An MVP can be used to teach AND to learn

🔥 Hook

I used to think MVPs were meant to impress customers.
Now I believe they're a tool for learning AND teaching.

📖 Body

In science-rooted products, MVPs often fail when treated as mini versions of the final solution. The goal isn’t to validate features but to reduce risk, surface assumptions, and teach everyone involved (including your users) what really matters.

🎓 Teach : MVPs can show users what’s possible with new technology. Not just functionality but how your approach reshapes their pipeline, decisions, or outcomes.

🧠 Learn : MVPs should expose you to reality. You’re not testing features, you’re testing value delivery. Are users finding actual benefit? Is usability truly the blocker, or is it positioning, pricing, or trust?

As product builders, we obsess over UX, design, and usability (and we should).
But someone on the team must ask:

“Are we building a product , or are we creating a business ?”

🎯 CTA

🔍 What’s the most important thing you’ve learned from an MVP?

🧠 Notes

Related posts and notes 24-09-17_MVP minimum viable product minimum viable prototype 24-05-09_Hardware MVP