Eszett's Q1 Roadmap: From POC through MVP to Version 1.0
or, "why MVPs needs a definition of 'done'"
First, a mini-rant
One of the most misused terms in modern business is "MVP" - Minimum Viable Product. While it's become a buzzword thrown around in every startup pitch and product meeting, many miss its true meaning and purpose.
Any time someone newly mentions “MVP” in a meeting, I ask: Have you read the Lean Startup book?
More often than not, the answer is “no.”
Defining Phases
At Eszett, we're intentionally defining our MVP phase as a specific stepping stone between our Proof of Concept (POC) and our Version 1.0 (v1) release. Each represent a fundamentally different stages of product maturity and market validation.
Our December 2024 Proof-of-Concept (POC) “HOLIDAY24” campaign in our eszettSHOP live ecommerce lab was just that: proving to ourselves that our core technical integration works. Can we successfully connect several low/no-code platforms to handle ecommerce, on-demand production and fulfillment, and money movement? Will orders flow through correctly? What products do people like?
The POC wasn’t about scale or polish - it was about fundamental technical feasibility. In fact, we’ve pretty much committed to a DIY ‘zine-inspired ethos to the store.
When will the MVP be “done”?
Now we are in our Minimal Viable Product (MVP) phase, which builds on this foundation by testing our core business hypothesis with real artists and their patrons.
It's not about having every feature or the smoothest onboarding - it's about learning if our basic value proposition resonates in the real world. In fact, a lot of the artist onboarding in this phase is intentionally manual, and we are documenting things every step of the way. Why? So that we can automate, using an appropriate and evolving amount of AI, our core artist onboarding process.
Once we have three artists onboarded, the MVP will be DONE.
We will then move to “Version 1.0” for artist number four and beyond. This is where we will work on more automation, AI-powered tax & VAT compliance, and scalable operations.
The danger in misusing "MVP" isn't just linguistic - it leads to bloated initial releases, delayed market feedback, and wasted resources building features nobody wants. By clearly defining these phases — especially with a “definition of ‘done’” for our MVP, we ensure each stage serves its proper purpose:
POC validates technical feasibility
MVP validates market demand – and lets us document internal processes for future planning
v1 (and beyond) delivers scalable value - and we believe potential investors will value something that is already generating platform-level profit.
Astute readers will notice at least two significant AI initiatives embedded within our work to serve “artists who reject the use of Generative AI in their work.” – more to come on that… 😉