What is Salasini?: What is a minimum viable product

Common sense tells us to wait to release our product until it works perfectly; however, in the startup world, nothing could be further from the truth. Too many startups fail because they launch too slowly.
The ideal product launch is a product that is just good enough; the ideal product launch is a minimum viable product (MVP).

What is a minimum viable product?

I’ll give you a concrete example.
When we launched RewardMe back in October 2011, we launched a minimum viable product:

Our product was buggy and needed to be restarted at least once a week
Our training materials were very early-stage, resulting in a ton of customer service calls from our clients
Product implementation at a location was slow and inefficient

It’s scary to launch an MVP, but it’s absolutely crucial to the success of a startup for the following reasons:

The first customers are a testing ground

The first version of our product

The first customers that sign up to use your product or service understand the risks they’re taking as a first-mover. First-movers sign up to use your product because they believe in your big vision even though you’re unproven, you have no client case studies, and they’re taking a big risk with your technology. Use this opportunity to test the product.

Iterate as fast as possible

Our product after the 3rd product iteration

Use the feedback collected from clients and users to iterate the product as fast as possible. With RewardMe, we learned that users had trouble punching the numbers on the iPad, so we made the numbers larger and more apparent; we learned that the casing of the iPad was a bit too bulky for the counter space, so we trimmed down the hardware design and made space to store the wires and cords. Testing was done in real-time at the client location, allowing us to quickly iterate the product towards the right direction.
Can’t product testing be done in-house in a safe environment?
I often get asked this question. Many entrepreneurs choose to fully test the product in-house at the office to make sure that the product isn’t buggy and that the first clients get a perfect product. Here’s the thing though: we did do a lot of product testing in-house. Even with product testing, it’s impossible for a small startup to catch every possible bug in the product. Furthermore, it’s impossible to predict every possible scenario that can go wrong at a client location that is full of variables: cashiers, customers, internet connection, different point of sale systems.

Superb customer service is a must

Because the MVP will be buggy, it’s critically important that customer service is superb. Though first-movers are tolerant to product bugs, they do have a limit to their patience. It’s therefore important to constantly reassure clients that you’re making strides towards eliminating bugs. If the client sees progress every week and is reassured that they’re your top priority, then they’ll stick it out with you throughout all of the iterations.

My current minimum viable product

Last week I announced that I left RewardMe to build my own project. Though I haven’t officially launched the release of my new project, I’ve had my minimal viable product running for just over a month now. During this time, I’ve analyzed how people have used the site, where they click, and how they fill out a form.
These are the steps I took to launch my minimum viable product in just 3 days:

Website creation and development

I used a simple WordPress install and uploaded the Thesis theme. It cost me $12 for the domain name. I’ve had a developer license for Thesis for a while now, so the theme itself did not cost me anything extra.

Website design

I made the logo in about 20 minutes using Photoshop. I googled “traveler icon” and found the funny looking guy with blonde hair to use as my logo for now. I didn’t need anything fancy for launch; I just needed something good enough.

Web form

I used Wufoo to create my contact form on the home page. I’m using the free version of Wufoo, which is super simple to use and robust enough for what I’m currently using it for.
I didn’t put too much thought into the form fields. My goal was to put the form up quickly and see how people use it. I’ll optimize the fields in the coming weeks.

Testimonials

Not sure if I mentioned this before, but I’ve been testing Tour Woo with my friends for the past 3 months now (even before I launched my website). I wanted to validate my product idea with my friends. When I realized that I could successfully book tours for them and gain a commission on each booked tour, I decided to move forward and build the MVP. The testimonials section displays a list of friends whom I helped to book a tour.

What are the next steps now that I’ve launched my MVP?

My immediate next steps:

Refine the site design
Create a welcome video
Aggressively go after press

The MVP is great to test out the product with early customer or users, but it’s NOT a scalable product. Because the MVP is untested and buggy, it won’t benefit from a huge surge in users or clients.
With RewardMe, there was no way that we could have implemented with thousands of stores at the launch of our MVP. We launched with about 50 stores, allowing us time to iterate the product and build systems for implementation and customer service.
With Tour Woo, there’s no way that I can service hundreds of inquires per week right now; I just don’t have the systems built yet. But I can handle less than 10 inquires per week at the moment, giving me time to learn from user feedback and constantly iterate my product.
Once I have the designs and systems in place, I can use press to increase leads and grow exponentially.
—
Don’t wait until your product is perfect. Get early customers and early feedback by launching your minimal viable product as fast as possible.