Mvp

Stage 3: Productized (Automate the process)

• Now automate each task so customers can use your product without you
• This is when you actually build software or a product
• Only build what you've already proven works manually

The Four Build Questions

Before building anything, answer:

1. Can I ship it in a weekend? If not, reduce scope until you can.
2. Is it making my customers' life a little better? That's the bar for MVP.
3. Is a customer willing to pay for it? Be profitable from day one.
4. Can I get feedback quickly? Build for people who can tell you if it's working.

What to Build

Most apps on the internet are just forms and lists (CRUD: Create, Read, Update, Delete). Your MVP should be no more complex than that.

For your MVP:

• One thing. Your product does one thing, at first.
• No polish. It doesn't need to be pretty. CraigsList has never been pretty.
• Charge money. There's a huge difference between free and $1 (the zero price effect). Charge something.
• Use existing tools. Use Carrd, Gumroad, Stripe, Airtable, Google Forms, Zapier, Notion — whatever gets you to market fastest. Every business is tech-enabled now.

What NOT to Build

• Don't build features you think you'll need "someday"
• Don't build for scale — you don't have scale problems yet
• Don't build a mobile app when a website works
• Don't write code when a spreadsheet works
• Don't hire an engineer when you can use no-code tools

Ship Early and Often

• You will be wrong. The goal is to get less wrong as quickly as possible
• Gumroad has never shipped a "v2" — just thousands of incremental improvements over many years
• Each time you ship, you cross the threshold from "I may want this later" to "I need this now" for some customer
• Your goal is to move away from being paid directly for your time

Essentials Checklist

Before you launch:

• Name your business (two real words combined > made-up word; pass the "radio test")
• Buy a domain (~$10/year)
• Build a simple website (Carrd, Gumroad, or similar)
• Create social media accounts (personal + business)
• Set up payments (Stripe or Square — 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction)
• Create an email for customer communication

Output

Help the user define:

1. The single thing their MVP does
2. The simplest possible implementation (manual, no-code, or minimal code)
3. What they can ship this weekend
4. Their initial price point
5. How they'll collect feedback