Ed Ipser is the founder of IpserLab and Coactify. He holds a PhD in Computer Science and has been an an entrepreneur since right out of college. Learning from these founding experiences he has been applying his experience but has also found that building a successful business based on technology often involves elements of market fit that don’t solely rely on engineering. He brings up topics revolving around lean startup methodology, Minimum Viable Product, Minimum Lovable Product and design.
Minimum Viable Product
The minimum viable product is a version of a product that only includes the most important features that provide the base functionality to support the business model and the users. Basically, the a stripped down version without extra features that allows the app to do its killer app. A killer app is like a tagline in marketing but translated as the features of a product. UX designers are adept at working on this level and engineers are the ones who implement those features. Ed’s expertise is in engineering and data modeling and he admits he is not a designer. We talk about how he leans on others expertise when working on his products.
Minimum Lovable Product
The minimum viable product, Edward says, can be “anything that gives you knowledge to make the next step”. A minimum lovable product can be more intangible. It can work for any product and includes elements of product design. Also, it includes heaps of understanding your customers. I would personally say it is closer to the pitch you might present to in your VC presentation than a MVP would be. Ed concurs because he says that VC’s really want to come in at the stage where it is coming out of the gate strong and the VC gives the funding to give it that extra push to get it there. This would be more akin to the MLP, once complete, than the MVP.
The minimum lovable product is an interesting twist on [the mvp], to look for something that excites people.
Other Topics
We talk about data modeling, design in products from Ed’s perspective, and details about his two businesses which you can find out more about at Coactify and IpserLab
