Create & demo MCVP

Build and Demo MVP

Before you go about building an MVP, lets make sure you’re building the right thing for the right time. 

Transitioning from a great idea, backed by validated demand, to a product, and into a business is one of the most difficult stages early on in venture building. There is a huge amount of risk with respect to time and money as resources are required to move the needle in ‘building’ the right collateral to move a product and business forward. We have created a lot of content around discovery work to help de-risk demand, so we will focus on three important potential deliverables to help move the needle once serious prospect meetings begin. Consider the following distinctions:

1) POC or Proof of Concept

A POC can be many things, but what it shouldn’t be is working code. The use of a POC is to help people visualize a solution and how that solution may apply to their personal situations. The POC can be a series of mockups done in a graphics editing or UI editing tool, or something as simple as a powerpoint presentation. Ideally, the POC goes as far as a clickable prototype. In effect, the POC is a mockup of what the end product could be and is used to get early buy-in. 

2) MVP - Minimum Viable Product

Most founders use ‘MVP’ as their first launchable product. For the ‘Pragmatic Venture Framework’ the building out of an MVP should be focused on proving a technical challenge can be overcome. It is part of de-risking ‘supply’ (building out a product) but is not something you want to spend a lot of time building out. The MVP should not be for commercial use, and should only be used if there’s a question mark on whether a solution is even technically feasible. Build this out to showcase what’s possible for yourselves or for vested parties.

3) MCVP - Minimal Commercially Viable Product

Different than the MVP, the MCVP is built out as a first iteration of workable code that you believe can be marketed and sold. The MCVP should focus on the core workflows that bring value to prospects based on all the iterative data collected this far. The MCVP should be the actualization of the clickable prototype that has hopefully been refined across various meetings and is informed through the exercises of having tried to sell and market. Do not mistake MCVP for MVP - you should be able to make money off of the MCVP, which in turn, helps you validate that there is indeed a market for what you are building.