Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) are tricky:

• How “minimal” should yours be?
• What does “viable” mean?
• How do you keep it simple, without ruining your reputation?

MVPs only need to only do one thing. To understand that one thing, you want to understand the definition of MVP.

MVP is the new Beta?

Remember when “betas” were a thing – as in, “we’re working on our beta version”, “we just launched our private beta”, etc.?

In the last few years, that term has been replaced with “MVP” – “we’re working on our MVP”, “we just launched our MVP”, etc.

This is where the confusion around MVPs stems from…

MVP is *not* the new beta Click To Tweet

The original definition of MVP from Frank Robinson is:

A version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.

In other words, your MVP is the version of your product with the highest ROI when you optimize for “validated learning.”

So how do you optimize for validated learning?

Test your “Riskiest Assumption”

For your business model to be successful, there are a number of assumptions that need to be true:

• Customers know they have a problem
• They want your help solving it
• They will pay you to solve it
• You can solve it
• etc.
  

All of your assumptions can be prioritized in terms of “riskiness” where the assumptions that are most critical to the success of your startup, and/or are least likely to be true, are considered more “risky” than the other assumptions.

For example, “you can solve your customers’ problems” is critical to your startup’s success, but it’s very likely to be true (humans are natural problem solvers and since you’re a human, I’m confident you can solve your customers’ problems). On the other hand, “customers will pay you to solve the problem” is not only critical to your success, it’s also (unfortunately) less likely to be true – so you would consider that assumption more “risky” than the former.

Once you order your assumptions by their “riskiness”, to build an MVP, you build the simplest version of your product, that tests your riskiest assumption.

In other words, an MVP is:

A version of a product that allows a team to collect a maximum amount of validated learning of customers test their riskiest assumption with the least effort.

Notice how this definition changes the focus of an MVP from building a product, to running an experiment. That’s critical to understanding what an MVP is – remember that.

MVP or Not an MVP?

Use the examples to test whether you understand what an MVP is…

Example 1: Explainer video

Dropbox famously gauged demand for their product via a demo video that, thanks to some video editing, demonstrated functionality they hadn’t built yet.

What do you think? MVP or not an MVP?

Let’s look at the definition again:

A version of a product that allows a team to test their riskiest assumption with the least effort.

Does a demo video of functionality that doesn’t exist represent a:

1. Version of a product that
2. Tests the team’s riskiest assumption with the
3. Least effort?

If Dropbox’s riskiest assumption was “people want a new service to sync/share files” and if it took less effort to edit video than it did to write code for the functionality that didn’t exist, then yes, this is an MVP!

As long as the riskiest assumption is being tested with the least effort, it’s an MVP.

If instead they’d built a simple version of their product (i.e. a pilot, a beta, etc.) and measured how many people used it everyday, the wouldn’t have been testing their riskiest assumption, and they wouldn’t have done it with the least amount of effort.

Example 2 – PowerPoint Demo

Let’s say you are going into a pitch meeting with a customer using a slide deck with mockups of your software. You’re not going to demo any functionality at all, you’re just going to talk about the problems you’ll solve while showing them some pictures, what do you think, MVP or not an MVP?

Recall the definition of MVP:

A version of a product that allows a team to test their riskiest assumption with the least effort.

As long as you’re testing the riskiest assumption during that meeting (e.g. “customers will pay us to solve this problem”) with the least effort (a slide deck is less effort than even making a video), it’s an MVP.

Keep in mind that a slide deck is just like a video – minus fancy transitions. If a video meets your team’s criteria for an MVP, a slide deck might too – especially in B2B scenarios.

If on the other hand you went into that meeting hoping the customer would create an account on your platform and try it during the meeting – you’d be testing the wrong assumption, and you’d have done so with far more effort than a simple slide deck. A working prototype wouldn’t be an MVP.

Example 3 – Landing Page

If you imagine a landing page is just like a PowerPoint deck that you scroll through instead of click through, then you can already tell, a landing page can be an MVP as well.

