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Minimum Viable Product
Table of Contents
Ship the smallest version that proves someone actually wants this - polish comes after proof.
Key Concept
- The smallest thing I can ship that tests the idea - not a polished fantasy.
- Level 1: Ship the smallest version that tests whether anyone wants it - like baking one cupcake before you make a whole wedding cake.
- Level 2: An MVP is the smallest shippable test of the idea - rough proof beats polished fantasy in private.
- Level 3: Minimum viable product means Drafting in Public with the least scope that still answers whether anyone cares.
- Level 4: Publish the rough note or prototype, watch reaction, iterate - months of private polish without a user is avoidance.
- Level 5: Ship It and Lean Startup depend on this loop - Evergreen Notes can mature after the first honest publish proves someone reads.
- I would rather publish a rough note or prototype and learn than polish in private for months.
- Client work: Selling Static Sites is the same loop - one pilot site on Free Tier Hosting Stack before I package tiers and upsells.
Examples
- I sat on a half-planned birthday party for three months - we ordered pizza, one banner, kids had a blast, learned more than another month of Pinterest.
- We ran one new play in scrimmage before printing playbooks for the whole league - learned more in forty minutes than another week of polish.
Note Relationships
| Relationship | Wikilink | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| contradicts | Evergreen Notes | when rough ship beats two-year polish |
| extends | Creative Output | Ship the smallest version that tests the idea instead of polishing a fantasy in private |
| extends | Free Tier Hosting Stack | Ship the smallest live site - free tier stack covers the first slice |
| extends | Lean Startup | Ship-to-learn loop Ries named |
| extends | Selling Static Sites | Client MVP lane - sell the smallest site that solves the job |
