TSN #3 - Stupid MVP Mistakes & Doing Things That Don't Scale

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I love doing things that don't scale—not forever, but during the MVP phase of building something new. I also love a true MVP, but I don't get to see too many these days.

Let me walk you through my thoughts and explain why I believe this is important.

If you need inspiration and only have one minute, scroll down to see how my hero Sam Parr created his MVP. Topics for today:

• What is and isn’t MVP

• When not to build it

• My top 9 activities that do not scale

• How a pro, Sam Parr, does MVP

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What is and isn’t MVP

Too many conversations I've had recently started with “Here are the MVP specs for my idea” and ended with me reading through a detailed description of 41 “core” features.

Not only is MVP the most overused word by founders, entrepreneurs, and product and innovation managers, but they all use it to describe something that is clearly not an MVP.

There are hundreds of definitions for MVP, but I particularly like this one from Eric Ries, who wrote the original book called "The Lean Startup."

Validated learning is clear, but people are forgetting the "least effort" part. Simply calling it an MVP won’t make it cheap or fast to develop if it has eighteen features.

When not to build it?

The most obvious reason for building an MVP is to gain positive traction in order to raise money and avoid ending up like the person below:

There are exceptions, though, when building an actual MVP does not make sense. This is especially applicable if you are creating a digital product for your employer.

• Brand-dependent product: When I worked for Skoda Auto, we couldn't launch something basic with the Skoda badge on it. We created fake brands and only admitted ownership later when the product had reached a certain level of quality. Either use a substitute brand or develop the real thing.

• Highly regulated industries: Pretty self-explanatory: if you risk legal penalties, it is probably not ideal to play around with an MVP.

• Interdependent system: If you are building a product that should be integrated into a complex existing infrastructure, such as in enterprise or banking sectors, you won’t get far with a half-baked product.

• Developed market with high expectations: If you are planning to disrupt Apple's iPhone, a single-feature MVP of a new smartphone is unlikely to succeed.

My top 9 activities that do not scale

Feel free to pick a couple of the ideas below when building your next MVP. When I started this newsletter, I went for 2, 3, 4, and 8 to launch it.

1. Focussing on a super niche market. Counterintuitive as it may seem, you can actually build for a very specific audience at first. Think of Facebook and Harvard.

2. Meet-ups for early users to gather feedback. At first, you can’t have enough feedback. Look for offline ways to interact with your early users.

3. Personal founder reach-outs. This goes a long way in tapping into your own network for initial users who can provide honest feedback.

4. Building for 1 specific person. Even this newsletter has that person in mind. I am writing for a corporate product manager who aspires to launch a company one day.

5. Manual acquisition of first customers. Manual acquisition involves conversations. Conversations provide feedback and help in understanding the target audience.

6. Make them love the experience. Especially your first users.

7. Manual first, automatised later. Your MVP does not need to do everything. You can fulfill part of the value chain manually, and once you have validation, you can code.

8. Become a consultant. Even before you launch, consult your ideal customers to help them solve a problem. You will gain valuable insights and potentially attract early adopters.

9. Over-engage: Hand written “thank you” letters? Yes!

How a Pro, Sam Parr, does MVP

Sam Parr is one of my heroes. In addition to building and selling The Hustle to HubSpot, he also co-hosts a podcast called My First Million. He recently embarked on a new venture, which, in my opinion, exemplifies how to run an MVP like a pro. Check it out:

1. Step one, he stated a problem and asked people for advice in a Tweet.

2. The list includes over 150 companies, indicating that he validated the problem statement.

3. He goes on to build a list of vetted CPAs. This list is a single-feature MVP that, based on a survey, matches you with a suitable CPA. More in this Tweet.

4. Initial traction is in place & Sam starts adding more features such as endorsements, international taxation.

5. There are areas where Sam has overbuilt. He had a calendar and a Q&A section, both were not used so he removed them.

6. Is the MVP, MVPing? In one of the most recent My First Million episodes, Sam said that it does over $20k monthly in revenue.

See the product live:

That's it for this week. Keep building!

Catch you next Sunday!

- Slavo