Again, you want to use the least amount of effort to test your riskiest assumption – as long as you’re doing that, you’re building an MVP.

Anything more than that, and you’re getting closer to a “beta” product, than an experiment.

Example 4 – Facebook Advertisement

If you capture the essence of a landing page in a FB ad, with a title, image, description etc., then…what do you think: MVP or not an MVP?

What was that definition again?

A version of a product that allows a team to test their riskiest assumption with the least effort.

So really, as long as you’re testing the riskiest assumption with the least amount of effort…you get the picture.

If we go back to the Dropbox example we can even see that depending on their riskiest assumption, they too could have used a Facebook ad to test this out.

If their riskiest assumption was, say, “people have problems syncing/sharing files” the Dropbox team may have been able to test that with a Facebook ad!

Example 5 – Simple App

A friend and I gave ourselves 24 hours to build a proof-of-concept app that would help people get to their appointments on time. It had basic GPS, traffic and calendar integration, rudimentary UI, and we only built it for Android.

It got written-up Forbes and as a result, we were able to collect the email addresses of 3,000 people who wanted the iPhone version.

What do you think? MVP or not an MVP?

To know the answer, we have to look where we always look…our riskiest assumption.

If our riskiest assumption was genuinely, “We can build the app”, then it would have been an MVP. The truth is though, our riskiest assumption was, “People will pay for this app” and there was no way for us to test that with this app.

So, no, despite the app being simple, newsworthy, and popular…it wasn’t an MVP.

If it doesn't test the riskiest assumption call it a beta/pilot/POC - just don't call it an MVP Click To Tweet

What’s your Riskiest Assumption?

Now that you know what your MVP needs to do, you just need to figure out your riskiest assumption so you can build one.

Good news! My post next week will tell you your riskiest assumption and the best MVP is to test it! Subscribe to get it in your inbox.

To Recap

• MVP is not the new beta
• Definition of MVP = (Say it with me…) The simplest version of a product that tests your riskiest assumption.
• Before you build an MVP, you have to know your riskiest assumption.

Want More MVP Help?

This is the first of a four part-series on MVPs:

1. (This one) What is an MVP?
2. What Kind of MVP Should you Build?
3. My 8 Favorite Tools for Building MVPs
4. I’ll Fix your MVP: Send me your MVP and I’ll tell you what, if anything, to tweak to make it perfect.

Stay tuned for those.

Bonus: Want me to Review your MVP?

Leave a comment below with a link to your landing page MVP and if it provides a good lesson for others to learn from, I’ll post a video review of what you’re doing well, and what you might consider changing.

The videos will be public so you and the rest of the Customer Development Labs community will learn from them which this is an ideal opportunity for startups who are:

1. Confident in their landing page MVPs and want other startups to see it or
2. Not confident in their landing page MVPs and want help fixing it.

When it’s time to build your landing page MVP, make sure you’re familiar with each these tools. They’ll help you make the most of your experiment – without costing you much money.

Tool #1: Definition of MVP

Before you go crazy building a landing page MVP, let’s make sure you have an empowering definition of MVP.

If you’ve got the wrong idea about MVPs, not only will the rest of this article not make much sense, you won’t be able to leverage the true power that is the Minimum Viable Product.

Ready for MVP Tools #2 – 9? Take this 1 question quiz to find out!

What is an MVP?

1. The simplest, valuable, version of your product.
2. A functional prototype requiring the least development time possible.
3. A version of your product that tests your riskiest assumption with the least effort.
4. All of the above.

If you answered #1…congratulations, you get to read this blog post to get a more useful definition of MVP!

If you answered #4…good news! You also get to read a more practical definition of MVP – it will serve you well.

If you answered #3, you get the best news of all…you get to be correct!

Your MVP is any version of a product that tests your riskiest assumption with the least amount of effort.

