Inspired by posts and stories from the different sources I read daily (like Indiehackers, Startups from the bottom, The hustle, and others) it's been a while since I wanted to start implementing ideas and test if they were good enough to become a viable product. And what a better date to set as the starting line than the beginning of a new year!
Over the past months, several potential ideas emerged in talks with colleagues and friends, but they never get past the "that would be a cool thing to do!" moment and end up getting lost in the shuffle.
"So worry no more, you promising ideas, this is your lucky year!" - Me
My goal is to have a different testable working MVP every two months next year. Given that I'm a software developer, most (if not all) the things I'll end up building will surely be software related, but I'm not limiting myself to that. I have already defined some stuff that I would like to try, and will be revisiting and updating my list while in the process. As of now, the topics range from project management, to gaming, or social, or office related software.
The dynamic will be something like this:
- Pick up an idea from my list-of-cool-ideas
- Decide what the scope of the MVP should be
- Write a little introduction post in this blog
- Implement it
- Test / validate it
- Turn it into a marketable product if it has potential - ditch it otherwise
- Share my experience of it's implementation, testing and final decision over here
I believe that two months should be enough time to do this, if the scope is well chosen: I already have a full time job and also some side projects and freelance work. So defining correctly what the MVP should be will be critical for my success.
But wait... What's an MVP?
As defined by The Lean Startup strategy (by Eric Ries):
A minimum viable product (MVP) is the "version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort" (similar to a pilot experiment).
Depending on the product, maybe just a spreadsheet with some formulas is enough to validate it's value; maybe it's just a form on a webpage, or a demo video, or some wireframes. The whole purpose of an MVP is to serve as a means to support or reject the "This idea will work" hypothesis. The important thing is to capture the essence of the product, and ask the right questions about it's validity.
Stay tuned for news and updates on this challenge's progress. And happy new year to everyone!