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Product Management9 min read

MVP Economics: How Much Should Version 1 Cost?

The economics of minimum viable products — what to build, what to fake, and what to skip.

By Richard Ewing·

The MVP Budget Framework

Target MVP cost: 10-15% of your seed round. $1.5M seed → $150-225K MVP budget → 6-10 weeks → 2-3 engineers.

What to build: the core value proposition feature and nothing else. What to fake: admin panels (use Google Sheets), onboarding (do it manually), analytics (use free tools). What to skip: localization, accessibility (add later), performance optimization, mobile app (use responsive web).

The most expensive MVP mistake: building for scale before validating demand.

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Published Work

This article expands on ideas from my published work in CIO.com, Built In, Mind the Product, and HackerNoon. View published articles →

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Richard Ewing

The Product Economist — Quantifying engineering economics for technology leaders, PE firms, and boards.