How do you validate your MVP after a pivot?

Pivoting is a common and often necessary strategy for startups that need to adapt to changing market conditions, customer feedback, or new opportunities. But how do you know if your new direction is viable and worth pursuing? How do you validate your minimum viable product (MVP) after a pivot? In this article, you will learn some practical tips and methods to test your assumptions, measure your progress, and get feedback from your target audience.

Key takeaways from this article

Leverage user feedback:

Launching a pilot version of your product lets you gather invaluable feedback directly from users. It's like having a conversation with your market, equipping you with insights to refine and improve your offering before scaling up.
Capture non-user language:

When validating your MVP, talk to non-users to learn how they describe their needs and your product. Their fresh perspective can help you craft marketing messages that resonate with potential customers who aren't already familiar with your brand.

This summary is powered by AI and these experts

1 Define your hypothesis

Before you launch your MVP, you need to have a clear and testable hypothesis about what problem you are solving, who you are solving it for, and how you are solving it. Your hypothesis should be based on your research, insights, and learnings from your previous iteration. It should also include a specific and measurable goal that you want to achieve with your MVP, such as a conversion rate, retention rate, or revenue target.

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Eashwer Iyer

Engagement Manager, Product Manager
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A pivot occurs when you've made changes to your product based on feedback and therefore it must be reevaluated to ensure it still aligns with product direction, using specific measurable metrics. Both mainstream users and extreme users who push the product's boundaries and reveal its limitations, must be involved in MVP re-validation. Users should be encouraged to interact with the solution organically, without constraints, allowing them to use it as they would intuitively. This approach ensures continued alignment of the MVP with expectations. At the conclusion of the testing exercise, it's essential to gather their feedback through open-ended questions to further refine iterations of the product.

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2 Choose your validation method

When testing your MVP, you can choose from a variety of validation methods, depending on your hypothesis and goal. A landing page is a great way to explain your value proposition and collect email addresses from interested visitors. You can also create a prototype or beta version of your product to demonstrate how it works and what benefits it offers. Customer interviews are a great way to get one-on-one feedback from potential or existing customers, while surveys are great for gathering quantitative or qualitative data on their preferences and behaviors.

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Rishav Singh

Strategy & Growth - CEO's Office at Lenskart | ISB | Co-Founder at BoriyaBistar |
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After pivoting at an early-stage startup, validating the new direction involves defining fresh hypotheses, adapting the MVP, and user testing. You should Establish key metrics for success and launch a pilot to gather user feedback which is paramount. Then Iterate on the product, gradually scale, and engage potential customers for validation. Continuous evaluation ensures the pivot addresses market needs. Stay flexible and open to further adjustments based on insights gathered during validation.

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Dana Publicover

🎮 Head of Marketing, PlaytestCloud 👾 Make games players love 🖤
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One mistake many founders make in customer validation is by asking yes/no questions, or in speaking to existing customers who already understand the value of the product. These 'already indoctrinated' customers will use YOUR language, or the product's language, rather than their own. For valuable validation data that will continue to drive marketing success, it's important to capture the language of non-users. What do they call it? How do they understand it, without the context of having used the product? Use their language to craft meaningful marketing that lands with people who haven't yet used the product—and you'll see the greatest ROI on your research.

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3 Collect and analyze data

Once you have chosen your validation method and launched your MVP, it is essential to collect and analyze data to see if your hypothesis is supported or not. To track and measure performance, you can use various tools and metrics such as Google Analytics, Mixpanel, Hotjar, and Intercom. Google Analytics provides web analytics services to understand website traffic, user behavior, and conversion funnel. Mixpanel is a product analytics platform that measures user engagement, retention, segmentation, and more. Hotjar is a user feedback and behavior tool that collects heatmaps, recordings, polls, and surveys from website visitors. Intercom is a customer communication platform that helps you chat with users, send emails, and collect feedback and ratings.

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4 Learn and iterate

Based on the data and feedback you collect, you need to learn and iterate on your MVP. To analyze and prioritize your findings, you can use Lean Canvas, a one-page business model template that maps out your problem, solution, value proposition, customer segments, channels, revenue streams, cost structure, key metrics, and unfair advantage. Additionally, you can employ the Build-Measure-Learn loop, a cycle of experimentation that helps you measure results and learn from outcomes. The ICE score is another helpful technique that ranks ideas based on their impact, confidence, and ease of implementation. Ultimately, it is essential to be flexible and open-minded when validating your MVP as quickly and cheaply as possible before investing more time and money into it.

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5 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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How do you validate your MVP after a pivot?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Define your hypothesis

2 Choose your validation method

3 Collect and analyze data

4 Learn and iterate

5 Here’s what else to consider

Startup Development

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How do you validate your MVP after a pivot?

1

2

3

4

5

1 Define your hypothesis

2 Choose your validation method

3 Collect and analyze data

4 Learn and iterate

5 Here’s what else to consider

Startup Development

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