Discover the Different Types of MVPs for Startups

It is no secret that startups have come to play a crucial role in today’s economy and business world. In their pursuit to transform the business landscape, startups need and often tend to use innovation and technology to disrupt traditional industries and establish new markets. Suffice it to say that technology serves as the foundation of most successful startups’ strategies — all because they need to develop offerings that can meet the demands of a digitally savvy audience. But how do we do that while managing the risks and uncertainties accompanying innovation? This is where Minimum Viable Products (MVP) come in.

Strap in, folks, because today we will explore what an MVP is and the different types of MVPs that startups can leverage to their benefit.

What is an MVP?

It is a product with just enough features to be rendered usable for early customers. Think of it as a stripped-down product version, albeit only with essential features and functionalities needed to tend to a specific problem or requirement in the market. MVPs empower startups to quickly test ideas, collect user feedback, and adapt their product based on such insights.

The goal of such an iterative approach is to help startups minimize development costs and save their other precious resources while still making the requisite adjustments to their product to ultimately boost their shot at delivering a successful and sustainable offering. Pretty neat, huh?

Anyway, let us move on to the types of MVPs startups can use.

Types of Minimum Viable Products

• Audience-Building MVP: As the name suggests, this type of MVP is focused on building an audience before the actual product is developed. So, startups can build engaging content or even offer some valuable resources to attract potential users and then gather their contact information. In doing so, startups can validate their product idea and gauge interest in their envisioned product among their target audience.
• Landing Page MVP: This is just a simple, one-page website or landing page that only describes the intended offering, preferably including its benefits. Also, landing page MVPs often include a call to action, such as signing up for updates or pre-ordering. The goal of this type of MVP is to help analyze market demand and also gather potential leads. Suffice it to say that this is a cost-effective way to validate a concept before you even commit to full-fledged product development.
• Email MVP: This type of MVP involves emails possibly containing the envisioned offering’s description or perhaps a survey to collect opinions and preferences regarding the intended offering. These emails are sent out to a list of potential users or customers to test interest and collect their feedback.
• Wizard of Oz MVP: True to its name, this type of MVP involves manually simulating the functionality of an offering as the user engages with a seemingly automated system. It is best used when the planned offering in question is excessively expensive or time-consuming to build at first and empowers startups to test the concept and user experience, albeit without investing heavily in technology development.

Final Words

Startups have various options when it comes to crafting their MVPs. Each type serves a unique purpose, allowing entrepreneurs to test their ideas, validate their assumptions, and gather essential user feedback. By selecting the right approach for developing MVP for your startup, you can reduce risk, save resources, and increase your chances of success in the competitive world of entrepreneurship. Whether you opt for an Explainer Video MVP, Landing Page MVP, Wizard of Oz MVP, Concierge MVP, Prototype MVP, Single-Feature MVP, or Piecemeal MVP, the key is to adapt your strategy to fit your specific product and target audience. So, which one of these MVPs will you be choosing for your startups?