A battle-tested framework for scoping, building, and launching a minimum viable product that actually validates your hypothesis.
Most MVPs fail for one of two reasons: they're either so minimal they don't actually test anything meaningful, or they're so feature-complete they take six months and cost a runway. The 6-week MVP framework we've refined across 20+ product launches threads that needle.
The most important thing you do in week one is not design or code — it's decide what you are NOT building. Write a one-sentence hypothesis: 'We believe [user] will [do this] because [reason].' Every feature either directly tests that hypothesis or it doesn't belong in the MVP.
Three days of wireframing, two days of high-fidelity design, two days of prototype testing with five real users. You will find three things that need to change. Change them now — changes cost 10× more after development starts.
Pick your stack based on speed-to-deploy, not elegance. Use managed services — Supabase for your database, Clerk for auth, Stripe for payments. Your job is to test a hypothesis, not build infrastructure. Technical debt at the MVP stage is a feature — you might pivot everything.
Never custom-build auth, payments, or file storage in an MVP. These are solved problems. Every hour you spend on them is an hour not spent on your actual value proposition.
Launch to a controlled cohort — not a public launch. You want 50–200 real users who fit your target profile, not 10,000 random sign-ups. Instrument everything from day one. If your analytics aren't in place before launch, you're flying blind.
"If you're not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you've launched too late."