4 mistakes when building MVPs
Popular startup advice, misinterpreted #2
I’m doing a series on how popular startup advice gets misinterpreted.
The previous edition covered 5 mistakes in ‘Getting Out of the Building’.
This week’s mantra: ‘Build an MVP ASAP’ (That’s why I did a piece on defining MVP last week)
My startup program started this week. Expect to hear inspiring stories from new startups you can learn from in the coming weeks!
🛠️ Advice: ‘Build an MVP ASAP!’
People often shout to build an MVP ASAP. As per last week, my definition of MVP:
The minimal thing that actually delivers sufficient value to your customer, deployable in the context of the customer, that you can sell.
MVPs are built to learn about the crucial aspects of your startup. What can go wrong?
Mistake 1: Building without talking
⚠️ Why mistake: Building an MVP without customer contact increases risk of building something people don’t want
🔧 Fix: Get out of the building, even if you don’t have anything to show
A founder I mentored had a generative AI prototype he wanted to sell. It could generate fabric patterns for fashion designers, based on previously designed patterns. He, however, didn’t speak to any designers yet. After talking to some, he found out that his prototype didn’t match the needs of the designers. Startup is now killed.
Mistake 2: Straight to MVP
⚠️ Why mistake: MVP development always takes longer than simpler prototypes, increases time to learn
🔧 Fix: Choose a lower fidelity prototypes
Instead of coding or building an actual product, there are simpler things you can build first to learn more about your customer. With this, you learn to build the right thing, instead of building the thing right. Think of the simple airbeds Brian Chesky put up to learn about AirBnB, concierge testing, and handcrafting it. Consider Dropbox’ demo video. Here’s a list of alternative prototypes to consider.
Prototype fidelity list (low to high, roughly, up for debate)
For an explanation of what fidelity means, click here
Napkin Sketch (bierviltje)
Detailed Mockup / 3D render
Clickable demo (i.e. Figma), paper prototype, or cardboard prototype
Smokescreen website with signup or Brochure Test
Video that shows concept (contrary to a lot of reports, not an MVP)
Proof of Concept Prototype (technical)
MVP
Sponsored content:
Get a Jeroen product-market fit workshop at your organisation!
Running a cohort and do you miss a product-market fit workshop? Stop looking, I’ve got you covered. Check out my workshops!
End of sponsored content.
Mistake 3: Not minimum
⚠️ Why mistake: Increasing development time
🔧 Fix: Build using what you know, focus on one core job to be done only
When I was launching an Uber for plastering-services MVP, a developer of my time picked an unusual database framework. Very proudly he told me, this database could handle 100M users. We didn’t have any users at that time. This database was new to him, lowering shipping speed. On top of that, other developers were not skilled with this database system. Stick to what you know.
We were building this MVP within a company that already had a network of plasterers (with contact details). We could leverage this, as we were interested in the consumer front-end rather than supply acquisition validation. Instead of exporting a CSV and importing it into our MVP, the developers build a dynamic database link between the two platforms. This cost us 3 weeks, instead of 30 minutes.
When Breeze started to automate certain aspects of their MVP app, they chose to not automate everything at once. Certain elements they kept doing by hand, so they could ship faster. Full story here.
Mistake 4: Not charging money
⚠️ Why mistake: The word viable links to the crucial aspect of an MVP to learn about the finacial viability of your startup.
🔧 Fix: Charge money
I once heard: Never give something away for free for no reason. (Free lunch, yada yada).
Deploying a free pilot is simpler than selling a paid pilot. If people like you, they will say, sure, and give you the freedom to experiment. Some people like innovation. If you force them to pay, they will approach it with a different mindset. ‘Is this value generated worth the money?’, rather than goodwill.
“It’s not bad to do a free pilot, but do it intending to eventually do a paid pilot”
Sometimes, all you can get is a free pilot, or you are so early stage, that charging full price doesn’t feel right. Simple fix:
MVP Discount
Give an MVP discount. Say that ‘normally’ you charge $20 per month, but since we are testing and learning, you get a 75% discount for the first month. This turns the customer into a launching explorative partner, making him aware of your learning status. If they are innovators, they happily help.
Money back guarantee
Additionally, you can throw in a money-back guarantee. At the end of the pilot period, you can interview the customer and ask if it is worth the money. If not, and you see that the customer is disappointed, suggest to offer a refund. This is great for relationship management for future endeavours. Even better would be to ask what you need to achieve next month to make it worthwhile.
Some content on determining your price.
Lean & Quick & Dirty: Copy competitors price (±10%)
This as a talk at your event? Check out my keynotes and workshop offerings!