In the MVP
Flows that directly serve the assumption under test, baseline security and authorization, steps that measure success such as payment or sign-up, error tracking and backups.
Venture Studio
MVP development that builds the right thing small and tests it with real users.
ALGOFACT builds MVPs that take an idea to a working product and its first paying users, for startups and corporate innovation teams. Using the Venture Studio approach, we first name the assumption to test, cut the scope to fit it, prototype the riskiest part and then build the first release that goes live. We stay alongside the architecture and product decisions a technical cofounder would make, and the code and access sit in your accounts from day one.
At a glance
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- Who it is for
- Startups and corporate innovation teams
- Goal
- First paying users
- Approach
- Assumption-led scope, prototype first
- Ownership
- Code, accounts and access stay with you
- Service line
- Venture Studio
- Afterward
- Handover or an embedded team
When is an MVP the right step?
An MVP is the first release that tests the riskiest assumption behind a product with the least effort. The point is not to build every feature but to see that someone will use the product and, ideally, pay for it. So an MVP succeeds by what it teaches you, not by how many features it has.
If the customer’s problem is not yet clear, it is too early to write code; user interviews and a clickable design are cheaper. If the problem is clear, a few prospective customers are ready to try the product and the idea rests on a real operation or real data, a working MVP is the right step. If you want to turn a system that already runs inside your company into a product, the same process runs under Venture Studio.
For corporate innovation teams, an MVP is how you gather evidence before asking leadership for a larger budget: it runs without touching core systems, with a limited group of users and a measurable goal.
Typical MVP situations
Where a product comes from decides what the MVP has to prove first.
- 01
Startups without a technical cofounder
For founders with strong domain expertise and no software team yet, we make the architecture and technology decisions together, build the product and stay alongside those decisions until your first technical hires. - 02
Corporate innovation teams
In-house teams testing a new digital product or business model with a limited user group, without putting core systems at risk. - 03
Products born from operations
Systems a company built for its own needs that other organizations could use, turned into a product. - 04
AI and data products
When a product’s value comes from a model, we first test whether the model performs well enough on real data, and the interface comes after. Luwian (a model risk management and governance model development platform) and Dioscorium (a cardiac prediction platform built on cardiology data) on our /work page are MVPs of this kind.
From idea to first users
- 01
Framing
We write down the user, the problem and the riskiest assumption to test. The success measure, whether sign-ups, active use, payment or a pilot contract, is set here. - 02
Cutting the scope
The feature list is split into what serves the assumption and what can wait. Advanced admin panels, extensive reporting or multiple languages usually land on the second list. - 03
Prototype
We get the riskiest piece working first, whether that is an integration, a model or a payment flow. When the question is clear, a working prototype is ready within days. - 04
First release
We build the version that goes live, with authentication, payments, baseline security and monitoring. Releases ship in short cycles, and we review the working product together at the end of each one. - 05
First users and measurement
The product opens to a limited group of users. Usage data and user interviews are read together to decide what goes into the next release. - 06
Decision and handover
Hand the product to your own team, grow it with an embedded team, or change direction: we make that call together. The handover includes the code, architecture records and runbooks.
What you receive
- 01
Product frame
Target user, the assumption under test, the success measure and the list of what was left out. - 02
Working prototype
A version that shows the risky part working with real data or a real integration. - 03
First live release
Web or mobile front end, back end, database, payments and authentication, in your cloud account. - 04
Measurement setup
Product analytics, error tracking and a simple dashboard that follows the success measure. - 05
Technical handover pack
Source code, architecture decisions, environment setup, an access list and documentation so the team that takes over can start quickly.
Scope and technical decisions
What makes an MVP fast is writing down, at the start, what stays out.
Later
Advanced optimization for scale, extensive admin panels, rare edge cases and features someone wants to add before the first users have asked for them.
Technical debt
Shortcuts taken on purpose in the MVP are kept on a written list. If the product moves forward, that list goes into the plan for the first scaling release, so the product does not have to be rewritten from scratch.
Technology choice
We pick a widely used stack that is easy to hire for and runs on managed services, so the team that inherits the product after the MVP starts with a familiar codebase.
Venture Studio work at ALGOFACT includes data and model development, platform design and venture growth support for Lavoisier Labs. The full list of use cases is on the /work page.
Questions about MVP development
Approach01What is the difference between an MVP and a prototype?
A prototype shows that a problem can be solved technically and is often used only inside the team. An MVP is the first release real users use, that is measured and ideally paid for. In most projects we build the prototype first and the MVP after it.
02We have no technical cofounder. How do you fill that gap?
We stay alongside the decisions a technical cofounder would make: architecture, technology choice, security, environment setup and preparing for technical questions from investors. When you build your own technical team, we hand the product over to them with the handover pack.
03Who owns the code and the intellectual property?
You do. The code repository, cloud account, domain and third-party service accounts are opened in your name from the start, and ownership is written into the contract.
04We are a corporate team. Will the MVP affect our core systems?
It is designed not to. The MVP usually runs in a separate environment and connects to core systems only through limited integrations with the permissions it needs. Your information security requirements apply from day one, and ALGOFACT is ISO 27001:2022 certified.
05What happens after the MVP?
There are three paths: hand the product to your own team, keep growing it with an embedded ALGOFACT team, or change direction based on what you learned. Together we decide whether it stays an internal system, becomes a product line or becomes a separate company.
06What drives the timeline and cost of an MVP?
The kind of assumption being tested, the integrations needed (payments, identity, existing systems), whether the product is web, mobile or both, whether there is an AI component and compliance requirements. After framing we present the scope, phases and the output of each phase in writing.
Tell us about your project
Describe the problem briefly and we will reply with a time for a 30-minute discovery call.
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