Post on 05-Dec-2014
description
Giff Constable Dec 2011
What are MVPs?
Think Experiments
Giff Constable Dec 2011
fall in love with a customer need, not a solution
Giff Constable Dec 2011
needsolution
customer & marketcustomer acquisition
business model
Validate:
Giff Constable Dec 2011
The fastest, simplest path to validated
learning
Your Goal:
Giff Constable Dec 2011
Prioritize experiments
High Risk
Low Risk
UnknownKnown
experiment here first
Giff Constable Dec 2011
pre-sales(with LOI, discounts)
Examples
Giff Constable Dec 2011
“concierge”(i.e. be the software)
Examples
Giff Constable Dec 2011
manual delivery(aka “wizard of oz”)
Examples
Giff Constable Dec 2011
paper testing
Examples
Giff Constable Dec 2011
landing page(with calls to action)
Examples
Giff Constable Dec 2011
video
Examples
Giff Constable Dec 2011
working software
Examples
Giff Constable Dec 2011
experiments can be analog or digital
Giff Constable Dec 2011
usually many ways to skin the cat
Giff Constable Dec 2011
1. have a hypothesis to test
2. brainstorm a few different tests, offline and online
3. try to break the tests into even smaller units of work
4. choose a test and set a goal
5. run the test (try to hit the goal)
6. review results and make a decision
Process
Giff Constable Dec 2011
Hit goal and confirmed assumption (for now)
Missed goal1. need to iterate the test or2. need to iterate the business
Results
OR
Giff Constable Dec 2011
“MVP” isn’t always about product
It definitely isn’t about a launch
Giff Constable Dec 2011
At some point, you’ll be building something real
so remember...
Giff Constable Dec 2011
a minimal viable product is not a point release
it is a rolling series of releases that iterate and improve based on a mix of data and vision/judgement
Giff Constable Dec 2011
an MVP is not the first step in a linear feature rollout
if you aren't setting goals, gathering data, and iterating what you have, then you are piling risk on top of risk
Giff Constable Dec 2011
focus ruthlessly on the target customer, and the core
function / benefit
don't get lost in add-ons, improvements, futures, or
attempting to serve everyone
Giff Constable Dec 2011
a minimal viable product is for learning, not marketing
find product market fit
optimizeconversion*
promote
* for enterprise-focused startups, think of this step as “find your repeatable sales process”
Giff Constable Dec 2011
keep on doing simple experiments outside of the product
development path
Giff Constable Dec 2011
this isn’t just for ground-floor startups
Giff Constable Dec 2011
but rather, for any product or business that
faces uncertainty
Giff Constable Dec 2011
now let’s create some experiments
giff.constable@gmail.comhttp://giffconstable.com