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Zero to MVP - What You Really Need vs. What You Think You Need

Most founders show up with a Notion doc, a Figma prototype, and a vague idea of “raising soon.” Then they try to spec a product like they’re Google. Reality check: you’re not building a platform. You’re testing a hypothesis. The difference between what you think you need and what you actually need is often the difference between traction and a quiet death.

Most MVPs Die of Scope, Not Starvation

The graveyard is full of MVPs that tried to be “complete.” Logins, dashboards, settings pages - all before a single user cared.

A real MVP is a test. A signal. It’s a tool to answer: Will anyone use this? Will anyone pay for this?

Not: Is this elegant? Does this scale? Will Hacker News love it?

What You Think You Need (But Don’t)

  1. A “Full” Feature Set No one cares about your notification system or admin panel on day one. Strip it down to a single, valuable user flow.

  2. Perfect UX/UI Your early users will forgive clunky. They won’t forgive pointless. Prioritize clarity over polish.

  3. A Scalable Backend If 10 users break your system, that’s not a failure - that’s a champagne problem. You can fix infra later.

  4. Auth, Payments, Settings, and Dark Mode Unless those are your core value prop, they’re just distractions. Build them later - if you get that far.

What You Actually Need

  1. One Core User Path What’s the “aha” moment? Build that and only that. No branches. No settings. No fluff.

  2. A Demoable Product Investors and users don’t want to imagine. They want to click. A hosted, usable MVP beats wireframes every time.

  3. Fast Feedback Loops Launch early. Talk to users. Ship again. The faster you loop, the faster you find signal.

  4. Clarity on Success Before writing code, define: what does success look like? 100 signups? 10 paying users? A warm intro from a VC?

My Process: Zero to MVP Without the Delusion

  1. Scope Ruthlessly One call. We define your riskiest assumption, core user flow, and must-have features. The rest is noise.

  2. Build With Momentum in Mind I use boring tools: AWS, Postgres, React. Fast to build. Easy to extend. No cowboy tech.

  3. Demo-Ready in 30–45 Days You’ll have a real, clickable, hosted product - not a half-working prototype buried in localhost hell.

  4. Positioned to Raise I’ll help you craft the narrative around your MVP so investors see potential, not projects.

Why This Matters

You don’t need a big team, a tech cofounder, or 6 months in stealth. You need to show - fast - that your idea solves a problem people care about.

If you’re serious about building, stop chasing complexity and start testing reality.


Want to talk through your idea and see what’s actually buildable in the next 30 days? Grab a 30-min slot. No fluff. Just clarity.