Minimum Viable Product Creation and Validation in Software Startups

Abstract

A software startup is an emerging company focused on the creation and development of an innovative software-intensive product or service as the basis for creating business value. Given the limited resources that startups have, the Lean Startup model advocates the creation of a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) to validate the assumptions about the product or service, and the target market. This study presents the results of a series of interviews with founders of software ventures in relation to the type of MVP they implement, the choice of potential clients, validation mechanisms and difficulties they face in the process of developing and validating the MVP. The main results indicate that the preferred MVP types are landing pages and mock-ups with some functionalities, validation with selected early adopters, obtaining feedback based on interviews and comments, and that the main difficulties encountered are due to lack of experience in software development and in choosing the right technology.