Max spent time for MVP?

Question

Hi! I am a product owner, so basically my work includes defining the scope of the MVP, building roadmap, etc.

Just wondering, what is the shortest and longest time spent on MVP by you/your team?

Share your thoughts on the optimal time you could spend on MVP.

Corvin Deboeser · Accepted Answer

Great question! To answer the question straight first: mine were ranging form a few hours to maybe 3 weeks. I think there is a lot of grey area here as to what MVP means.

The core idea of an MVP is after all to learn something - and to do so fast. Hence, it does not need to be a working product, but it can be a...
* landing page
* UI sketch / click prototype
* no-code / code working prototype
* social experiment
* an online form
* wizard-of-oz service
* any combination of the above

As long as you learn from your MVP and that brings you closer to a sellable product, it's fulfilled its purpose.

There are two great articles I can recommend:

* An MVP is a process, not a product (from YC): https://www.ycombinator.com/library/4Q-a-minimum-viable-product-is-not-a-product-it-s-a-process
* The Minimum Viable Test (from firstround): https://review.firstround.com/the-minimum-viable-testing-process-for-evaluating-startup-ideas

Hope it helps 😊

Anastasiia Holiachenko 🇺🇦 · Answer

@iamgoconnor Hi! Totally agree with you!

Graeme O’Connor · Answer

It really depends on the type of product but generally you don't want it to exceed weeks for software / digital products. For some hardware products you need more than that, but general rule of thumb is that your MVP will be bad so the sooner you get feedback on what's wrong the better!

Anastasiia Holiachenko 🇺🇦 · Answer

@corvin_deboeser Hi! Thank you for nice tips!

Max spent time for MVP?

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