💡 How to Build an MVP in 7 Steps (with Case Studies)

Time is your most valuable resource. Don’t waste it building the wrong thing.

👋 Hey, Chris here! Welcome to BrainDumps—a weekly series from The Founders Corner. Every Thursday, I share unfiltered insights and stories from decades of first-hand experience. It’s a Substack exclusive, inspired by topics in my upcoming book, The Big Book of BrainDumps. Let’s get into it! 👇

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How To Build An MVP

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Table of Contents

• Let’s Get Real About MVPs

• The Core Principle: Value Over Volume

• Step 1: Define the One Pain That Matters

• Step 2: Pre-Build Research (Talk Before You Type)

• Step 3: Sketch the Simplest Path to Value

• Step 4: Build the Bare Minimum (And I Mean Bare)

• Step 5: Build in Measurement from Day 1

• Step 6: Launch Quietly, But Purposefully

• Step 7: Iterate Relentlessly

• Case Studies: MVPs That Worked (and Why)

• The Big MVP Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

• Beyond MVP: What Happens Next?

• Final Thought: MVPs Aren’t Just a Phase—They’re a Philosophy

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Let’s Get Real About MVPs

There’s a lot of nonsense floating around about Minimum Viable Products. Some people think it’s just launching a product with half the features. Others think it’s a pitch deck with a dream attached. But let’s be clear: a good MVP is neither of those things.

A good MVP is a strategic weapon.

It’s the bridge between ideation and scale. It’s the fastest way to validate product-market fit. And it’s the single best way to learn what your customers actually care about—before you sink months (and millions of dollars) into building the wrong thing.

I’ve sat in hundreds of rooms with early-stage founders and investors. The startups that scale fastest and raise clean follow-on rounds? Nine times out of ten, they nail the MVP phase.

So let’s unpack exactly how to do that.

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The Core Principle: Value Over Volume

Let’s start with the definition that matters:

A Minimum Viable Product delivers just enough value to early users to solve a painful problem—while being minimal enough to allow rapid learning and iteration.

That’s it. No bells. No whistles. No overthinking. Your MVP doesn’t need a dark mode, an AI chatbot, or multi-currency support. It needs to:

• Solve one clear, painful problem

• For one clearly defined group of people

• In the simplest way possible

Anything else is noise.

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Step 1: Define the One Pain That Matters

This is where it all begins: getting hyper-specific about the problem you’re solving.

The best MVPs don’t try to do everything. They do one thing well. Really well.

Here’s a framework I share with founders:

1. Who are you solving this for?

   1. Be specific—e.g., B2B finance managers at 20–100 employee startups.

2. What’s the job-to-be-done they struggle with?

3. Why is that job painful or slow today?

4. What is the outcome they care about?

   1. Time saved, money earned, risk reduced?

If you can’t answer those four clearly, stop. You’re not ready to build.

One founder we backed was building onboarding automation for HR. Originally, he pitched “smarter hiring experiences.” But what really resonated? “Cut your onboarding admin time by 50%.” That clarity shaped his MVP—and won him 10 early customers.

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Step 2: Pre-Build Research (Talk Before You Type)

This is the unglamorous part. But it’s the most valuable.

Before you write a line of code, you should be doing:

• 10–20 customer interviews

• Workflow mapping

• Pain-point validation

• Pricing sensitivity tests

You don’t need to ask people if they like your idea. You need to understand their world:

• “What do you do when X happens?”

• “What frustrates you most about your current tool?”

• “If I took this away from you tomorrow, what would break?”

Golden rule: You’re not building for the average user. You’re building for the early adopter. The person who feels the pain hardest and will forgive early bugs if you’re solving something meaningful.

I once saw a founder use a Typeform survey + 10 Zoom calls to reshape their MVP. They originally planned to launch with four use cases. Post-research, they launched with one. Result? Higher engagement, faster traction, and clearer messaging.

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Step 3: Sketch the Simplest Path to Value

Think of your MVP as a story. There’s a start, a middle, and an end.

• Start: The user shows up. What do they want?

• Middle: They take action. What do they click? What do they see?

• End: They get value. What do they walk away with?

Sketch this out on paper. Or in Miro. Or Figma. But keep it tight.

Here’s the acid test:

Could a stranger understand what the product does—and why it matters—by clicking through your prototype in 2 minutes?

You’re not designing for elegance. You’re designing for clarity. Strip out anything that isn’t essential to the story.

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Step 4: Build the Bare Minimum (And I Mean Bare)

Now we get to the fun (and dangerous) part: building.

This is where many founders go off the rails. The temptation is to make it perfect. Add more features. Fix every bug. Polish every button.

Don’t.

Your goal is not to impress. Your goal is to test.

