The most common MVP mistake
Founders rarely fail to build an MVP because they added too few features — they fail because they can't tell the difference between a feature that tests their core hypothesis and one that's simply convenient to have. The result is a 'minimum' product that took six months to build.
Start with the hypothesis, not the feature list
Before scoping anything, write down the single riskiest assumption your business depends on. Will users pay for this? Will they switch from their current tool? Will this workflow actually save them time? Everything in your MVP should exist to test that assumption as directly as possible.
Cut anything that doesn't touch the hypothesis
Account settings, admin dashboards, elaborate onboarding flows, and support for edge-case user types are almost always safe to defer. If a feature doesn't directly help you learn whether your core hypothesis is true, it can wait.
Design for learning, not scale
An MVP doesn't need to handle 100,000 users; it needs to generate a clear, honest signal from your first 100. Building for scale you don't have yet is one of the most common ways early-stage teams waste months.
Ship faster than feels comfortable
In our experience, teams that ship in 6-10 weeks learn more in their first quarter than teams that spend 6 months perfecting a product before their first real user touches it.
