How many users should I reach with an MVP?

At this stage, numbers do not matter much. You have to get qualitative insights first and validate your MVP by getting vocal or written feedback from your users. From my experience, 10-20 convos let you see some repeating patterns emerge.

You need to rewind back to the reason you started each mvp. Find people who had the same problem you had (or the problem you noticed) which inspired you to create the mvp in the first place.

You didn't tell us what mvps you've been working on.

So... Let's consider a hypothetical one: V60XYZ

Ask yourself why you started the product.
For V60XYZ, your answer might be...

“Oh, I created V60XYZ when I saw that people new to the reddit coffee community kept asking over and over and over what the best recipe was for V60. It was soooo repetitive, the same questions being asked, so I decided to create a searchable guide to compile all the common getting started questions and answers in one place.”

What's your 'V'?
The 'v' in mvp stands for viable. Ask yourself: how did you know when the product would be minimally viable? That is, when was it good enough to show people and they could get some value from it (even if it wasn't 'perfect' yet).

The product will be viable only if it's of some value.

For indie hackers, then, I think it's more helpful to consider the 'v' as standing for 'valueable'. Minimum valuable product. Because that will lead you down a path to viability.

So, let's answer the 'V' question...

For V60XYZ, your answer might be...

“I knew I could release V60XYZ when I had done the basic first step of analyzing the last three weeks of questions posted to the community, and ranking them based on skill level. When I had twenty-five of the most common beginner-level questions (and the most common answers to those questions) compiled together in an Airtable, I sent a link to the community moderators asking if they could think of any other commonly-asked questions I had missed. They suggested a few I hadn't seen in my data, so I added those. Then I posted the a request in that reddit community if any of the members could think of any common question they had when they first started with v60 brewing. I included a link to a simple Airtable form where they could add their question to my growing list. By the time I reached forty questions with answers, I added tags and categories to better organize the questions. I created a simple searchable app using Algolia for smooth searching, then I went back to the community and posted the app for the members to give feedback on. The biggest feedback was, while the searchable repository of questions was great and all, newcomers often didn't even know the first questions to ask. Community members told me that it was pretty important to also have a concise Getting Started guide to help newbies make their first v60 coffee as fast as possible. So I added a quick checklist, with links to relevant questions and answers for each step in the getting started checklist. The community started linking to it and sharing it, which was when I knew it was valuable (and viable).”

In this entirely fictional scenario, this founder could tell their mvp had arrived where it needed to be when the community gave them feedback that it was indeed valuable — and in all likelihood, viable.

So where should that founder start promoting and sharing this mvp? They should start with the original community they built the product for. They should also try to scour the web for other communities who are similar and that may appreciate this kind of resource.

SEO for this hypothetical founder would be just the start.

They could write content around each question and answer in their repository, and share each back into the community over time as they finish each one. They could make step-by-step infographics or shareable resources that illustrate the technique or concept being described in the answer to each of the common questions, and again, share it back into each community.

This founder could do podcast and/or video interviews with luminaries in the coffee space to get their insights on each of the questions. The founder could stir up controversy; since some common questions have conflicting answers, so the founder could create content that pits Answer A vs. Answer B in a showdown to see which technique is best in different circumstances.

The founder could review products related to V60 coffee workflow (scales, stirring rods, pourover kettles, etc). Could even go so far as to have affiliate links to those various products, or better yet, outright set up a store of their own to sell favorite accessories or even sell a "getting started with V60 essentials kit".

In this example, you can see how building a product with specific customers in mind makes promotion easier. Even more handy if you can find places where all of those people hang out together (a community) so you can non-intrusively ask for their feedback as you go.

If you've built a mvp that no one has used or wants to use or is even searching for, then you've skipped all the easy steps and gone straight for the hardest step.

Okay, so we'll admit you started out backwards. You built a thing without first having talked with customers...

To salvage your mvps before abandoning them and giving up on the ideas, first, get really honest about who the perfect target user is. Then, find out where they hang out.

Next, go there. Start asking those people the questions from the book The Mom Test. (I'm not going to try and paraphrase that book. It's a quick read, go get yourself a copy )

Some of the people you speak with will be a perfect fit for what you've built. If not, maybe there's a way you can pivot what you've got to fit their needs.

But your redemption will start and end with you reaching out and really learning what your target users (customers, someday) want and need.

Do a Steve Job version of an announcement, build the product/MVP up as the experience to be.

How do you do that? Make people want to come and or use your product.

On Producthunt you create momentum, by saying the first 100 or fewer customers get a discount.

You can also do the streamers method, and give users a chance to win a prize. Doesn't matter if it is a 10 or 20 euro gift card. People happily share a tweet or Facebook post, if they can win something.

According to multiple growth hackers this the platform to use for creating a viral product.
If you need a better idea. Shoot me an email with your MVP. So I can send you a personalized marketing stunt.

https://www.paywithatweet.com/

[email protected]

I voted wrong metric. I think the better question is how many people have you talked to or have you shared your MVP with is better. If you’ve had 10 conversations with people you’d classify as buyers and there’s no evidence they’d buy them that’s a good indicator you’re on the wrong track. But in those 10 conversations, if done well then you can figure out what they would buy and why.

I highly recommend (if you haven’t already) read The Mom Test and Demand-side Sales 101. Both are great for helping sort this and guide you how to talk to people.

As a reformed technologist 😂 I know the pain, but having a conversation with your target audience gives you actionable evidence. But just having people come to your site via an ad or promotion doesn’t tell you why they do or do not value what you made.

So good news! Talking to people isn’t hard. Nor do you have to talk to hundreds. But they definitely have to be your intended buyer.

1. just see if you can get one person to commit to having a chat and even buying something from you.

but that assumes you have something to offer that's valuable!

The metric is going to depend based on the type of business, your target etc. I had a B2B startup that I spent a year on before pivoting, and we had 2 paying clients, and a lot of nos. I eventually realized we were not solving something well and we moved on to something else. But, it wasn't a magical number, more talking to prospective users and listening to what they were really saying, as well as how many people were not talking to me about the problem we thought we saw :)

Can you give specifics? Happy to take a look if you can post details.