

How Much Does It Cost To Build An MVP? - Brajeshwar
http://www.forbes.com/sites/stellafayman/2013/05/02/how-much-does-it-cost-to-build-an-mvp/

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mindcrime
This is a nonsense question with no real answer. It could be $0 to >
$1,000,000,000,000. Are you building an MVP around a new cat-picture-sharing-
website or an MVP around an idea for a new stealth fighter jet?

If you can actually say "Oh, an MVP, developed by a freelancer, will cost
between $15,000-$30,000" (or whatever) then that's a damn sad statement about
the state of startups. If we've become that homogeneous and generified in our
efforts, what does that say about how innovative any of this stuff actually
is?

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ysapir
The point of an MVP is to control costs, to avoid spending millions of $ and
precious time to develop something that no one wants. The first step in
avoiding spending that much money, is to be able to quantify the costs of
building an MVP.

Besides, a stealth fighter jet cannot be a MVP. Maybe you have better
maneuvering technology, or targeting technology, or maybe you have
teleportation technology. That would be the basis of your MVP. If it still
costs above $100,000, then minimize again, and again and again.

~~~
mindcrime
_The point of an MVP is to control costs, to avoid spending millions of $ and
precious time to develop something that no one wants._

I'd argue that it's the point of the _process_ to "control costs, avoid
spending millions of $ ..."

The MVP is just a tool, a step along that path. Its "point" if there is one -
is to test your product hypothesis and evaluate product/market fit at a point
in time.

 _The first step in avoiding spending that much money, is to be able to
quantify the costs of building an MVP._

You can't do that, as you know neither the definition of "minimum" nor the
definition of "viable" when you first start. That's the whole point of the
iterative process. You start building to the Founders' vision, and then go out
and try to find customers for that. It's only when you think that you have a
testable product hypothesis that you can even speculate about what an "MVP"
would look like.

I think part of the problem with these discussions though, is that "MVP" has
become part buzzword and part synonym for "prototype" or "alpha" or "first
version". It's not necessarily the same as those things though.

 _Besides, a stealth fighter jet cannot be a MVP. Maybe you have better
maneuvering technology, or targeting technology, or maybe you have
teleportation technology. That would be the basis of your MVP._

Right, that's why I said "an idea for a new stealth fighter jet". I certainly
am not proposing to build a complete jet as an MVP... I can't imagine many -
if any - scenarios where that makes sense. But building an MVP of the "magic
sauce" that allows you to demonstrate to the DoD that your new stealth fighter
jet will be better, is probably still going to be a lot more expensive than
the "cat photo sharing site" thing. All I'm really saying is that there's a
broad range in how much a MVP might cost, depending on the domain and the
problems you're trying to solve.

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kondro
The below statement has to be sarcastic right?

Hire a freelance developer to build a prototype - Many freelance developers
love working with entrepreneurs to develop MVPs and prototypes. …

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mootothemax
_The below statement has to be sarcastic right?

Hire a freelance developer to build a prototype - Many freelance developers
love working with entrepreneurs to develop MVPs and prototypes_

Why do you think that? It's honestly a part of my consulting work that I
really, really enjoy.

~~~
film42
Because far too often, 'hire a freelance developer' means, "I'll give you 20%
of the company if you make the MVP."

At my university, several times a week you get people saying, "I have my MBA
and I just need 3 developers who are really solid to build the idea. I don't
have cash, but I'm determined and will give you equity for your time."

Developers are far too often under appreciated, and most entrepreneurs don't
want to shell out a few thousand on an MVP. Sometimes, they don't pay when
they're not happy with the result, despite you following every suggestion and
even giving plenty of free hours to make the product better.

Lastly, those who are willing to shell out a little cash will often find the
cheapest talent they can, which is great, until they start to grow and they
realize they've hit a wall because it's nearly impossible to add features and
improbable to redo the whole product.

But when the startup has some money, and they know what they want, and they
listen to your tech advice, there's no better feeling than crafting a new
company or product from a qwerty keyboard and a text editor.

~~~
nedwin
"I'll give you 20% of the company if you make the MVP."

Which is not what this article is saying at all. That's why there is a dollar
figure attached to hiring a freelance developer, not an equity split.

~~~
film42
You're totally right, but I was replying to the parent comment.

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seyz
I am a freelance developer. My core business is to build MVPs. The price and
the duration are fixed: 3000€ for two weeks. <http://munda.me>

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skrebbel
OK, will you dev me an MVP for an auto-aiming paint gun? I keep losing in
paintball matches and I think there's a market. $3000, two weeks.

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seyz
No I am not. It's my job to extract from the customer's vision what's possible
to develop in two weeks. I never mention: "I materialize any idea in two
weeks".

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nchuhoai
Does anyone know how I can get into this business? I'm a full-stack developer
and love to build MVPs, but I don't really know where to start finding new
clients? Is it really only elance and odesk?

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omegant
Find your own ideas, and then learn to sell them, to posible users, to
possible partners. And then if you get clicks on fake buttons and or signups,
start to build a more elaborated product. If you are a developer the hardest
part is selling, do it from day cero. Also start a blog, I find people looking
at blogs. And of course read "the startup owner's manual".

~~~
nchuhoai
I intend of doing that, but at least at the start, I'd like to have some
reliable (albeit small) revenue stream

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mbesto
How long is a piece of string?

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justhw
Advice on MVP's from Forbes? C'mon hn

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acchow
The Forbes article was posted so we could all trash it and circle jerk about
how much better we are.

