Why I Won’t Launch a Minimum Viable Product

A lot of people, including me, talk about when to launch an MVP. Let’s talk about when we shouldn’t.

I know startup is mostly about moving fast and breaking stuff. The drive to make quick decisions and take big risks is what allows companies to grow in leaps and bounds instead of just incrementally.

But I don’t have to tell you that when you move too fast or break too much stuff, the cops show up. Metaphorically. Chain reactions from one big mistake can take down great ideas, strong teams, and solid companies.

Now, a minimum viable product (MVP) is the moving-fastest and stuff-breaking-est version of a product that a company can ship to market. We should always be a little bit fearful when launching an MVP. But in some cases, that fear means we need to pull the plug and take a big step back.

I’ve got a ton of experience launching MVPs. I own my share of failures, frustrations, and stupid mistakes. So here are the top warning signs that send me back to the drawing board before I embarrass myself and everyone around me, listed in order of earliest to latest in the MVP process.

The process isn’t defined

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Oh, and stop your MVP launch if I’m describing yours.

You’ve defined the problem and the solution. You know the customer. You can visualize the tech for the final product and exactly how awesome it will be. You even have the tools in place to set up a manualized version of everything so you can test in a controlled environment.

For most of us, me included, what I just described above are all the ingredients necessary to throw an MVP out to the world.

Except sometimes for me there’s one nagging thing: I have no idea what to do with the customer once I land them. I can close them, I can onboard them, but I’m clueless as to what any of the next steps are once they’ve paid.

I’ve been in such a scenario a few times. And I’ve learned that it’s always a dealbreaker for an MVP.

To give a more concrete example: I have a friend who is a wizard with T-shirts. Every so often, maybe once a year, he gets a great idea for a T-shirt. And God love him, he…