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Italy Needs Startups

MVP

"You only learn about your product when you put it in front of your users."

Michael Siebel, from YC​

Do this
  • Find the desperate users

  • Time-box your MVP to several weeks

  • Write your specs: persona, UCs, flows, data, onboarding.

  • Limit your specs to 2-3 top user goals

  • Use no-code and prototyping tools for the MVP

  • Manage tasks and execution daily

  • Put an MVP in front of the early adopters quickly!

  • Tell them it will not be perfect on day 1

  • Don’t worry about losing customers

  • Don’t fear rejection by early customers

  • Tell users: “if you work with me - I will make it work for you in next revisions of the product”.

  • Don't fall in love with your MVP

  • Finish the first iteration in several weeks. Next iterations - much faster.

  • Iterate, iterate, iterate.

Don't do this
  • 100’s of surveys

  • 10’s of user interviews

  • Detailed competitor research

  • Spend time fundraising

  • Invest in hiring a team

  • Spend a year building it

  • Build a platform

  • Aim for the perfect of product before putting it in front of customers.

From Discovery to Product - Definitions (hi-level)

1

Write

In the discovery, you learned about the ICP's challenges the solutions they would like to see.

Now, WRITE the solutions in the form of customer journeys, user-flows, and use-cases. These methodologies are valuable!!​

See the below section.

2

Pencil & Paper

Sketch, with pencil and paper, several options and multiple iterations of your solution, until you can defend your design. The best solution will not become apparent immediately. Sketches need to support the flows and use-cases from the previous step.

3

Mock-up

Now mock-up your solution in the fastest way possible so you can reach your actual goal: put the mock-up in front of users so you can find out if they will pay.

Forget writing code. 

Go to the next page for valuable recommendations.

If you want to learn how to define products - follow this process.

Credits: Alistair Cockburn

1 / Name the system scope and boundaries
2 / Find every human and non-human primary actor
3 / Develop an exhaustive list of user and system goals
4 / Find out who really cares (pain, aspirations), and write their goals and use-cases (see below a UC)
5 / Review all use-cases. Add, subtract, merge, find time-based triggers and other events.
6 /Select one use-case to expand (see below)
7 / Capture stakeholders and interests, preconditions and guarantees.
8 / Write the main success scenario
9 / List the extension conditions and write them in full.
10 / Write sub-use cases, merge trivial ones, readjust all the use-cases. Decide which go into the MVP.
11 / Decide which UC go into the MVP.

A Use-Case example

Learn Alistair Cockburn's approach. It will make you a better product designer.

USE CASE: GET PAID FOR CAR ACCIDENT​

Primary Actor: The Claimant

Scope: The insurance company ("MyInsCo")

Level: Summary

Stakeholders and Interests:

* The claimant - to get paid the most possible

* MyInsCo - to pay the smallest appropriate amount

* The dept. of insurance - to see that all guidelines are followed.

Precondition: none

Minimal guarantees: MyInsCo logs the claim and all activities.

Success guarantees: Claimant and MyInsCo agree on amount to be paid, claimant gets paid that.

Trigger: Claimant submits a claim

​

Main success scenario:

1. Claimant submits claim with substantiating data.

2. Insurance company verifies claimant owns a valid policy

3. Insurance company assigns agent to examine case

4. Insurance company verifies all details are within policy guidelines

5. Insurance company pays claimant and closes file.

​

Alternate scenario:

1a. Submitted data is incomplete:

1a1. Insurance company requests missing information

1a2. Claimant supplies missing information

2a. Claimant does not own a valid policy:

2a1. Insurance company declines claim, notifies claimant, records all this, terminates proceedings.

3a. No agents are available at this time

3a1. (What does the insurance company do here?)

4a. Accident violates basic policy guidelines:

4a1. Insurance company declines claim, notifies claimant, records all this, terminates proceedings.

4b. Accident violates some minor policy guidelines:

4b1. Insurance company begins negotiation with claimant as to degree of payment to be

made.

Etc. Etc.

After you write all the use-cases decide which go into the MVP.

Sketch them with pencil and paper before using the below tools.

Don't code. Use tools to build faster!

No-code: bubble.io, AirTable, Adalo, etc.

Prototyping: Figma, Sketch, Adobe XD, Invision, MockFlow, balsamiq, etc.

Think of The Flywheel from Day 1

It is a circular process where customers feed growth.

Achieving the flywheel effect requires removing friction and applying force.

It is best suited for high-volume businesses.

Screen Shot 2024-11-11 at 4.30.47 PM.png

Now what?

Build the MINIMAL VIABLE product fast and cheap. Next: see how to validate it.

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© 2025 Oz Garinkol​​

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