Podcast

Start at the Epicenter

Jason Fried, David Heinemeier Hansson · REWORK, 37signals Free Beginner

37signals on finding the one thing your product cannot exist without, and building that first. It is the sharpest version of polish the core, defer the rest: the hot dog, not the condiments. Use it to name your epicenter and to justify leaving the edges rough for now.

  • Find the piece that, if removed, means you have no product.
  • Build and refine the epicenter before the surrounding features.
  • Details matter later, not at the very start.
Open on 37signals.com ↗

The question it answers

  1. How much should I invest in design polish for an MVP versus just shipping something functional?

Read with it

  1. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
  2. Video · ~13 min How to Plan an MVP Michael Seibel (YC)
  3. The origin text for the modern MVP and validated-learning vocabulary every founder now uses. Read it for the mental model that... theleanstartup.com Book · ~330 pages The Lean Startup Eric Ries
  4. Design tactics written specifically for developers and non-designers who need to ship good-looking UI without a design... refactoringui.com Book · ~250 pages Refactoring UI Adam Wathan & Steve Schoger
  5. The most accessible, practical intro to usability ever written, you can read it in a weekend and immediately fix your product.... sensible.com Book · ~200 pages Don't Make Me Think, Revisited Steve Krug
  6. 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
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