MEPX
Chapter 4 of 10All chapters
  1. 1Ideas
  2. 2Testing the idea
  3. 3Talking to customers
  4. 4Building the first version
  5. 5Product-market fit
  6. 6Funding
  7. 7Runway and burn
  8. 8Founders and early team
  9. 9Growth
  10. 10An honest picture

Chapter 4 of 10

Building the first version

Small enough to learn from.

What it is for

The first version exists to answer a question, not to be a product. If it cannot change your mind about something, it is not worth building yet.

  • Manual behind the scenes is fine and often faster than automation.
  • Ship to real users early; internal opinion is not feedback.

Scope

Cut everything that is not the core value. Most first versions fail from being too broad rather than too small, and breadth delays the learning you actually need.