It's pretty impressive and the product then looked pretty polished (though minimalistic as it is even today) that even after 11 years, it hasn't gone through much changes. One thing that is interesting is that many people use Dropbox as a poster child of MVPs and Lean methodology, but given the possible effort and polish that Drew had put into the product, I am not sure we can call the beta version as an MVP.
I think it's fair to say that those videos you linked are not examples of MVP / Lean, given how sophisticated the product was throughout the demo. The example that I've always heard (and couldn't find a link to now, so might not be true) was that, while Dropbox was in YC, they put up a landing page and a teaser video that only explained what the product would be once released, without even releasing it. That video generated a lot of buzz and signups, which was a lean way to validate the idea that people wanted the product.
Seeing as I can't find the video I imagine this story might've been embellished over the years, so if anyone was here for that I'd love to be corrected.
I can confirm that. I was introduced to Drew when he was looking for a co-founder in March and saw his announcement below in April. That's correct, the launch page had a heading "Dropbox - Throw away your USB drive", a short video with the same message, and an email form.
I had my own software business for three years by then (archived screenshots to https://angel.co/spoof-proof-software), so I replied with better marketing text and benefits, rather than "throw away your USB drive", the problem Drew had at MIT. Years later, they made new intro videos (with a mountain climber) that adopted the ideas I posted way back then.
"What about this on the download page (also good for a press release.)
Drop Box: Automatically safeguards even your biggest worries, so you don't have any!
What is a Drop Box?
Your Drop Box is a File Cabinet that Follows You Around Everywhere You Want to Go, Across Your Computers, or Across The Country.
Download and start using it today. (link goes here.)
Your Drop Box includes your own Secretary who Files and Photocopies Every Document You Make or Edit, So You Can See What Each Document Looked Like Yesterday, Two Days Ago, or at Any Point In Time. Did I Mention the Secretary and the File Cabinet are Fire-Proof and Wireless?
But, it's all digital. And, it's secure. And it's built to work between as many Windows desktops or laptop computer you use at NO EXTRA COST! See for yourself! (another link to the download.)
Or, access your files at work from a web-based interface! It's so flexible!
Q: Do I have to change how I work?
A: Absolutely not. Any file and folder (Word documents, spreadsheets, family photos, etc) you add to your Drop Box folder is automatically synchronized and saved remotely.
Q: What is the Drop Box folder?
A: It's just a special folder which will appear on your computer. Anything added to it is automatically saved, synchronized, and "dated" so you can go back in time!
Try it now! (another download link) It's safe, it's free, and you can use it on as many computers to share, backup, and keep archived file versions on, as you need to, by registering for just one account!"
Nice to hear that.. But he did have the video demo right? As per another comment it's called MVP because the video seems to be fake? Either way it was a great success story. Had you wished you'd be part of Dropbox later?
the original YC application is also really good. extremely focused.
(side, that original demo dropbox web UI is nicer than what they have now. there's a tendency for big companies to create over-heavy web UI (cf., what's happened to gmail and google maps).)
Video1 (Probably earlier version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAnJjXriIcw
Video2 (Better than Video1, more witty and well made.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QmCUDHpNzE
It's pretty impressive and the product then looked pretty polished (though minimalistic as it is even today) that even after 11 years, it hasn't gone through much changes. One thing that is interesting is that many people use Dropbox as a poster child of MVPs and Lean methodology, but given the possible effort and polish that Drew had put into the product, I am not sure we can call the beta version as an MVP.