MVP is not a product, it is a process.

Eugene Brickman came up with a cool theory that the MVP (minimum viable product) is not only about creating a product but also about the process of its creation. Here are a few important points that he mentions:

1) An MVP is not just a product with a minimal set of features. It is not even a way to enter the market quickly, and it doesn't even have to be a product.

2. An MVP is a process that is repeated over and over. It involves formulating a hypothesis, checking it in the most efficient possible way, and correcting it.

3. It is not only about product development. When writing a book or an essay, one also has to do a lot of drafts and editing.

4. Any undertaking requires a lot of trial and error, and the winner is the one who finds all the errors the fastest. Some call this process "fail fast", at TripAdvisor it is called "Speed Wins", Eric Rice calls it "Lean" and Kent Beck and his programmers call it "Agile". Whatever it is called, the main purpose of this process is to find out as quickly as possible which hypotheses are wrong by getting feedback from the market.

5. First, it is important to answer two main questions: "What is the most risky hypothesis?" and "What is the minimum experiment that can be done to quickly test it?”.

6. There is no point in taking on product development until you have learned from potential users about their problems. You don't need to develop a product to do that - you just have to go and talk to them.

7. Most often, it turns out that the problem the product was going to solve is not really there. This will be a great result as it will save a lot of time and money on the development of an unnecessary product.

The coolest thing is that after each such "interview" with users, quite different problems open up, to which new solution hypotheses are invented and tested again in the shortest possible way. This is the MVP process.

Author - Alexey Shashkov