MVP vs Prototype: What First-Time Founders Need
You've got an idea. You can see the product in your head. And now you're stuck on a question that sounds simple but trips up almost every first-time founder: do you build a prototype or an MVP first?
People throw these two words around like they mean the same thing. They don't. Picking the wrong one wastes months and burns cash you probably can't afford to burn. The MVP vs prototype decision isn't about which one is "better." It's about what you're trying to learn right now, and which tool answers that question fastest.
Here's why this matters more than it seems. CB Insights reviewed post-mortems from over 100 failed startups and found that around 42% died because they built something nobody wanted. Their updated 2024 analysis puts poor product-market fit at 43%, still the single biggest killer. A prototype and an MVP are both ways to dodge that fate. But they do it differently, and using them in the wrong order is how smart founders still end up shipping things to an empty room.
Let's clear it up.
