MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

An MVP (Minimum Viable Product) is a stripped-down version of a product or service that contains just enough features to let early customers experience its value and to test key assumptions. The goal is not to deliver a perfect or full-featured product, but to learn quickly what works for users and thereby reduce risk and development cost. In a business context you use an MVP to validate hypotheses about customer needs, pricing, and distribution channels and to collect measurable data that guide decisions about iteration or pivoting.

Imagine you are developing a meal-subscription service. Instead of building a full logistics system right away, you first launch a simple landing page with a description, two menu options, and a ‘reserve now’ button to collect interested users. At the same time you interview early sign-ups, track conversion from visitor to subscriber, and test a couple of price points — based on that data you decide whether to invest in kitchen infrastructure, partnerships, or a different revenue model. Another common MVP approach is the ‘concierge’ method: you manually deliver the service to a small set of customers to validate core processes and value proposition before automating.