MVP Advice for Non-Technical Founder
As a non-technical founder I’m trying to figure out what’s the best tool to use to create my mvp. I think WordPress may be the simplest to learn since I can buy a theme, but I’m not sure if this is what startups use. I’ve also looked into inVision but it seems I would need to buy Sketch and then learn how to use both. I’ve also looked at Webflow, but I need to learn that as well. Just looking for any advice on what has worked best for you guys.
cadran·Jul 07, 2020cadran·Jul 07, 2020I think the ones you've mentioned all sound like good options. I'd choose the one that you find easiest/quickest to use to put together your MVP.
kellyobrien·Jul 07, 2020kellyobrien·Jul 07, 2020Thanks @cadran I appreciate the feedback:)
What is the goal of the MVP?
Great question @cathysebag I’m using it to test a hypothesis and get users. I’ve pivoted several times since writing out what I believe users will be most interested in, but I need to test my theory to really see what direction the company should go in.
Is it’s e-commerce, Shopify is great, and web based I would recommend Wix or Wordpress.
If its for an application you could use Glide.
Webflow, WordPress all sound awesome, and you could get a true v1 up. Invision would just be a prototype which could be cool for gathering user feedback but wouldn't really be a usable product. Depending on what you're trying to test, no-code tools like bubble could work well too. A company called zeroqode https://zeroqode.com/ has tons of templates for bubble that could help you get to some core functionality rather quickly.I saw the video you posted about kapshure seems like a cool idea! You could probably get most of the functionality that you would need for a v1 with some tweaking to this template https://zeroqode.com/template/reviewly---location-based-reviews-template-1473244047170x529023814456049660I love talking about MVPs and building without code, so feel free to send me a dm if you have any other questions!
Depending on what you want to achieve:You could use caard for a cheap, good looking website landing pageSimpler than that is using a google sheet or google formThis has been the starting point for a few fairly big websites e.g nomad list (Started as a google sheet)If it's a product you could try preselling it to see the demand.The best advice I received is just start doing it and don't let perfect get in the way of goodLet us know how you get onTanyatechTwoX.comP.s if you don;t want to buy sketch i think figma is free
Thank you so much @TanyaTech2x I really appreciate the advice. I’m feeling really good about starting. The Elpha community is just so awesome😊
My personal recommendation would be to go for Versoly instead of Wordpress. They have a decent library of elements and great support. Unlike WordPress, you can do everything yourself in Versoly without the need of additional development or design resources. Here is how my website looks there (migrated from Wordpress): growthchannel.io. If you decide to go for it, I might be able to arrange a discount for you, so let me know then ;)
It depends widely on what you are trying to achieve, do you need to build a mobile app, a website have both, MVP are the minimum you can offer to users to test your product and the technical decision is based on what that offering is. If what you want is a website, I'd look at low code tools like Webflow, it might require some learning but it gives results fast. I hosted Webflow websites on Netlify for free (did had to buy the domain). Other landing pages websites are carrd, Bubble as suggested above has great templates although I think does requires a little more knowledge of the platform to start on. WordPress is always an option to fall back and has tons of plugins which are its strength and weakness today, choosing the right set of plugins for the desired functionality sometimes becomes a whole thing. If you need commerce like WooCommerce on Wordpress is a very used addition or Shopify. This is a lot to reiterate that it depends on what you want to achieve. Ultimately for an MVP choose from the tools the simplest that would get the job done, all other improvements can come later. Good luck!
I’m assuming you want a simple website without super technical functionality. How are you planning to get users? You probably want to SEO optimise your website to get organic traffic as much as possible. If this is a priority you need to be careful about which website builder you use. All are definitely not created equal for SEO purposes, especially template ones are going to really limit your potential. I’d recommend using Wordpress with Elementor page builder (no coding read). Use their Hello theme and install the free Yoast SEO plugin. If you go down the Wordpress route with their free templates you’re gonna get pretty frustrated very quickly. Elementor with Wordpress is an excellent combination with templates to kick you off quickly while giving you infinite freedom to tweak exactly how you want without the cost of hiring technical people. A huge number of pro website developers actually use this tool now as it’s very powerful. Good luck!
Thank you @Suzybarker the WordPress template I’m considering does have Elementor. I really appreciate the advice and resources.
Hey Kelly,This sounds super exciting. Love that you are testing things out and really in that startup mindset.If you need help figuring out your idea & building it out initially you might want to checkout https://techniclarity.co/product-launchpad
Hey Kelly,I'm a technical founder, and I launched my MVP in a spreadsheet! As long as whatever the medium is able to collect user feedback for if you're solving the right problem for them then is good enough! I launched mine on spreadsheets because it would have been a waste of energy and time to build something for 2 months and throw it away because I later realize it wasn't the solution the users needed. which happens often to start up missions.
share this article
read these next
Office Hours: I am the founder of Employee of Choice, a social benefit startup committed to using technology in advocating for the world's citizens in the workplace.
A Netflix Engineering Manager on growing into leadership and moving from academia to industry
Office Hours: I invest in consumer tech brands as a General Partner at Maveron. I'm Anarghya Vardhana.
DTC Startup Founders🛍| We are a Creator Marketplace!
Your fertility questions answered part 3: case by case 🥚
Registering Tech startup in Delaware (Looking for Lawyer)
Seeking opportunities in UX Research and Product Management