In today’s world, it seems that everyone is an entrepreneur. We are all looking for the next big thing to help us achieve our goals and live our dreams. And while many people think that starting your own business requires a lot of money, time, and expertise, this simply isn’t the case. In fact, you can start a successful business with very little money and even less time. All you need is a great idea and the drive to make it happen.
Reid Hoffman, the founder of LinkedIn, famously said “if you’re not embarrassed by the first version of your product, you’ve launched too late”.
Although it’s common to misinterpret Hoffman’s thoughts on the subject, he does not ever advocate for releasing an MVP you’re ashamed of. If anything, he pushes against that notion. To better understand his message, let’s break down his three core points:
- Speed is essential. You should strive to launch quickly.
- Wrong assumptions. Your ideas regarding your customers, product, and features won’t pan out. Be prepared to feel embarrassed by your guesses.
- Learn Faster. The faster you can, the sooner you can give your customers what they want. By waiting to launch, you’re only prolonging the amount of time it takes to get feedback from your customers.
According to Hoffman, it’s okay if your product isn’t perfect–what matters most is getting customer feedback. It’s better to release the product and see how customers react than spend more time changing colors or tweaking the design. The goal is to learn quickly and improve the product based on that learning.
With more entrepreneurs and businesses starting up than ever before, competition is fiercer than it’s ever been. So, how humiliating can your MVP really be?
Can your MVP afford to be humiliating?
Jiaona Zhang disagrees with the development of a minimum viable product. Instead, she strongly believes we should aspire to create minimum lovable products.
Imagine you’re trying to launch a pizza restaurant. If you serve burnt pizza, your customers won’t give feedback on whether they like pizza — only that they don’t want burnt slices. So when launching your Minimum Viable Product (MVP) for your eatery, aim to create the fastest and cheapest prototype possible without compromising quality. Creating a minimum lovable product is key; this means making a product that users will love from the get-go. A great prototype should light up its user’s face with glee!
Is it possible for your MVP to have everything?
When you’re building a product, you have to ask yourself how you can create something amazing with the least amount of effort. It’s all about finding the right balance between making it fully functional and lovable.
It’s always beneficial to take a stroll down memory lane and examine the MVPs of today’s biggest tech companies. Many of them preached the same thing: start small with only basic features that can be quickly put to use and loved by early users. A few examples of current tech world MVPs are Stripe, Spotify, Coinbase, and Etsy.
Creating a minimum viable product
Many entrepreneurs believe you can create an MVP by using no-code tools. These tools have visual drag-and-drop interfaces that let you make websites and apps without coding.
No-code tools like Webflow, Figma, and Bubble have millions of users because the products that can be created with them are so varied. With these tools, people can build SaaS tools, chrome extensions, games, marketplaces, and more. Their no-code design makes them ideal for launching your journey and testing your idea. Founders use these types of tools to launch their minimum lovable product for three main reasons:
- It’s fast. With user-friendly tools like Bubble.io, you can create an appealing and fully functioning marketplace in only a few weeks!
- It’s customizable. You can create your dream product – exactly as you envision it, down to the smallest detail.
- It’s affordable. No-code tools are less expensive to use whether you learn it yourself, or with an agency, compared to traditional code.
How to build your MVP with no-code
You can use no-code to build your MVP in one of two ways.
- Start Learning no-code. No-code skills can be learned via excellent courses and communities like Makerpad, Buildcamp, and 100 days with no code. These options will provide you with the education, talents, and resources required to create your dream product. It doesn’t matter if you want a social network, marketplace or SaaS tool–you can build anything using only these no-code methods.
- Look no-code developer. You could find a no-code developer on talent marketplaces like Upwork, no-code focused marketplaces like Code map or specific agencies like Goodspeed. This would be quicker and cheaper than traditional development costs.
Building an MVP can be daunting, but it’s important to remember that you don’t have to do it alone. There are many no-code tools and resources available to help you create a high-quality product quickly and easily. With the right approach, you can launch a minimum viable product that is both functional and lovable. So don’t be afraid to try something new – using no-code may be the key to success for your business.
