What are the best strategies for managing risk during MVP development?

Establishing SMART KPIs is crucial for clarity in defining your goals. If you find yourself without a clear idea of what you're seeking, you might be in the wrong phase.

If you don't know what are you looking for, you will never find it. Set a specific goal for your MVP: - Is it to understand how reliable your software might be in the future? - Is it to understand how much the market is willing ti pay for your solution? - Is the goal learning from user testing whether the UX is good or not? - Is it trying to define the technology basis you will use in your final product? - Or is the goal to push the limits of your current product to start building a 2.0 version? Define one goal, just one and build your MVP to solve for it. Then plan, build, test and learn. Do it as many times as needed to build the best product possible, without wasting time or money in useless features.

When thinking about your MVP, always take into consideration the big goal and the big deadline: What's the dream you want to achieve (measurable in money, contribution, impact, something specific) and how long do you want to take to achieve it (you can't be forever experimenting, or you may risk your long term sustainability). When you understand your main restrictions and milestones, then you can start to narrow your objectives, resources, metrics and results to achieve. Also, keep in mind that you should always look for the cheapest mvp, that is able to provide the best information possible in terms of quality, in the least time possible.

Let's say I'm creating a time-saving app for students. Understanding its users, their pain points, and how my solution addresses those issues helps craft a unique value proposition. Next, break down MVP's core functionalities that align with the value proposition. For ex., my app can have features like a personalized scheduler or study group organizer. Here's how to define goals & metrics: - Define pain points e.g., time management issues. - Identify specific demographics (high school/college students). - How a solution brings value (efficient time utilization). - Create an MVP with core features (scheduler, study group tools). - Measure engagement, retention rates & time saved. - Track users, session duration, and feedback scores.

One of the ways MVPs fail is by trying to answer too many questions at once. Determine and align on what you want MVP to solve for, then frame it as an experiment. You are testing a hypothesis. As long as your prospects or customers understand what you're trying to do, they will very often help you do it. Use that feedback to refine and make sure you truly put the 'V' in MVP before broadening your scope. Chances are good that what you thought might be minimally viable is not, in fact, viable.

Validation (or even better, in-validation) is essentially the very nature of being entrepreneurial. I have witnessed brilliant products being crafted over time where the hard work was done before building and through also Lean experimentation. The same way, I have come across way too many situations where an MVP gets built way too early, without enough research to craft a proper MVP definition or without smoke-testing to get conviction around the business model. Do the right thing at the right time. That’s way more important than any other factor (eg team capacity, funding, scale etc..) very early stage.

A huge win for any development team is using the scientific method always. It's not about what and how I want to develop, it's about what the market wants to buy. Go talk to clients, do a proper market research and validate every single assumption you have. Don't be that entrepreneur who "knows" what the clients want just because he/she owns the company. That is not true. Assume, validate. Plan, double check. Create, validate. Test, learn. Gather enough real evidence to support (or reject) your hypothesis before taking the next step. This will save a lot of time and money in the long run.

As a young entrepreneur, I get this. It's like spending time and resources on creating something only to find out it's not what people want or need – total bummer, right? Validating assumptions is a key to steering clear of that nightmare scenario. I've been there myself, and trust me, the process can save you heaps of time and money. Let me break it down: 1. Chat with your target audience. Dive into surveys and interviews to know what truly clicks with my customers. 2. Create a prototype or run experiments. I tested a beta version, and the feedback was priceless to fine-tuning your product for a killer market fit. 3. Use the gathered insights to refine your MVP. I tweaked based on user input, resulting in a product that people loved.

There are easy assumptions, and critical assumptions. The first ones tend to be regarding features of your product, the last ones are more painful: do people actually need another mouse with 10 buttons, or maybe they want an easier way to interact with an interface? Always work on your assumptions from the job to be done of your customer, and only when you have identified and validated that there is a need for "something" to get the job done, then work on assumptions on your solution. Trust me, 90% of the things you are imagining for your product aren't really necessary for your customer. And also, customers are truly okay with getting an imperfect product as long as it solves their problem, so try not to spend too much money yet.

Spot on with the essence of MVP development! As someone who has transitioned from professional sports to leading a startup, I've found the 'build, measure, learn' cycle not just a development strategy, but a vital mindset. The MVP approach mirrors the discipline and adaptability required in tennis - start with the essentials, evaluate performance, and then refine your game. In the startup world, this translates to launching with just enough features to test the core value proposition, then using real-world feedback and metrics for iteration. This lean methodology has been crucial for us at PerformVu, allowing us to stay agile and customer-focused.

In my experience, building an MVP can be an exhausting process if not done with caution. Documenting every step so you can learn in every stage of the planning, development, testing and re-build is crucial. You need to be patient too. Knowing what works and what doesn't requires time, and you will not always get it right in the first attempt. Build one feature, test and measure. Then take your time to learn from it. Repeat.

While I agree fully that build, measure, learn is the key loop to follow, I would argue that this is product lifecycle management in general, and not just management of MVP. The main thing is to ensure that you have clear goals with every increment, so you can determine whether you are meeting them or not. It also allows you to approach things scientifically - propose a hypothesis, test it, and correct it (if need be). Lather, rinse, repeat... as needed.

