IT Glossary
What is an MVP?
Minimum Viable Product: the smallest version of a product that tests the core idea on real customers — maximum learning, minimum spend.
The most expensive way to test a product idea is to build the whole thing: a year of development, the entire budget — and only then discovering whether the market wants it. An MVP inverts that bet. You build the smallest version that tests the central hypothesis — not 'the product with fewer features' but the answer to a precise question: will customers pay for this? will they abandon their current habit? — shipped in weeks, to real users, on a budget that leaves room for being wrong and trying again. The systematically ignored word is viable: the minimum version must solve one narrow problem completely — a thin but whole slice, one flow working impeccably — not everything badly; an MVP that breaks on second use tests patience, not demand. The forms can be surprisingly small, sometimes not even software: a landing page with a price and a pre-order button, or a service delivered manually behind a simple facade while you learn the process live. The classic failure modes are worth memorising before commissioning one: a 'minimum' inflated by fear of launching (six months and thirty features no longer test anything except delay), launching without measurement, and renegotiating the verdict when data contradicts the idea — pivoting on time is the method succeeding, not failing. Established companies get the same value from it: new lines of business deserve a thin slice that asks the market, before the expensive conviction that you already know.
Let’s talk about your project
Message us on WhatsApp or send an email — you talk directly to a developer.
office@northdan.com · +40 752 070 247
Why it matters for your business
The market's verdict in weeks, not years
The central hypothesis is tested on real customers early — you learn whether the road is worth it before paying for all of it.
A budget that permits mistakes
The small investment leaves room for the lesson and the second attempt — an informed pivot beats bankrupt perfection.
A product grown from real usage
The next features come from what active users request — not from what seemed important in pre-launch meetings.
Frequently asked questions
What should an MVP cost and how long should it take?
The healthy order of magnitude: four to twelve weeks and from a few thousand to a few tens of thousands of euros for a real software MVP — with pre-validation variants (a landing page taking pre-orders, a manually delivered service) coming in below that. The alarm signal is the eight-month 'MVP' plan: a minimum that needs a year is no longer minimal, and each listed feature deserves the question of which hypothesis it tests.
How do I choose what goes into the MVP and what waits?
Start from the risky hypothesis and keep only what a real customer needs to complete the full flow once — everything else gets cut without mercy: pretty admin panels, reports, settings, rare cases. Practical rule: if cutting a feature does not prevent the hypothesis test, it gets cut; 'it would be useful' is the argument that drowns MVPs.
Is the MVP thrown away after validation, or does it become the product?
It depends on what was built — a decision to take consciously at the start: the disposable MVP (no-code, accepted shortcuts) validates cheaply and is then rebuilt cleanly; the foundation MVP is written thin but careful and grows directly into the product. Both are legitimate; the disaster is the default third path — the improvised prototype promoted to production because 'it works', with technical debt as permanent rent.
Let’s talk about your project
Message us on WhatsApp or send an email — you talk directly to a developer.
office@northdan.com · +40 752 070 247