Disciplined Entrepreneurship: 24 Steps to a Successful Startup

STEP 22

Define the Minimum Viable Business Product (MVBP)

IN THIS STEP, YOU WILL:

• Integrate your assumptions into a systems test, consisting of the minimal product that a customer will still pay for.

Now we are feeling good about our product but we must show restraint; we will now cross the Rubicon and launch a minimally viable product that a customer will pay for, but keep the functionality as simple as possible so we can minimize risks and also continue to test the assumptions in a scientific manner.

The previous two steps have focused on testing individual assumptions. In this step and the next, we will develop and test what I am calling the Minimum Viable Business Product (MVBP). The MVBP combines your most important key individual assumptions into one integrated product that can be sold. The MVBP sets you up to test the most important overarching assumption that integrates the rest—that customers will pay for your product. As mentioned in the previous step, the Lean Startup definition ...