In an increasingly dynamic and competitive world, developing products efficiently is no longer a differentiator — it has become a necessity. In this context, the concept of MVP — Minimum Viable Product — has become one of the fundamental pillars of any innovation strategy.
Popularized by Eric Ries in the book The Lean Startup, the MVP represents a smart and scientific way to test hypotheses, reduce waste, and accelerate learning about customer behavior.
But what exactly is an MVP — and how do Product Managers use it across different types of organizations?
What Is an MVP?
A Minimum Viable Product is the smallest functional version of a product, developed with minimal effort but capable of generating maximum validated learning from real customers.
Eric Ries defines an MVP as:
“The version of a new product that allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.”
This means an MVP is not a poorly made draft — but it’s also not the final product. It’s an experiment designed to test hypotheses in the fastest, cheapest, and most direct way possible.
Why Does the MVP Exist?
Before building the full product, teams need to understand whether:
- There is real demand.
- Customers understand and value the proposal.
- Actual behavior confirms (or contradicts) the initial assumptions.
- The solution clearly solves the problem.
In other words, the MVP is a tool for reducing uncertainty.
The sooner you discover what works — and, more importantly, what doesn’t — the lower the risk of investing time, money, and energy into something that will not generate returns.
MVP as a Scientific Experiment
One of the core pillars of an MVP is the concept of validated learning. This involves:
- Observing real user behavior.
- Creating experiments that reduce bias.
- Collecting objective data.
- Validating or invalidating specific hypotheses.
The goal is not to prove that the original idea was right, but to discover the truth as quickly as possible.
This perspective brings product development closer to a scientific experiment, rather than a purely intuitive process.
The “Fail Fast” Mindset
In innovation environments, failing early becomes a competitive advantage. The fail fast mindset argues that:
- Failing quickly and cheaply is better than failing late and expensively.
- Every experiment provides valuable data.
- Teams learn more from short, frequent cycles.
- Many small failures pave the way to a successful product.
The logic is simple:
The more experiments you run, the faster you find the ideal version of the product.
How Product Managers Think About MVPs
Although the concept is universal, the way an MVP is applied varies significantly between startups and large organizations.
1. MVPs in Startups: Survival and Speed
For startups, the MVP is fundamentally about:
- Extreme speed
- Maximum resource efficiency
- Searching for product–market fit
- Validating the business model
If the MVP fails, the impact can be significant — resources are limited, and each attempt matters for the business’s survival.
2. MVPs in Large Companies: Reputation and Different Risks
For Product Managers working in large enterprises, the scenario shifts:
- There is greater tolerance for risk because resources are available to absorb failures.
- The main concern is not cost, but the potential impact on the company’s brand.
- Often, the MVP needs to be more “robust” to avoid damaging the organization’s image.
Paradoxically, even failed products can generate benefits, such as internal learning, strategic insights, and market understanding.
3. The PM’s Role in Leading an MVP
Regardless of organization size, the Product Manager must:
- Define clear, measurable hypotheses.
- Prioritize speed without losing sight of the user experience.
- Communicate internally that the MVP is a test, not a finished product.
- Prepare the company to learn from the results.
- Quickly decide whether to iterate, pivot, or kill the idea.
Conclusion: MVP as a Strategy for Learning and Risk Reduction
The MVP does not exist to deliver something “simple” or “cheap.”
It exists to learn quickly and turn those learnings into better decisions.
Whether in startups fighting for survival or in large companies seeking to innovate without compromising their reputation, the MVP remains one of the most effective tools to:
- Test ideas with real users,
- Reduce investment risks,
- Accelerate time-to-market,
- Build increasingly relevant products.
In practice, the MVP is less about technology and more about mindset — a mindset that values data, experimentation, humility, and continuous evolution.