Article · ~8 min read

What Is an MVP? Eric Ries Explains

Eric Ries · Lean Startup Co. Free Beginner

A short, free primer straight from the person who coined the term, useful when someone on your team thinks an MVP just means a cheap version of the full product. It clarifies that an MVP can be as small as a landing page or a manual service as long as it produces real learning. Read it to reset the definition before you scope anything.

  • An MVP is about learning, not about a smaller product
  • It can be a page, a video, or a manual service
  • Customers must take a real action for the test to count
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It answers 4 questions

  1. What actually counts as an MVP, and what's the smallest one I can get away with?
  2. How long should building an MVP take?
  3. What is an MVP and what's the smallest one I can build?
  4. How much should an MVP realistically cost to build in India?

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