202212120926 - How to launch a minimum viable product (MVP)

Online Article

Title: 10 incredibly clear steps anyone can follow
URL: https://twitter.com/thejustinwelsh/status/1600118362444632069
author: & Justin Welsh
bib:
tags: #thread #strategy #business

  1. Identify an unsolved problem in the market:
    1. Start by identify a problem or gap in the market you want to serve.
    2. The easiest way? Talk to your audience, look through your comments, check your emails and DMs.
  2. Begin your research phase:
    1. Start by diving deeper into conversations about the problem & where potential solutions fall short.
    2. Check ProductHunt, G2 Crowd, & other review sites.
      1. This will help you understand the landscape & identify potential gaps in competitive solution
  3. Prioritize the most important features:
    1. Create a list of features that fill the gaps you discovered above.
    2. Your MVP will need to have these in order to truly solve the problem.
      1. Prioritize them based on their potential impact and the resources required to implement them.
  4. Build out your prototype:
    1. Create a prototype of your MVP.
      1. This can be a simple mockup or a more detailed wireframe.
    2. The goal is to get a sense of how the product will look and function so that you can put it in front of potential users.
  5. Find your beta customers:
    1. Your beta customers are likely some of the same people you had conversations with when you started.
    2. Go back to them, restate the problem, share the prototype, and ask if they'd be willing to use it at a low cost in exchange for early feedback.
  6. Get testing:
    1. Test the prototype with your target audience to gather feedback and make any necessary adjustments.
    2. You want to make sure you're focusing on things like ease of use, stickiness, why users might churn out, etc.
    3. Most importantly: Does this solve the big problem?
  7. Use a lean building approach vs. { Blitzscaling
    1. Build the MVP using tools you already know how to use
      1. This means focusing on the core features and functionality and avoiding unnecessary bells and whistles.
    2. Not a dev? Go no-code with tools like Carrd, Stripe, Airtable, Zapier, etc.
  8. Launch:
    1. Launch the MVP and begin gathering data and feedback from users.
    2. Use this information to improve and iterate on the product over time.
    3. Do your hypotheses from testing with Beta users prove to be true across a wider audience of users?
  9. Analyze & improve:
    1. Continuously monitor and analyze user behavior and feedback to identify areas for improvement and new features to add.
    2. Don't let one customer pull you in any specific direction, no matter how big.
      3. Focus on commonalities across pros and cons.
  10. Develop & Expand:
    1. As the MVP gains traction and proves its value, continue to develop and expand the product to meet the evolving needs of users.
    2. Look for areas to increase stickiness, reduce churn, improve word-of-mouth, and solve additional problems you hear from users.