) to your new way, i.e., customers fire the old way to hire your new way.

The MDVFP is not a landing page, teaser page, or pitch... I use them heavily to test interest and even define an MDVFP, but a product they are not. So I prefer to use a different label instead: Offer.

The MDVFP is not a working prototype, alpha, or beta

Customers today have many choices and don’t want to be guinea pigs in an experiment.

The MDVFP is not “just” an experiment.

an MDVFP isn’t just an experiment. It’s one kind of experiment, as is an offer and a demo

How to Define and Build an MDVFP

3 step process:

Business Model Design

on a Lean Canvas.

Mafia Offer Campaign

Build MDVFP