Minimum Viable Product

Overview

An MVP is not a small version of your product — it is a test instrument: the smallest artifact that produces trustworthy evidence about one specific demand-side assumption, with the least possible investment. Success criterion is learning per dollar, not features per dollar.

Coined by Frank Robinson (SyncDev, 2001); operationalized by Eric Ries (The Lean Startup, 2011, p. 77) — sometimes the artifact has no software at all. Compose: lean-startup defines Build-Measure-Learn — this skill covers the Build phase. Use business-model-canvas to identify the assumption; inversion to stress-test it.

When to Use

• Scoping a build and need to decide what minimum produces trustworthy evidence
• "MVP" is being used to mean "small version of the real product" (this skill corrects that)
• Engineers are building for months on an unvalidated assumption
• Choosing between concierge / Wizard-of-Oz / smoke test / video / single-feature / paid pilot
• AI made building cheap and you're about to "just build the whole thing" — vibe-coded a prototype in a weekend but can't name the assumption it tests

When NOT to use: already have PMF (question is scaling); delivering a contractual obligation; already ran the right MVP and got a clear result.

Coaching Novices (Adaptive Front Door)