The MVP cycle can be productive, but too often it becomes a looping treadmill — especially for startups without a bold POV or category-level clarity. Love how you called out the danger of false negatives and the over-indexing on easily measurable metrics (vs. deeper customer insight).
In my work, I’ve seen the strongest launches happen when founders treat the MVP not as the product, but as the provocation — a focused narrative backed by just enough UX to validate a bigger bet. You don’t need to be perfect, but you do need a story that resonates fast and a market that actually cares.
Most MVP and other early-stage testing is too simplistic to generate real insight. Product teams should consider testing strategy, not just product, in parallel. After all, there is usually more than one potential strategy, and a product concept should be the embodiment of strategy, not the other way around. Also, most testing I see is pretty binary--i.e., does this work or not? Multivariate testing is so much more powerful.
Great reminder that big ideas often start small! DoorDash’s early days show how solving a simple problem can evolve into a massive business. Loved this insight!
I agree 100% about using multivariate testing.
The MVP cycle can be productive, but too often it becomes a looping treadmill — especially for startups without a bold POV or category-level clarity. Love how you called out the danger of false negatives and the over-indexing on easily measurable metrics (vs. deeper customer insight).
In my work, I’ve seen the strongest launches happen when founders treat the MVP not as the product, but as the provocation — a focused narrative backed by just enough UX to validate a bigger bet. You don’t need to be perfect, but you do need a story that resonates fast and a market that actually cares.
The original DoorDash MVP seemed practical.
MVPs work when they test the core risk, and maybe when they get something out the door.
Most MVP and other early-stage testing is too simplistic to generate real insight. Product teams should consider testing strategy, not just product, in parallel. After all, there is usually more than one potential strategy, and a product concept should be the embodiment of strategy, not the other way around. Also, most testing I see is pretty binary--i.e., does this work or not? Multivariate testing is so much more powerful.
Hello Andrew,
I hope this communique finds you in a moment of stillness. Have huge respect for your work.
We’ve just opened the first door of something we’ve been quietly crafting for years—
A work not meant for markets, but for reflection and memory.
Not designed to perform, but to endure.
It’s called The Silent Treasury.
A place where judgment is kept like firewood: dry, sacred, and meant for long winters.
Where trust, patience, and self-stewardship are treated as capital—more rare, perhaps, than liquidity itself.
This first piece speaks to a quiet truth we’ve long sat with:
Why many modern PE, VC, Hedge, Alt funds, SPAC, and rollups fracture before they truly root.
And what it means to build something meant to be left, not merely exited.
It’s not short. Or viral. But it’s built to last.
And if it speaks to something you’ve always known but rarely seen expressed,
then perhaps this work belongs in your world.
The publication link is enclosed, should you wish to open it.
https://helloin.substack.com/p/built-to-be-left?r=5i8pez
Warmly,
The Silent Treasury
A vault where wisdom echoes in stillness, and eternity breathes.
Great reminder that big ideas often start small! DoorDash’s early days show how solving a simple problem can evolve into a massive business. Loved this insight!
Loved this Andrew!