For full details on why that is, read this article: What is an MVP?

As I discuss in the article above, there are several types of MVPs. This list of tools is covering one type of MVP: Landing Page MVPs.

You’ll use Landing Page MVPs for Currency Testing, which test the assumption…

Your customers want you to solve their problem so badly, they’ll “pay” to solve it.

In other words, Landing Page MVPs help you determine if you’ll be able to get what you need to achieve Product-Market Fit (e.g. revenue, usage, eye balls, data, etc.) in exchange for solving your customers’ problems.

Now that we’re all on the same (landing) page (you’re welcome ;), let’s talk tools…

Tool #2: Instapage

Instapage: A really great Landing Page creation tool which requires you know nothing about coding – plus it comes with A/B testing out of the box!

Pros:

• You can do just about anything with this platform (changing colors, text, headings, adding sections, images, video). Very flexible and sleek.
• Mobile version is explicitly available for you to edit. You have full control over the look of your landing page on both desktop and mobile.
• A/B testing is a first class citizen. It’s a lot like Unbounce – but prettier and mobile friendly.

Cons:

• No free plans. There is a 30 day trial though, and because they’re nice guys/girls, any of the links in this article will get you 20% off your first two months.
• No sticky navigation bars at the top (but with basic knowledge of java script or html, you can get this)

Want to see Instapage in action and watch me create an A/B test in less than 2 minutes? Skip to the 5:40 mark in the video above.

Tool #3: Strikingly

Srikingly: Another landing page creation tool with some key difference from Instapage.

Pros:

• Really nice, polished templates and beautiful images
• Sexier, sleeker feel to this website
• Sticky navigation bars
• Free account option (and other plans if you want more customizability)

Cons:

• No clicking-and-dragging (don’t have full control for changing the layout)
• No A/B Testing built-in (but you can add it with…)

Check out the 8:40 mark of the video above to see a beautiful Strikingly landing page created before your very eyes.

Tool #4: Google Analytics Content Experiments

Content Experiments: Get yourself some free A/B testing.

You can keep your data in one spot (instead of spread across different platforms) and get all the benefits of Google Analytics functionality and tons of power.

Now, full-disclosure, I haven’t got to play with Optimizely yet, which I’ve heard good things about, but really, Google Analytics Experiments is such a great, free, tool, I haven’t needed to find another one.

Pros:

• Did I mention it was free?
• No coding required
• Integrates with the rest of your Google Analytics data (i.e. measure the success of your test using your Google Analytics goals/conversions)

Cons:

• Requires two separate versions of your landing page (other tools let you swap in individual components of a single page)
• The URL gets messy (e.g. includes a bunch of parameters which can clue savvy users into the fact you’re running an experiment)

While I’ll definitely be playing around with other A/B testing tools in the future, I’ve used Google Analytics Contents Experiments in the past, will happily use them again, and can highly recommend them.

Check them out at the 10:20 mark in the video above.

Tool #5: Celery

Celery is, hands down, one of my favorites – the tool, not the vegetable. (The vegetable is gross)

Celery allows you to accept credit card-based pre-orders now, without actually charging someone’s credit card. Say what?!

With Celery you’ll validate that, not only will someone visit your landing page and click on your buy button, you’ll validate they’ll pull out their credit card and pay you for the product…before you’ve built it!

Best of all…

Celery lets you take payment information now, but charge later Click To Tweet

Celery lets you ethically test to see if you should create a product, based on customer behavior without accepting any prepayment money until you’ve proven that you’ve meet your success metrics.

The trick with Celery is to make sure you’re never misleading your customers. Your order process should mention that they are pre-ordering for a product, and after they’ve purchased you should tell them you haven’t charged them, but you will as soon as the product is launched.

If you end up achieving your MVP’s success criteria, great! You’ll build the product and charge the credit cards you’ve collected during your pre-order process.

If you don’t meet your MVP’s success criteria the product, email the few people who did pre-order your product that there wasn’t enough demand for the product and they won’t be charged.

