How does MVP create a difference?
With a plethora of startups disrupting the Indian market, a perfectly developed product seems to be a myth. Each enterprise is coming up with an unique idea to solve the diverse bottlenecks in the day-to-day lives!
You order food from a different portal and get groceries on a different platform. There is different product offering a taxi service, while another one offering self driven cars!
There is a different app for everything you do!
MVP is minimum feature-product that is provided to a consumer and in due course, with the feedbacks received from those customers, the product is developed into a bigger artefact. The evolution takes place considering the requirement in the market and the market size.
Minimal Viable Product in the words of Steve Blank — “You’re selling the vision and delivering the minimum feature set to visionaries not everyone.”
For a mythological reference, Hanuman was only supposed to get the magical herb from a mountain but since he could not find it, he carried the entire mountain with himself for Laxman’s treatment!
Hanuman had superpowers but not all of us are superheroes. More often than not, in an attempt to build the perfect end product, we fail to deliver the minimal requirements of the market. Lot of startups in fact, fail to sustain in the long run because either their market timing is wrong or they are taking too long to cater to the needs of the consumer.
A history of MVP:
Grand Problem: Humanity needs cheap, effective lighting during darkness
1st MVP: Fire.
2nd MVP: Oil Lamps, Candles & Gas Lights.
3rd MVP: Incandescent Light Bulbs
4th MVP: Widely Available Electricity
5th MVP: Solar Power.
6th MVP: A Planet Powered Solely by the Sun — Source: Medium, Freecodecamp
We would’ve never heard stories of our forefathers studying under street-lights if the early man waited for solar powered electricity!
An interesting venture on similar lines started off amidst Bengaluru’s traffic as well in 2015.
Dunzo, a hyperlocal delivery startup founded by Kabeer Biswas, is now one of the first homegrown startups funded by the tech giant, Google.
Kabeer had been exploring Bengaluru and got struck with this idea of a product which is a self-completing to-do list. “That was my first articulation of it” — as told to Forbes India.
In no time Kabeer was found running everyday chores from delivering veggies to getting clocks repaired, all through a Whatsapp text!
Yes, Whatsapp, it all started from there! All this while I was wondering if I could do something more with this app besides reading “Good Morning” texts on family groups!
But Kabeer made this work in his favour when he told a couple of friends about this idea which soon spread through a word of mouth and within 6–7 months, Dunzo was getting around 70 orders/day.
This was Dunzo’s MVP. Gradually, as demand and market size, for the product, grew, Dunzo launched an app and with the right technology has been serving demand in major Indian cities like Bengaluru, Pune, Gurgaon, Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad.
Last week, When I reached office that is around 15 km away, I realised I did not have my phone’s charger with me and called up my flatmate to ask if he could get it.Without a second thought in mind, he said NO!
That’s when I had to get it Dunzoed.
Dunzo has now become quite a Verb in Bengaluru and you can often spot Dunzo’s “supermen” crawling through the horrific traffic on their bikes, just so you can sit at home and still get your job done.
Eventually, it all comes back to how you sell your product which offers minimum features, yet satiate customers’ appetite!
Do let us us know about your hacks in the comment section!
