Play #004 Launching With Your MVP

Welcome to Play #004 of the Founders GTM Playbook Newsletter. Each week I will bring you one GTM play that is tested through scaling multiple 7-figure B2B businesses that you can put into action to scale your business.

Today I want to talk about launching with your MVP (Most Viable Product). This term is often used for SaaS companies when they are building the first version of their product but it is applicable in many more ways. Founders often think they have the best idea and sometimes the market disagrees. Here is a simple framework to follow when launching a new product, service, or offer.

1. What is the idea?

This should be a collaborative process where the entire team gets together and gets everything written down. This could be on paper, a google doc or some find whiteboarding to work best. Make it a safe environment where there are no "dumb ideas". What is the problem that is being solved, what is the value of solving that problem, and how do people solve this problem today are all good ways to view things. This is also a great time to go over any feedback or research that has been collected.

2. Time to Build

Rember this is just the MVP. There will be iterations based on customer feedback so the building phase needs to be good enough for a soft launch to see how potential customers respond. Determine what is needed to build it and identify the messaging that will be used to bring it to market. You will also want to set a launch date to ensure everyone has a target to move towards.

3. Soft Launch

This is such a critical step that often gets skipped because companies are in a rush to bring the new product, service, or offer to the market. There are a ton of benefits to starting with a soft launch. You can start with a select group of customers or a segment of your market before going too wide. This will allow you to make any needed adjustments to the messaging or product before the official launch.

3. Go-To-Market Launch

This is your time to shine so be prepared and don't skip any of the previous steps. Assuming the soft launch goes well or you have made any needed changes based on the feedback you received in the soft la lunch now it is time to GO BIG or GO HOME. Get your entire team well prepared and rowing in the same direction. Come up with some ideas to make it fun and even gamify the launch if you can. This will need to be an all-hands-on-deck to build some momentum.

To sum things up make sure you are patient and don't skip any steps. You don't want to take a big swing and miss. And not every new product, service, or offer will be a home run but you might just learn what you need for the next GRAND SLAM.

See you again next week.

-CM