Session 1 fall 2014

Validation and MVP

Today

• How to validate your assumptions (presentation

+ WS)

• What is an MVP (presentation + WS)

How can you validate?

• Remember: what to validate

Validate with whom?

Source: Steve Blanks

Source: Buffer Blog

Source: Buffer Blog

Validate your idea

• Define how you reach your target groups

(channels)

• Define what you want to test

• Define the metric

What is an MVP

• Be able to test a product hypothesis with

minimal resources

• Accelerate learning

• Reduce wasted engineering hours

The biggest misconception

An MVP consists of the minimum set of features

deemed necessary for a working software product,

with the goal of bringing it to market quickly

Source: Moz, “7 unlikely recommendations for startups & entrepreneurs”

The difference

• Question A: How can we build the simplest

technically feasible product?

• Question B: How can we build the simplest

product to resonate with early adopters?

Source: Mattias Honorato

Stop overthinking

Source: Mattias Honorato

Some examples

• Dropbox — started with a 3 minute video for their MVP, resulting in signups increasing from 5,000 people to 75,000 overnight—all of this in absence of a real product

• Foursquare — started from collecting customer feedback using Google Docs

• Virgin Air — began with one plane and one route to validate their assumptions, with more planes and routes added as they refined their business

• Groupon — started as a WordPress blog with a widget that sent PDF coupons via email

Define your MVP/EVP

• Key assumptions you need to test

• Key features to talk to ealyevangelists

• Scale down?