Minimum lovable product
What it means
The MVP should prove demand and deliver the first valuable outcome without carrying extra product weight.
The useful version of this topic is not theoretical. It should change something visible: the customer you choose, the words on the page, the offer in the email, the onboarding step you remove, or the metric you watch every week.
A good test is whether a founder could use this page and do something before lunch. If the answer is no, the topic is still too abstract.
Actions
Start with the smallest action that creates contact with reality. For early distribution, reality usually means a buyer, a user, a search result, a conversation, or a payment.
- Define the first valuable customer outcome.
- Cut features that do not support that outcome.
- Ship enough to learn from real usage.
Measure
Measure the signal closest to customer progress. Vanity numbers are allowed only if they predict something better later.
- Activation rate
- Time to value
- Feature usage
Template
Assumption: [what we currently believe] Evidence: [what customers have said or done] Action: [one practical thing to try] Owner: [who will do it] Metric: [how we know it worked]