Chapter 2 of 8 · 4 practices · 3 min · 3-question quiz
Scope an MVP you can ship in weeks
The first version exists to learn from real users quickly. Fix the time budget, write the spec down and cut ruthlessly.
Start: Time box the first version and write the spec down4 practices in this chapter
- 1Time box the first version and write the spec downIn YC's Startup School lecture on planning an MVP, Michael Seibel advises you to time box your spec: pick a date, such as launching in a few weeks, and include only what can be built by then. An MVP…
- 2Build the one core job end to end, and fake the restThe MVP should do one job for your narrow first customer, completely. Everything else can be manual, missing or faked. Manual work behind the scenes is fine at this stage: importing a customer's data…
- 3When behind schedule, cut scope instead of moving the dateSeibel's advice for a sprint that slips is direct: a week in, if you are behind, cut what clearly is not important. If nothing unimportant is left, cut important things too. The priority is getting…
- 4Define launch as getting real users, not a big announcementThe lecture defines launching as getting any customers, not a press event, and its core advice is to "launch something bad quickly". The MVP is a first step and a hypothesis, likely wrong in places…
Check yourself on this chapter
3 questions, right here once you are signed in. Your progress is saved as you read.