Guide / Phase 3: Product Readiness
MVP Planning
Build the smallest useful product that proves the customer will act, not the biggest version you can imagine.
Why it matters
Build the smallest useful product that proves the customer will act, not the biggest version you can imagine.
At this stage, the danger is usually not lack of effort. It is effort pointed at a vague customer. A founder can spend weeks writing posts, polishing pages, and sending emails, and still learn almost nothing if the market definition is soft. The job here is to make the next move smaller and sharper.
Use this chapter to turn the product readiness stage into a decision: who to talk to, what to test, what to publish, what to measure, or what to stop doing.
How to apply it
Write the assumption in plain language first. Then look for customer behavior that either supports it or embarrasses it. The embarrassing evidence is often the useful evidence. It tells you where your story, channel, pricing, or product is still pretending.
Do not try to make this chapter perfect. Try to make it operational. One customer conversation, one landing page edit, one new search page, or one better demo is enough if it makes the next signal clearer.
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]