The difference between MVP and Proof of Concept

Both terms are often used interchangeably in the startup ecosystem and this article will briefly explain the difference.

We'll start with Proof of Concept (PoC) - this is essentially something to demonstrate that your product functionality works. For example, if your idea is a software platform that allows football fans to watch highlights of their favourite matches and interact with each other while doing so (voting for best goals, sharing best moments etc) then a PoC of this would be a demonstration of this functionality at work within a test environment. The goal of this is to see if this functionality is possible to achieve, how it will look/feel and is it feasible to build.

An MVP on the other hand is a product that USERS CAN TEST. This is the key difference. The product has to be ready and at least a small pool of test users can use the product. Typically, the product will not have all the features of a full scale platform, as in our earlier example, but contain the main feature (or features) for early users to test. Using our platform case, an MVP would include a streaming feature and some basic interaction features. Users should be able to onboard the platform, interact with other users and stream some content. They may not yet have all interaction options, or stream large amounts of video, but the core functionality needs to be there to be a proper MVP. The goal of the MVP is to test the product and see how your potential audience reacts to it, what you may need to add/change and if your audience uses the product as you planned, also, if you have the right audience.

Hopefully, this gives a clear explanation of the difference. Both stages are important in building a product and should not be missed since they have their respective goals to make sure that you build your product efficiently and productively.