How to scope an MVP you can actually ship in two weeks
· 6 min read
Every founder we meet has a twelve-feature product in their head. Shipping in two weeks is not about working faster — it is about being ruthless with what earns a place in version one.
Start from the riskiest assumption, not the feature list
Write down the single belief that, if wrong, makes the business unviable. The MVP exists to test that belief and nothing else. Every feature that does not serve it is phase two by definition.
One journey, end to end, with no dead ends
A shallow product that completes one journey beautifully beats a broad product where three journeys stop halfway. Users forgive missing features; they do not forgive a flow that breaks after they have invested effort.
- Define the journey as a sentence: 'a new user can X and receive Y'
- Everything required by that sentence is in scope; everything else is parked visibly
- Manual back-office steps are acceptable in week one — automation is not the test
Instrument before you launch
An MVP without analytics is an opinion generator. Decide the three events that indicate the assumption is holding, and make sure they fire on day one.
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