A phrase that means different things to different people

“MVP” is everywhere in product conversations. Founders use it. Investors use it. Designers, engineers, marketers — everyone uses it. And almost everyone using it means something slightly different.

To one person, an MVP is a polished launch with most of the planned features cut. To another, it’s a rough prototype shared with three users. To a third, it’s anything that takes less than three months to build.

Those definitions aren’t quite right, and the disagreements quietly cause real damage. The MVP gets over-built. Or under-tested. Or shipped with no learning goal at all. The label gets used to justify almost any shape of work.

If you want MVPs to actually do their job, start by being clear about what they are — and what they aren’t...

What an MVP really is (and what it isn’t)