1.4. MVP vs MLP

The world of business is full of acronyms and abbreviations that are delivered with such speed that sometimes even successful entrepreneurs get confused. There are literally hundreds and hundreds of them in use, while some of them have more than one meaning. Rather than sneaking off to google the meaning of and check the differences between MVP and MLP in the middle of an important meeting with a client or stakeholder, we decided to make things a bit easier and did all the work for you. To get the full picture, before continuing to this article we strongly advise you to get acquainted with the information on Customer Development that was presented earlier.

Definitions Come First

If you are a developer, manager, founder, owner, entrepreneur or someone involved in creating products, you probably heard about MVP, which stands for the Minimum Viable Product. But what about MLP? Did you hear about that? If you type it in Google, you will find lots of results. Sometimes you need to do MVP, sometimes you need something bigger. And that “something bigger” is MLP, i.e. the Minimum Loveable Product.

MVP and MLP: What’s the Difference?

MVP is about technology, it is about innovation. A customer has a problem every day and you provide a potential solution, a small innovation. There are no competitors, you are the only one who provides the solution. The customer had a problem, you solved it, the customer is happy. It is different with MLP. The customer has a problem, the customer has many providers and you are just another provider. This is when you must provide a better product.

With MVP you provide technical innovation. With MLP your product should be stable, look nice, be fashionable, and the customer should feel comfortable and satisfied when using it. You should be better than competitors.

What to Choose?

When you provide innovation, you can make more mistakes. The idea is that MVP should always be bad. You should show it to the customer as early as you can. Do it faster, it will save lots of your time. Don't be afraid of the customers. As a matter of fact, MVP means that the customer feels the value of the product. You show the product to the customer and you get some feedback. MLP has the same purpose, but has a bigger competition and is much more about the quality.

When you have 20 competitive apps or when there are 20 electric vehicles, and let's say some car brand likes to provide a new electric car, it should be very compatible. The customer is going to be like, "I have 19 other cars, why do I need YOUR electric car?" It should be really loveable. If the customers loves it, investors will invest or the customer will buy it. It is a big difference when you present innovation to the market or when you provide a commodity, another commodity.

Final Word

Why do most startups fail? Usually, because they did not ask the customers if there is a need for that particular product. The newly born businessperson might invest millions (if one has them) into building a product, marketing it, and even onboarding a solid team, but if there is no need and/or interest on the market, then it’s a recipe for disaster. Accordingly, before creating something, conduct interviews (problem-based or solution-based), ask potential customers, offer potential solutions to their problems.

If your potential solution works in the head of the customer and makes one leave money on the table for that specific solution, which is not even yet a finished product, then you can finally start producing. You can finally switch to regular sales and start building a company. Congrats!