Michael Chepurnyak’s Post

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Founder, CEO at Ein-des-Ein.com

The MVP Paradox: Is Less Really More? EDE has been collaborating with startups for years. Today, I'd like to explore a question that never gets old: Is it wise to invest in full-scale product development right from the start when the idea is innovative and promising? Is creating an MVP necessary, and why do some startups bypass this step? Let's state the primary thought right from the beginning: 🔆If you have an idea for a great application that (perfectly) solves a user problem, don't rush to invest money in developing a fully functional product. According to a study that examined 3,200 fast-growing mobile and Internet startups, 74% of startup failures are due to premature scaling, i.e., the company's revenue from new users is lower than the cost of serving them. This problem stems from insufficient knowledge of the TA needs. A much more effective approach is to find an answer to the question: “Does the target audience (aka real users) REALLY need my product?”  A possible disaster can be avoided by creating an MVP and adjusting the initial hypothesis based on the obtained data. 🔆Your startup idea is always a HYPOTHESIS. To prove it, you need to do the following: ➡ Clearly formulate your hypothesis. ➡ Determine the criteria by which its viability will be determined. ➡ Create an MVP to confirm the hypothesis and launch it. ➡ Measure performance indicators. ➡ Conclude and test the next hypothesis, if necessary. 🔆MVP does not mean a raw product made in a hurry. It simply takes minimal time to develop and contains key functions whose relevance is proven for real users. Thus, you can launch faster and start receiving real feedback on your product to make adjustments ASAP. 🔆The lean startup methodology is based on the DEVELOPMENT-MEASUREMENT-FEEDBACK ANALYSIS cycle. Therefore, after receiving feedback, successful features should be refined and REtested. A full-fledged product can be created and entered into the market only when this process is completed successfully. "But, I am SURE my idea is the bomb." Certainly, and we wholeheartedly encourage the generation of great ideas! But. No matter how brilliant your idea is, (unfortunately) it is not the end result. You still need an MVP to prove your concept. By starting with a simplified app version, you can: ➡ Save money without investing it in a potentially failed project (we cannot know for sure how the market will react); ➡ Check whether potential users are interested in your product (obvs); ➡ With the help of iterations, determine which development direction will be the most optimal one; ➡ Collect a user base and find early adopters. Let me sum up with a success story: Spotify focused on a single feature first - music streaming. After studying data from the app's closed beta testing, the founders were able to sign contracts with large record labels and receive significant funding. The service currently has 60 million users and its value is estimated at $8.4 billion...

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Olha Kotlamina

Director of Software Engineering |AI | ML| Data Science| Blockchain

3mo

Great read! Instead of jumping straight into full-scale development, validating your idea with real users can save time and money. The success story of Spotify is a perfect example of how focusing on a single feature and iterating based on feedback can lead to incredible growth.

Valentyn Kokoshko

Making cold-calling simple for your team!

3mo

If more startups were doing this less of them would shut down

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