Creating a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is a smart way to test a business idea with minimal resources, gather feedback and make improvements before going all in. Instead of spending months or years building something based on assumptions, an MVP lets you put a simple version of your idea into the world, see how people respond and make it better from there.
Understanding the Minimum Viable Product
An MVP is all about starting small and learning fast. Steve Blank, a pioneer in entrepreneurship, describes an MVP as the simplest version of a product that allows you to test your idea and learn what customers really want with the least amount of effort. Instead of creating something perfect from day one, you create something functional, get feedback and adjust as needed.
MVP vs. Traditional Business
Traditional business strategies often involve a lot of detailed planning using a tested playbook before anything is built. The MVP approach, on the other hand, focuses on getting a working version of an idea in front of real users as quickly as possible. This way, you can avoid wasting time and money on something people might not want. It’s about experimenting, learning and improving as you go.
The Power of MVPs in Software Development
Successful software founders often use MVPs as their first step in building viable products. It’s a smart way to test an idea while minimizing risk. Software development requires significant time and resources, so before diving in, it’s a good way to ensure people will actually use your solution before making that investment.
The basic MVP process:
- Identify the core problem your software solves
- Define the essential features needed to address that problem
- Build only those core functionalities, nothing more
- Release to a small test group of potential users
- Collect honest feedback about what works and what doesn’t
- Refine based on real user input before scaling up
This approach lets you validate your concept with actual users while keeping development costs manageable. It’s how smart founders test the waters before taking the plunge into full-scale development.
Edson E+I’s Application of MVP
At the J. Orin Edson Entrepreneurship + Innovation Institute (Edson E+I), we don’t just teach entrepreneurship—we live it. We started with the basics: workshops, networking events and mentorship programs—things that are common in entrepreneurial support. But instead of assuming we had all the answers, we treated these as our MVP, continuously improving them based on feedback from entrepreneurs, students and community members.
Listening to our community has been key. By making changes based on what people actually need, we’ve grown into Arizona’s largest provider of seed grant funding, hosting over 300 events a year and supporting more than 5,000 community entrepreneurs, 1,000+ college entrepreneurs and 100 faculty founders annually.
While many things have evolved as we have grown as an Institute, using an MVP to test our programs has always been at the core of our work. It has allowed us to improve the impact and quality of our programs over time and across communities. Workshops have grown into programs, programs have evolved into full incubators and incubators have changed entire ecosystems.
Creating Something Unique Through Feedback
The real power of an MVP comes from listening to feedback and evolving based on real needs. That’s how you create something truly unique—something that reflects the values and needs of the people you serve. On paper, Edson E+I might sound like other entrepreneurship programs. We have pitch competitions, mentoring and community events, just like many others. But when you attend one of our programs, you’ll quickly see the difference. The experience, the connections and the outcomes are shaped by our ongoing commitment to listening, adapting and making sure what we offer actually works for Arizona’s entrepreneurs.
Reflecting Arizona’s Unique Entrepreneurial Spirit
Arizona’s startup culture is built on independence, innovation and a pioneering spirit. We embrace that by creating programs that aren’t one-size-fits-all but instead respond to the needs of our diverse entrepreneurial community. Leadership isn’t about making bold claims—it’s about doing the work, delivering real value and continuously improving based on what matters most to the people we serve.
Upcoming Opportunities to Engage
We invite you to be part of Edson E+I through several upcoming events. All of our events are open to everyone, and we encourage everyone to jump in and support the community:
- Venture Devils: Watch top student-led ventures from ASU compete for seed funding, which is made possible by generous local donors. There are over 1,000 student ventures engaged in Venture Devils, so you can volunteer or just join us to cheer founders along! BONUS: That same Saturday, our team is also hosting the first Arizona Invention Convention for K-12 innovators. You can swing by and see what the next generation is working on!
- Chandler Endeavor Venture Challenge: Join us on May 16 for the Venture Challenge for the community incubator, developed in partnership with the City of Chandler. See community and ASU-led affiliated ventures demonstrate how they have engaged and applied with key concepts shared in the incubator throughout the cohort! Cheer on the top five ventures as they try to win funding.
- East Valley Innovation Night 2025: Explore hands-on emerging innovations and support budding entrepreneurs at this family-friendly event for the entire community. See a variety of different innovations happening across the East Valley and be part of the pitch competition sponsored by Meta.
At Edson E+I, we’re here to support entrepreneurs at every stage of their journey. Whether you’re an artist, small business owner or tech startup founder, we provide the tools, resources and community to help you succeed. We invite mentors, donors, sponsors and innovators to join us in building a thriving, inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem that reflects the spirit of Arizona.
For more information on our programs and how to get involved, visit entrepreneurship.asu.edu.
