Secrets to product-market fit with sound MVPs

Startups need to design an MVP carefully at very early stages. A good MVP will help capture the market traction properly. Failure to do so can impact going to market faster and raising funds earlier.

1. Why do startups fail?

According to a recent finding, focusing towards a mission rather than building a comprehensive MVP explains some of the top reasons why startups fail. In addition, many fresh business founders tend to confuse prototyping and MVP building. A prototype is about building a basic and inexpensive version of the product and refining for better enhancements with primary feedback. Limited number of potential users will get access to the prototype through manipulating static content or artificial data.

On the other hand, an MVP is about building a product with sufficient features to meet the expectations of early customers and receiving valuable feedback for future key developments. A large number of real users have the opportunity to manipulate or test production ready products with integrated real data.

Ignoring or mis-interpreting user feedback also explains some of the reasons why startups are not launching properly. To reduce the likelihood of failure, it is important to leverage early customer feedback adequately as previously mentioned in our recent post. Getting user feedback right will help in better testing and validating a concept to achieve specific learning goals for genuine enhancements.

A third reason behind a potential startup failure pertains to the big picture of the product design. Setting long term expectations for the product from the beginning is key to tracing an adequate path to progression. However, thinking big does not intervene with the mindset of starting small with early versions and moving with proper iterations fast. If the engineered product becomes more sophisticated than needed, this will lead to total waste of energy and resources. In this regard, following a lean agile approach helps reduce the impact of this risk.

2. Good MVP vs bad MVP

What characterizes a good MVP the most is that it can basically solve the core business problem with the needed priority features. In addition, proper testing of user needs is reflected and showcased easier on product enhancements through a structured and clear logic of continuous improvements. Adopting a user focused approach when deploying an MVP helps in better interpreting and leveraging feedback loops.

An MVP is considered poorly designed if it is over-complicated or oversimplified. Likewise, this fact goes in alignment with the proved certification that the product is over-engineered or not engineered at all. Moreover, a poor alignment with user needs signals an issue with capturing and acting on a user feedback loop and implies that the developed MVP is unlikely to provide the expected value.

3. Advantages of a comprehensive MVP

Usually, founders can assess whether an MVP is considered poor or sound through the measured outcomes generated out of this work. In this regard, some of the benefits of a well-conceived MVP are:

• Proving the existence of a market-product fit based on expressed interests through wider adoption
• Promptly testing with real users to adjust course around key user-driven features
• Optimizing on building the product with less for much efficient investment
• Pivoting earlier within a proactive framework of change

Getting access to early funding is another long sought-after goal for founders behind conceiving a sound MVP. For most early-stage companies, the investors hold the vast majority of the leverage. Entrepreneurs need every advantage they can get to position a more balanced negotiation when looking for the right fund. Demonstrating a solid market traction and a genuine product-market fit mitigates a key investor concern. This will only be noticeable if the rules for conceiving a sound MVP are followed.

4. WeaveLines as your trustworthy MVP service provider

At WeaveLines, we excel in translating a clickable prototype into a production ready version of your product to boost wider user adoption at early stages pertaining to your business idea. Our team can help with advising and implementing custom web and mobile MVPs.

WeaveLines specializes in startup consulting and product development. We help entrepreneurs turn their ideas into top digital platforms and software products, launch their MVPs fast and efficiently. We deliver end-to-end design and development services and offer a dedicated support team.