Always start with the Learn. What hypothesis needs to be validated? Once you identify this, start thinking about what you could build in order to put that assumption into a prototype someone can interact with, assess how much would it cost to build it, how are you going to learn from it (you know, what info you need to collect), the KPI you want to assess, the success criterias and then what information you need to collect to actually build those KPI. And then scrap it all, and start again (the first analysis isn't too good, stress yourself). Then build what you need to interact with your user/customer and measure the parameters you defined. Try to use questions that allow your counterpart to be specific, yet have space to speak their mind

The key is to avoid getting trapped in an endless cycle of development. It's vital to prioritize based on customer feedback, focusing on the most crucial features that address their immediate needs. This approach ensures that you're not just making changes, but making meaningful improvements. Regular, incremental updates based on real-world data are essential. It's about making small, impactful changes that steer the product closer to market fit.

Prioritize your development! If you don't set your priorities straight ahead, you can be caught in a circle of never-ending development. It's easy to get caught (trapped) in developing to add a little more, a little more, a little more. This don't come cheap nor fast. So as soon as you know exactly what you want to achieve, go for it and stop when you're done, take the time to learn from it and then go to the next priority.

It's easy to get caught in a cycle of endless tweaks to your MVP, delaying launch or improvements. Here's what works: 1. Identify vital product features based on customer feedback. Concentrate on what brings real value and solves their urgent problems. 2. Regularly fine-tune your product with small, impactful changes. It's not about massive overhauls but refining in increments. 3. Adapt to changing customer needs. This adaptability keeps your product aligned with what your customers want, ensuring relevance in the market. It's not just about a product; it's about a solution that meets your audience's needs. Prioritizing and iterating streamline development while keeping your product customer-centric and competitive.

Every increment should seek to add value. If your product at this early stage isn't becoming more valuable - in a tangible, objective way - you are wasting calories. This is where the product management function really comes into its own. Having a keen sense of what to build next that drives value into the product (both for the customers and for your own business) is key to not getting suck in a feature quagmire.

Be sure to identify the key assumptions that you need to validate. Product development and startup creation are processes that navigate through key moments, with very specific milestones, so stick to that route and build the simplest solution possible to see if you can follow that path. Otherwise you may get caught in a loop of iterations that are based on things that are irrelevant for your customer or for the stage you're currently at. Also, don't be afraid to fail at this stage. Most times you need to build and iterate something people don't want to actually learn what to build and iterate. Resilience is key.

Managing resources isn't just about avoiding burnout or overspending; it's about strategic utilization. By setting clear goals, focusing efforts, optimizing team skills, and being adaptable, I've found that I can make the most out of limited resources while achieving significant milestones in my entrepreneurial journey. As a young entrepreneur, I've honed this skill. Here's how: 1. Set clear, timed goals for the MVP. I aimed for a beta product launch in 6 months. 2. Focus on core features; allocate resources wisely for maximum impact. 3. Utilize team strengths; delegate tasks effectively for streamlined progress. 4. Stay adaptable; tweak resource allocation when challenges arise for smoother development.

In my experience, using no code (e.g., Softr) to build a MVP quickly can significantly reduce effort spent, and also helps us switch to building another MVP quickly - the whole point of MVPs is to be okay to move on from it, and not be too invested in one particular solution so early!

You need to be careful here. If you're truly innovating, time boxing the activity is prohibitively difficult. How long does it take to do something that's never been done before? While you do obviously want to have some way to contain costs, setting deadlines at the MVP stage is likely going to cause more problems than it solves. You are also beholden to how quickly the market serves up data and feedback - some industries are very quick, others are tectonic. The key mitigation to this is not trying to do too much at once while keeping your increments small enough to quickly assess and large enough that they add discernable value.

Be sure to define as soon as possible how much time, money and effort you want to invest in your idea, project or startup. You can do that drawing it in a napkin, defining your sales goal and in how many months or years you want it to happen. Then draw a line that connects your current situation with that, and then with those resources start working. You need to define a SUCCESS CRITERIA, otherwise you may end up wasting money and time on something that shouldn't be just because you already invested so much on it. Be rational, stick to your goals and be disciplined to achieve it, or brave enough to discard it when the time is right, be embarrased about it, learn from it and move forward.

The 'V' in MVP is going to depend a great deal on the maturity of your market (NOT the maturity of your particular product). Introducing a simple roster tool to companies that have implemented full-blown ERP tools is going to get you laughed out of the room. It doesn't solve anything for them. It's not viable. Viability has nothing to do with whether it performs a function (or many functions) completely or not. It has to do whether there is enough capability to viably solve a problem that someone actually has. If you are entering a relatively immature market, you can get away with a lot less and be 'minimally viable' than you can in a mature market with many incumbents.

The 'Jobs to Be Done' framework has been incredbly central in our startup journey. As we developed PerformVu, understanding the specific 'jobs' our users hire our product to do was crucial. This framework helped us look beyond mere functionality or features; it guided us to comprehend the underlying reasons customers choose our product - their goals, challenges, and needs. In practice, this meant identifying not just what features our customers needed, but why they needed them. This understanding informed our MVP development, ensuring we prioritized features that directly addressed these core 'jobs'

User Feedback and Testing: Engage with early users for feedback. Use beta tests or pilot programs to gather insights and improve the product. Contingency Planning: Have backup plans for critical aspects of the project. Be prepared to pivot or make changes based on feedback and changing market conditions. Collaborative Team Environment: Foster a team culture that encourages open communication, innovation, and problem-solving.