Idea-to-MVP Sprint Map

MVP doesn't mean "minimum viable product." It means "minimum viable test of the riskiest assumption."

Week 1 — sharpen the question

Don't write code. Talk to 10 people in the ICP. Write down the one question your MVP must answer.

Week 2 — choose the smallest test

Sometimes it's a landing page. Sometimes it's a Figma prototype. Sometimes — rarely — it's actual code.

Week 3 — build the test

Build only what answers the question. Aggressively cut anything that doesn't.

Week 4 — run the test, decide

Show it to 10-20 ICP customers. If three say "when can I buy this?" — build more. If none do — go back to week 1.

Two traps

Building the version 1.0, not the test

Founders confuse "MVP" with "v1 of the product." The MVP is the test. The product comes after.

Skipping the question

If you can't write down the one question in a single sentence, you don't have an MVP — you have a build queue.