A minimum viable product, commonly called an MVP, is the simplest version of your product that allows you to test your core assumption about what people want. It is not a stripped-down version of your full vision. It is a deliberate tool for learning, built to answer a specific question as cheaply and quickly as possible.

Whether you need one depends on what question you are trying to answer. If you have already done proper validation and you know the problem is real and the demand is there, an MVP is a good next step. If you have not validated anything yet, building an MVP, even a minimal one, may be moving too fast.

What an MVP is not

The word MVP has become so overused that it has lost a lot of its meaning. In common usage, people often use "MVP" to mean "the first version of my app," but that is not quite right. An MVP is a learning tool. A first version of an app is a product.

An MVP does not need to be a working app at all. It can be a landing page that describes the product and collects email signups. It can be a manual process that you run behind the scenes to simulate what the app would do. It can be a clickable prototype that looks like an app but does not function like one. The point is to learn, not to ship.

When does an actual app become necessary?

You need a working app when the thing you are trying to test cannot be tested any other way. If you can answer your core questions (will people use this? will they pay for this? does this solve the problem better than the alternative?) without a functional product, then building one is premature.

Many founders skip straight to building a real app because it feels like progress. Building something you can show people feels better than asking questions and taking notes. But it is far more expensive, and the learning is often no more reliable.

What is the MLP?

Once you have validated your solution with an MVP, there is a second concept worth understanding before you build: the MLP, or Minimum Lovable Product.

The MVP is a validation tool, the smallest thing that lets you test whether your solution works. The MLP is the smallest set of features you can actually launch with and have users keep using. An MVP might allow users to complete just one core action. The MLP includes everything needed to make sure they come back.

Confusing the two is one of the most common reasons founders ship products that technically work but that users do not return to. If you validated with an MVP and you are now deciding what to build for launch, you are thinking about your MLP.

The question to ask before building anything

Before deciding what to build, MVP or otherwise, ask: what is the one question I most need answered before I invest more time and money into this? Whatever answers that question with the least amount of build is the right next move.

From Passion to Product covers this decision-making process as part of the broader strategy curriculum. It is free, and the next cohort starts May 25, 2026.

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