Hint: Spending a little extra time working with this customer segment to solve their problem after giving them the disappointing news that you won’t be building the product they want will go a long way to ensure you don’t tarnish your reputation with them.

Like I say, I love Celery and used it for more than a year was testing the FOCUS Framework.

To see how you can take pre-orders from your new landing page in less than 60 seconds, check out the 12:15 mark of the video above.

Tool #6: PowToon

Powtoon is PowerPoint for explainer videos.

If you’re looking to create an animated video detailing your customer’s problems and how you’re going to solve – and don’t want to pay for a motion graphics artist – definitely check out PowToon.

PowToon has a free version that will let you create some very testable videos – perfect for optimizing your message.

It’s super easy to set up, customize and get a professional video for your product ready within minutes. To see me demo PowToon, click check out the 15:40 mark in the video above.

Tool #7: SumoMe Content Analytics

SumoMe has a fantastic set of tool for optimzing all kinds of things, but mainly I find that it’s great for it’s Content Analytics plugin which measures how far down your landing page customers read. This is super helpful for MVP -especially landing page- validation.

For a visual example using my own website, click check out the 18:50 mark in the video above.

This tool is great at helping you determine why your MVP isn’t converting at the rate that you need it to. Plus, when you use it with different versions of your website, you’ll be able to easily compare exactly where you’re losing users and where they’re sticking with you.

Tool #8: Product-Market Fit Assessment

These tools are tons of fun to play with, and can build some incredible landing pages – but how do you know if you should building a Landing Page MVP?

• Should you be building a false door instead?
• Maybe you should be building a Wizard of Oz MVP
• Or maybe you’re ready to build a prototype..

How do you know which MVP you should be building? I built the Product-Market Fit Assessment to answer all these questions and tell you what validation phase you’re in:

For more information on any of these steps, check out the 5 Phases of Product-Market Fit or check out the 19:45 mark in the video above.

Tool #9: FOCUS Framework

At this point you know all the tools needed to create a fantastic landing page MVP. If you feel comfortable running an experiment with them, by all means, go forth and test!

Of course…

There’s a difference between knowing which tools to use – and how to use them.

I know I would use a lathe to make a set of table legs; that doesn’t mean I’d feel confident using it.

At the same token, if you want some help figuring out:

• How to get people to visit your landing page MVP
• What marketing copy you should test on it
• What metrics your MVP should measure
• How to determine the success of your landing page MVP (and what to do once you achieve it)

Ultimately, you already know that you should be building an MVP – the FOCUS Framework offers step-by-step instructions on how to do it.

In particular, the Currency Testing workbook will show you how to use Landing Page MVPs to:

• Pre-sell anything (including B2B products)
• Test your price without losing customers
• Increase your conversion rate by charging more, not less

You can find more about the FOCUS Framework here or check out the 25:15 mark of the video above.

Time to Start Testing!

Armed with these tools, you’re ready to start measuring if you’ve got something your customers are willing to pay for.

Note: Except for FOCUS, which I authored, I have no relationships with these companies other than being a user/fan of their products (i.e. no kickbacks/referral/affiliate bonuses). These products made this list because I like them :)

What’s Next?

This is the third post in my MVP series:

1. What is an MVP?
2. What MVP Should You be Building?
3. (This one) 9 Landing Page MVP Tools You Should Be Using
4. Want MVP Help? Comment with a link to your landing page MVP and I’ll tell you what, if anything, to tweak to make it perfect.

Subscribe to get all of these posts in your inbox.

Get MVP Help

If you leave a comment below with a link to your landing page MVP, and if it provides a good lesson for others to learn from, I’ll post a (public) video review of what you’re doing well, and what you might consider changing.

• Great opportunity for startups who want to share their MVP with other founders
• Or for startups who are hungry for feedback

My next post will be a recap of what I see in the landing pages – and how to improve them!