Business & Retail Tech

What is Minimum Viable Product?

Quick answer

The simplest version of a product that delivers enough value to early users to test a business idea and gather feedback.

Minimum Viable Product, explained

A minimum viable product (MVP) helps founders learn whether customers actually want what they plan to build, before investing heavily. It focuses on the core problem and leaves out non-essential features.

An MVP does not have to be software. It might be a landing page that collects signups, a short demo video, or a service delivered manually behind the scenes, sometimes called a concierge or Wizard of Oz MVP. For example, a travel startup might handle early bookings through spreadsheets and phone calls before building an automated platform. The key is to measure real user behavior and learn from it. A common mistake is treating the MVP as a low-quality product rather than a focused learning tool.

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