Original Summary

I need to get this out because I've had 3 of these calls this month and I'm tired of having the same conversation politely. (Some context.. run an agency for 8 years. Started with SaaS MVPs, then GTM, now mostly AI automations) We've built some 60 things that got called an MVP on the first call. Maybe 15 of them actually were. Founder says he needs an MVP. What's the one thing it needs to do? Then the Notion doc arrives. (Three user roles, Admin dashboard, Stripe with monthly, annual and a coupon system,email notifications, A settings page, mobile responsive version of all of it in 34 pages and at the bottom in a different font because it got pasted in from somewhere else: "MVP timeline: 12 weeks" That's a roadmap with the word MVP stapled to the front. Ik why it happens because I've asked. MVP sounds cheaper and that's the whole thing. Somewhere around 2015 the word stopped meaning "the smallest thing that tells us if we're right" and started meaning "the version I can afford". The founder has the full product in his head, knows the full quote is going to hurt and says MVP hoping the number comes back smaller. And agencies play along because we're not stupid. This is the bit that'll get me downvoted by every agency in here: we have zero incentive to tell you your MVP is a V1. The V1 is a $60k invoice. The actual MVP is $8k and two weeks. So the agency nods, says "MVP" back to you, quotes 12 weeks, and everyone's happy until month 4. Someone's going to say three months is fine. Three months is fine. Three months with no user touching it until day 90 is the problem. Before I quote anything now, I ask one question: what will you know at the end of this that you don't know today? For most of these briefs the honest answer is nothing. They'll know the thing can be built. I could've told them that on the call for free. What they won't know is whether anyone wants it because they spent three months on the settings page instead of finding out. Best MVP we ever did took 9 days. A Typeform, an Airtable, one Zap and a Stripe payment link. My theory on why founders build for 3 months: showing an ugly thing to 10 people you know is scary, and building isn't. Building feels like progress, and nobody gets to tell you no while you're doing it. The settings page is procrastination with an invoice attached. Two tests if you're about to send someone a brief. Write the MVP on an index card. If it doesn't fit it's a V1. Ask yourself what you'd cut if you had two weeks instead of twelve. I ask every founder this and the answer is always "nothing, it all needs to be there". That's how I know they've already decided what the product is, so the MVP has no question left to answer. Rant over guyss.... If your MVP has a settings page, you built a product and called it a test so the number felt smaller. TLDR: 8 years building MVPs

  • 情报分类：服务器与云资源
  • 分类依据：内容涉及服务器、云资源或网络线路
  • 信息来源：Reddit · SaaS
  • 发布时间：2026/9/24 00:19:00