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The Right Way to Build Your MVP: 6 Key Principles from Vivino's Founder

The Right Way to Build Your MVP: 6 Key Principles from Vivino's Founder

This article is based on a video on Raw Startup. Please find a link to the video at the bottom of this article.

Most founders struggle with their Minimum Viable Product (MVP) - they take too long to build and become too complicated. As the founder of Vivino, the world's largest wine app with over 70 million users, I've learned valuable lessons about building successful MVPs. Our first version was so simple that Apple initially rejected it from the App Store, yet it became the foundation of our success.

Let's explore the six key principles for building an MVP that actually works, along with common pitfalls to avoid.

1. Speed Beats Everything

The fundamental purpose of an MVP is learning, and you don't learn anything until you launch. Every moment spent building without launching is essentially wasted time. At Vivino, we started learning rapidly after launch, releasing new versions weekly. This rapid iteration became one of our key competitive advantages.

When thinking about MVP development:

  • Focus on timelines of days and weeks, never months
  • Use speed as a tool to maintain focus on what truly matters
  • Gather feedback faster through quick releases
  • Preserve resources by launching sooner
  • Keep team momentum and excitement high through regular releases

Cautionary tales abound: Duke Nukem spent 12 years in development without releasing a product, while Quibi raised $2 billion only to fail within 6 months because they didn't validate their concept with an MVP.

2. Start with a Loom MVP

Before building your full MVP, create what I call a "Loom MVP" - a simple video demonstration of how your product would work. This pre-MVP milestone helps you:

  • Test if people understand your core concept
  • Gather early feedback before investing in development
  • Achieve an early win to maintain motivation
  • Create a clear, shareable vision of your product

Dropbox famously started with just a demo video explaining their concept, proving this approach can work for even billion-dollar companies.

3. Cut Everything (Almost)

Most MVPs fail because they include too much. Both words in "Minimum Viable Product" matter equally. The first version of Vivino was so basic that Apple questioned its value - it only took pictures of wine labels with no immediate feedback. Yet this stripped-down version allowed us to validate our core concept.

Elements to cut from your MVP:

  • All "nice to have" features
  • Perfect design and polishing
  • Multiple platform support
  • Complex backend architecture
  • Scaling capabilities

Remember: If you're not somewhat embarrassed by your MVP, you probably waited too long to launch it.

4. Set Aggressive Deadlines

Maintaining speed requires strict timeline management. Effective deadline setting includes:

  • Specific release dates AND times for your MVP
  • Multiple clear milestones leading to launch
  • Public commitment to these deadlines
  • Minimal deadline extensions (if any)
  • Regular public updates on progress

When we did our last hackathon, we committed to daily YouTube live streams. This public commitment helped ensure we hit our milestones and kept the team focused.

5. Forget Your Reputation

Experienced founders often struggle with releasing imperfect products due to concerns about:

  • Public perception
  • Product quality
  • Professional reputation

However, history shows that successful products often start with very basic MVPs:

  • Amazon began by only selling books
  • Facebook was initially just for Harvard students
  • Vivino started with simple wine label photos

Nobody remembers bad MVPs - they only remember successful products.

6. Define Success

Success for an MVP isn't about perfection - it's about learning. However, you need specific metrics to measure progress. For Vivino, success meant users scanning and rating wines. Your MVP needs:

  • Clear definition of desired user actions
  • Specific success metrics
  • Focused learning objectives
  • Measurable outcomes

Conclusion

Your journey to success begins with an imperfect MVP. The key is to start small, move fast, and focus on learning. Remember: the best time to launch your MVP was yesterday; the second-best time is today.

Watch the full video on Raw Startup