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Types of MVPs

Different ways to validate your idea without building a full product. Choose based on your resources, timeline, and what you need to learn.

Choose Your MVP Approach

🚀

Landing Page MVP

Create a landing page that describes your product and captures email signups or pre-orders. Test if people are interested enough to give you their email or credit card.

Best for:

Testing demand and value proposition

Time to launch:

1-3 days

Low cost Quick validation
Example: Dropbox started with a landing page and explainer video before building their file sync technology.
🤵

Concierge MVP

Manually deliver your service to customers. Do things that don't scale to learn exactly what customers need before automating anything.

Best for:

Understanding customer needs deeply

Time to launch:

1 week

High touch Deep learning
Example: Food on the Table founders personally went grocery shopping with customers before building their meal planning app.
🧙

Wizard of Oz MVP

Create a functioning front-end that looks automated, but you manually fulfill requests behind the scenes. Customers think it's automated, but there's a human "behind the curtain."

Best for:

Testing automated service concepts

Time to launch:

2-4 weeks

Medium cost⚠️ Labor intensive
Example: Zappos started by posting shoes from local stores online, then buying and shipping them manually when orders came in.
🎯

Single Feature MVP

Build just one core feature that solves the main problem. Strip away everything else and focus on the one thing that provides the most value.

Best for:

Testing core value proposition

Time to launch:

4-8 weeks

Focused learning💻 Requires development
Example: Twitter started as just status updates - no retweets, no direct messages, no media uploads.
🎬

Explainer Video MVP

Create a video showing how your product would work. Test if people understand and want your solution before building anything.

Best for:

Complex or innovative products

Time to launch:

1-2 weeks

Low-medium cost📊 Great for metrics
Example: Dropbox's famous explainer video got 75,000 signups overnight before they had a working product.
💰

Crowdfunding MVP

Launch on Kickstarter or Indiegogo to validate demand and get funding. If people pre-order, you know there's a market.

Best for:

Physical products, B2C

Time to launch:

2-4 weeks prep

💵 Pre-funding📢 Built-in marketing
Example: Pebble Watch raised $10M on Kickstarter, validating the smartwatch market before Apple Watch.
🧩

Piecemeal MVP

Use existing tools and services stitched together to deliver your solution. No custom development - just creative use of what already exists.

Best for:

Service businesses, marketplaces

Time to launch:

1 week

Very low cost Fast to market
Example: Groupon started as a WordPress blog with PDF coupons emailed manually using Apple Mail.

How to Choose Your MVP Type

Consider Your Resources

  • •No technical skills? Start with Landing Page, Concierge, or Explainer Video
  • •Limited budget? Try Piecemeal, Landing Page, or Concierge
  • •Have development skills? Consider Single Feature or Wizard of Oz

What Do You Need to Learn?

  • •Problem validation: Concierge MVP for deep customer understanding
  • •Solution validation: Wizard of Oz or Single Feature
  • •Market demand: Landing Page or Crowdfunding
  • •Value proposition: Explainer Video or Landing Page

Pro Tips

  • •Start with the cheapest, fastest option that tests your riskiest assumption
  • •You can combine approaches (Landing Page + Concierge is powerful)
  • •Don't fall in love with your MVP - it's meant to be thrown away
  • •Measure everything - signup rates, engagement, willingness to pay

Need help choosing and building your MVP?

We can guide you through selecting the right approach and help you validate your idea efficiently.

Schedule a free consultation