Template · 10 min read

MVP Spec Template for Non-Technical Founders

LaunchCraft Studio Free Beginner

A copy and paste template built around exactly the six questions in our answer: who the user is, the problem, the core workflow, what is in scope, what is explicitly out, and what success looks like. It also lists what to leave out (database tables, tech stack, UI minutiae), sparing you from sounding technical without informing the build. A good starting skeleton for a founder who wants structure before a blank page.

  • A one to two page spec answering six questions is enough
  • Explicitly list what is out of scope for version one
  • Leave out database and stack choices, describe user actions instead
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The question it answers

  1. How do I write a spec for a developer when I'm not technical?

Read with it

  1. Basecamp's battle-tested, opinionated system for shipping meaningful work in fixed cycles without endless backlogs, a primary... Basecamp / 37signals Book · free online book Shape Up: Stop Running in Circles and Ship Work that Matters Ryan Singer
  2. Michael Seibel, who ran YC, makes the blunt case for shipping something almost embarrassingly simple and learning from real... Y Combinator Startup Library Video · ~10 min video How to Build an MVP Michael Seibel
  3. Figma's free plan is genuinely enough to design, tweak, and export a full logo set (SVG for print, PNG for the web) without... Figma Tool · Ongoing tool Figma (free plan) Figma
  4. The creator of Shape Up talks through fixing the time and cutting the scope, which is exactly the discipline that keeps an MVP... Lenny's Podcast Podcast · 90 min A Better Way to Plan, Build, and Ship Products (Shape Up) Ryan Singer
  5. This is the clearest statement of the exact idea in our answer: a spec describes how the product works entirely from the user's... Joel on Software Essay · 10 min read Painless Functional Specifications, Part 2: What's a Spec? Joel Spolsky
  6. Part 2 tells you what a spec is, this one covers who writes it and how they build agreement without authority, walking through... Joel on Software Essay · 12 min read Painless Functional Specifications, Part 3: But... How? Joel Spolsky
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