MVP – The Magical Acronym That Stands For Meaningful Content

oke efagene

October 6, 2014 11:59 AM

Minimum Viable Product is an approach envisaging the creation of a product that has only these qualities that guarantee the delivery of the main benefit/promise of your start-up.

Those looking at the three-letter title of this article shouldn't be surprised and confused. To reassure you, this is not a fragment from some sports column … MVP – in this case – is not the most valuable player from one of the English or European professional leagues, but an acronym that refers to tech start-ups.

Let's decipher it: MVP stands for Minimum Viable Product.

Many people from start-up background don't understand how much the production of the prototype/operating service etc. costs. There is very often a false belief that a product/service must operate perfectly from the very start.

Many graduates of technical universities suffer from – in my opinion – a wrong concept of perfectionism. I’m writing this based on my own experience, because I see that start-ups set themselves complicated and difficult tasks while they try to prepare their first alpha or beta.

Minimum Viable Product is an approach envisaging the creation of a product that has only these qualities that guarantee the delivery of the main benefit/promise of your start-up. Of course, you can’t use MVP approach if you are not able to define the benefits you want to offer to your clients.

It seems trivial but actually we very often have a tendency to define the product focusing on e.g. technology. Please remember: people do not pay for technology, but for the benefits it offers to them. So, if you define your benefit – by using MVP approach – create the first version of a product that does correctly only one thing, without any "nice to have" additional things (functions).

In this context, the best example comes from Shazam (one of the AppStore's legends), from the very start they were doing fantastically only one thing – recognizing music. There were not many "nice" things which you could add there. Shazam did only one thing but they were perfect in that.

Well, so why this MVP approach?

It is a great tool for risk management. The product in this stage is relatively cheap and we can easily check how it is evaluated by first users. We can check what types of changes they expect, which direction to take in the next stages. It will be much easier to convince the investor to "put in" additional money if it has the first results and sees that both You and Your product can perform in real life.

For these ones more interested in MVP, I recommend this book: "The Lean Startup" by Eric Ries.

Marek Zmyslowski is 28 years old and the Managing Director of . He established the first branch of the company in Africa in August 2013. Before joining Africa Internet Holding, he successfully co-founded and exited online ventures in Poland. Being an enthusiast of African culture and economic development, Marek moved to Nigeria to become a part of the continent's online revolution. He is an internet geek, fashion enthusiast, and sports addict. Marek is also a former snowboard instructor, holding a racing license.

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