Published on: March 29, 2025
When building a product, the biggest mistake many founders make is trying to perfect it before launch. Eric Ries, the creator of the Lean Startup methodology, introduced the concept of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—a version of a product with just enough features to validate an idea with real users. The goal? Test, learn, and iterate fast. But an MVP isn’t meant to be the final product—it’s the foundation for what comes next.
A successful MVP answers one critical question: “Do people even want this?” It strips away unnecessary complexity, focusing on a core problem and its simplest solution. Companies like Airbnb and Dropbox started with bare-bones MVPs, gathering real user feedback before investing heavily in development. Once validation happens, the next challenge arises—turning this validated idea into a market-ready product.
This is where the Minimum Marketable Product (MMP) comes in. While an MVP proves demand, an MMP ensures sustainability and scalability. It includes enough refined features to not only attract users but also retain and monetize them. The transition from MVP to MMP is crucial—rushing to scale without product-market fit leads to failure, but delaying MMP too long risks losing momentum.
In the end, an MVP is your launchpad, but an MMP is your growth engine. Businesses that successfully make this shift focus not just on adding features but on creating a revenue model, a brand identity, and a competitive edge. The real differentiator? Knowing when to pivot, when to refine, and when to scale—because in the world of startups, timing and execution define success.