Prioritising what should be in your MVP

Most MVPs fail not because of bad ideas, but because they try to do too much. The hard part isn’t building features it’s deciding what not to build.

Your MVP isn’t just a cut-down version of your end-state product. It’s a focused experiment designed to prove (or disprove) the riskiest assumptions behind your idea. Get this wrong and you can waste months of time and budget. Get it right and you create momentum for everything that comes next.

At Skysoclear, we use our Build Loop framework to help teams cut through the noise and focus on what really matters. Here’s how we think about prioritising what should be in your MVP.

Start with outcomes, not features

Before writing a single line of code or opening a design tool, get clear on the outcome you’re trying to achieve.

Ask yourself:

• What change do we want to see in customer behaviour?
• What metric would prove this is worth scaling?
• If we could only prove one thing, what would unlock the next stage of growth?

When you focus on outcomes instead of features, you stop chasing a long wishlist and start working on what actually matters.

Identify your riskiest assumptions

Every new product has hidden assumptions. For example:

• “SMEs will happily pay monthly for this.”
• “Customers will trust AI recommendations.”
• “We can integrate with supplier systems without friction.”

Write them down. Then rank them by risk: if this assumption turns out false, does the whole product fail?

Your MVP should target 1-2 of the riskiest assumptions. Everything else is secondary.

Map the journey, then cut ruthlessly

Sketch the ideal user journey from start to finish. Once you can see the whole picture, ask:

• Which steps are critical to delivering the core promise?
• Which are hygiene or “nice to have” features?

For example:

• Payments might be essential, but do you need a custom billing engine? Or will a simple Stripe Checkout prove the point?
• Notifications may delight users, but do you really need them in your MVP, or can they wait until later?

Prioritisation means cutting. Build only what proves the promise.

Think in experiments, not features

Reframe every feature request as an experiment.

• Instead of “build payments,” ask: “prove users will pay.”
• Instead of “add integrations,” ask: “prove external data adds real value.”

This mindset opens the door to much leaner ways of learning. A manual process, a clickable prototype, or even a concierge-style service might get you the answer faster than code.

Apply the Build Loop lens

Inside the Build Loop, MVP prioritisation isn’t a one-off decision - it’s part of an ongoing cycle:

• Origin: Align on the problem worth solving.
• Concept: Prototype quickly to test assumptions.
• Build: Develop only what proves the core outcome.
• Pilot: Put it in the hands of real users, observe their behaviour.
• Demo & Reflection: Share results, then cut, refine, or double down.

At each stage we ask: what’s the least we can build to learn the most? That discipline keeps the MVP sharp and momentum high.

The discipline of “not yet”

One of the most underrated skills in product building is learning to say “not yet.”

Every idea has value. Every stakeholder request matters. But that doesn’t mean it belongs in your MVP. Create a Phase 2 list and capture everything you’re not building right now. That way nothing gets lost, but your MVP stays focused.

Closing thought

An MVP isn’t the first version of your product. It’s your first experiment. It’s the wedge that opens the market, not the blueprint of the finished product.

By focusing on outcomes, testing riskiest assumptions, and looping fast, you give your product the best chance to succeed.

This is exactly why we built the Build Loop - to help ambitious teams prioritise what matters, move quickly, and build the right MVPs.