MVP vs MVP
When the busness world smack-talks the spro
In 2011, Eric Ries—the son who disappointed
his parents by not going into the medical field—wrote a book on how to start a tech company. He had been working in Silicon Valley and felt he had insights to share. The book took off, and a new acronym was born. MVP. Not “Most Valuable Player,” but “Minimum Viable Product.” This new acronym was about to not only upend the tech startup world but also the wider population. Since then, the new MVP has made its way into nearly every corner of society where people try to build things.
Why was the new MVP so revolutionary?
First, what is an MVP? The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort or in other words building the most minimum version of their product that will still allow them to learn. 1
On the surface, MVP disrupted
the business world because it turned the logical model on its head. Ask any business coach, and they’ll tell you they’re constantly trying to guide business owners toward delivering something smaller. Let’s design something to gain information, not something we think the world must pay us for. Design to learn, not to sell. Let’s spend less money, time, and energy on the product so we have margin to iterate.
I talked with my son—my podcast videographer and cohost extraordinaire—about this. He was talking about the “Most Valuable Player” concept in relation to the “Minimum Viable Product.” What we concluded was how applicable “Most Valuable Player” is to the “Minimum Viable Product.” “Most Valuable” wants to be the shiniest and the best. “Minimum Viable” invites others to help it become better. “Most Valuable” says, “I’ve arrived.” “Minimum Viable” says, “I still have things to improve upon.”
Minimum Viable Product = humility.
If we want our business to become the most valuable,
we need to start with the minimum viable product. The Minimum Viable Product is on the way to becoming the Most Valuable Player. If we want to remain the Most Valuable Player, we need to maintain the Minimum Viable Product mindset. Always growing, changing, and asking for feedback while maintaining hope that we will indeed succeed in a massive way.
I believe the change was necessary. MVP shifted us away from a pride-centered, “I can’t make mistakes” culture to a paradigm of leveraging mistakes to build a great product. Pride is still the carrot, humility has become the path.
How about you? Where has humility helped you grow, build products, or open doors?
Until then my friends, happy sailing.
-Toby
https://leanstartup.co/resources/articles/what-is-an-mvp/
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