Definition

Minimum Viable Product: the absolute least you can build before showing it to humans, which somehow always ends up being the final product. It's the software development equivalent of serving someone a raw potato and calling it a restaurant soft launch.

Example Usage

"This is just the MVP," the founder reassured investors, about a product that would look exactly the same in two years.

Related Terms

Intermediate

codec

A magical piece of software or hardware that compresses video files so they don't take up your entire hard drive, then decompresses them so you can actually watch the cat videos you hoarded. Short for 'coder-decoder,' it's why your 4K movie doesn't require a forklift to transport. The reason video conferences are possible and also the reason they look terrible when your internet hiccups.

💻 Tech / IT
Intermediate

Full Stack

A developer who works on both the front-end and back-end of an application, which is a polite way of saying one person doing the work of two for the salary of 0.75. The mythical unicorn of tech hiring.

💻 Tech / IT
Advanced

captive VC

A venture capital fund owned and operated by a larger corporation to invest in strategically relevant startups. They bring money and potential acquisition interest, but everyone knows who they're really working for.

🚀 Startup / VC
Intermediate

yellitocracy

An organizational dysfunction where the loudest voice wins every argument, regardless of actual merit or logic. Common in toxic startups and poorly-managed teams where decibel level is somehow confused with leadership ability, ensuring the best ideas often die in quiet corners while mediocre ones get screamed into existence.

🚀 Startup / VC
Beginner

inbound interest

When investors, customers, or acquirers proactively reach out to a startup rather than being solicited. It's the entrepreneurial equivalent of being asked to the dance instead of doing the asking.

🚀 Startup / VC
Advanced

the daily

Apple and Murdoch's 2011 attempt at a paid iPad newspaper that proved people won't pay for mediocre content just because it has fancy swipe effects. The publication lasted about as long as most New Year's resolutions, shuttering in 2012 after burning through millions. A cautionary tale in the "build it and they'll pay" fallacy.

💻 Tech / IT

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