Here’s what a strong MVP might look like:

• A web app with one core workflow

• One simple login path

• Basic analytics or reporting

• No integrations (or just one)

• One pricing plan (or none yet)

If it takes more than 6–8 weeks to build, it’s not an MVP. It’s a v1. You’re not there yet.

A founder I backed built a workflow engine for creative agencies. His MVP didn’t even let users create projects. He just uploaded mock projects to each account manually. But it worked—and gave him the insights to automate it properly later.

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Step 5: Build in Measurement from Day 1

If you’re not measuring, you’re guessing.

Before you launch your MVP, you should have:

• A clear hypothesis: “Users will complete X within Y days.”

• Tracking in place: GA, Mixpanel, Amplitude, etc.

• Qualitative feedback loops: Intercom, email prompts, exit surveys

Here are the key metrics I recommend for MVPs:

• Activation rate: How many new users reach value?

• Time-to-value: How fast do they get there?

• Retention: Are they coming back within 7–14 days?

• NPS or feedback: What do they say when asked?

Pro tip: Add a simple “Was this helpful?” or “What’s missing?” prompt inside the product. It’s gold dust.

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Step 6: Launch Quietly, But Purposefully

Your MVP launch is not a party. It’s a conversation.

This isn’t the time for a PR blitz. You want feedback, not fanfare.

Here’s how to approach it:

• Personally onboard 10–30 users

• Watch how they use it (Zoom calls, Hotjar, FullStory)

• Ask questions constantly

• Let them know it’s early, and their input matters

You want engaged early adopters, not drive-by tourists.

One B2B founder ran a Slack group for her first 50 users. They posted bugs, feature requests, and ideas daily. It shaped the roadmap—and created a core user community before she raised a seed round.

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Step 7: Iterate Relentlessly

The MVP isn’t the finish line. It’s the start of the loop.

Now you:

1. Review analytics

2. Talk to users

3. Identify friction

4. Ship small changes weekly

One founder I know tripled his retention rate in 6 weeks just by tightening onboarding. He didn’t build new features. He just made it easier to get to value faster.

Focus on:

• Reducing drop-offs

• Clarifying copy

• Doubling down on what users love

• Killing what they ignore

This is how you evolve from MVP to product-market fit.

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Case Studies: MVPs That Worked (and Why)

Let’s look at a few famous (and not-so-famous) MVPs that nailed it.

📦 Dropbox

• MVP: A 90-second explainer video

• Result: Validated demand + 75k signups on a waiting list

• Why it worked: They showed the magic moment clearly, without building the infrastructure

🏠 Airbnb

• MVP: A simple site to rent out their own apartment

• Result: Validated demand, built first revenue

• Why it worked: Manual operations, zero automation, real-world usage

📊 Founder we backed in data compliance

• MVP: Spreadsheet-driven mock tool + manual reports

• Result: 3 LOIs, then built a real product

• Why it worked: Got client feedback before writing any backend logic

MVPs are not about shipping fast. They’re about learning fast.

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The Big MVP Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)

Here are the mistakes I see most often:

1. Over-engineering

You’re not building for scale yet. You’re building for signal. Keep it simple.

2. Building for yourself

You are not the user. Talk to them. Watch them. Learn from them.

3. Ignoring onboarding

A good MVP delivers value fast. If users don’t “get it” in 2 minutes, you’ve lost them.

4. Launching too late

Speed matters. Done > perfect. If you’re not slightly embarrassed, you waited too long.

5. Not measuring

What’s the point of launching if you’re not learning? Track, test, talk.

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Beyond MVP: What Happens Next?

If your MVP gets traction, here’s what happens next:

• You identify what features matter most

• You confirm who your best-fit users are

• You refine your pricing and messaging

• You build a case for raising funding (if needed)

• You start to build your first scalable systems

From there, you enter the Launch Phase of the SaaS timeline—and we’ve already gone deep on that in another BrainDumps article.

The MVP is the bridge from uncertainty to momentum. Get it right, and the rest of your growth journey becomes dramatically easier.

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Final Thought: MVPs Aren’t Just a Phase—They’re a Philosophy

Great founders build MVPs not just at launch—but all the time:

• When testing a new feature

• When entering a new market

• When pricing changes

• When product direction shifts

MVP thinking is about:

• Reducing risk

• Speeding up learning

• Staying close to the user

It’s not a one-time tactic. It’s a way of thinking about everything you build.

So if you’re building now, ask yourself:

• What’s the smallest version of this that could solve a problem?

• What’s the fastest way to test that with real people?

• How will we know if it worked?

Answer those—and you’re ahead of 90% of founders already.

Your MVP is the first version of your business. Build it with care, test it with rigour, and treat every user like gold.

See you at product-market fit.

—Chris Tottman

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