Proof That Simple Works

Think your MVP needs to be perfect? These billion-dollar companies prove otherwise.

1. Dropbox: A Video Demo

**The MVP:** A 3-minute video demonstrating how the product would work.

**What They Learned:** 70,000 people signed up for the waitlist overnight. Product-market fit validated before writing a single line of sync code.

**Lesson:** Sometimes you don't need to build anything—just show the vision.

2. Airbnb: Air Mattresses

**The MVP:** The founders rented air mattresses in their apartment during a conference when hotels were full.

**What They Learned:** People would pay to stay in a stranger's home.

**Lesson:** Start with what you have, where you are.

3. Buffer: A Landing Page

**The MVP:** A two-page website. Page one explained the concept, page two showed pricing.

**What They Learned:** People clicked "sign up" even though the product didn't exist.

**Lesson:** Validate willingness to pay before you build.

4. Zappos: Manual Fulfillment

**The MVP:** Founder took photos of shoes at local stores. When someone ordered, he bought the shoes and shipped them himself.

**What They Learned:** People would buy shoes online (revolutionary at the time).

**Lesson:** Do things that don't scale to validate demand.

5. Twitter: Internal Tool

**The MVP:** A simple SMS-based status update tool for internal use at Odeo.

**What They Learned:** People loved sharing short updates.

**Lesson:** Some MVPs are accidents. Stay open to unexpected discoveries.

Common Themes

Your Turn

Your MVP doesn't need to compete with where these companies are today. It needs to compete with where they started.