There are two basic ways to release a product to the market. The first is the “waterfall” or traditional approach in which the product is completed and then released to the public. The second is the “lean startup” or MVP approach, in which only a minimal version of the product is created and then launched to the market as soon as possible.

For software products, service based businesses and information products, the MVP approach is vastly superior. It allows the business owner to get to market much sooner and gather feedback. Since the first version of a product is rarely a roaring success, it’s much better to release a minimal product and gradually iterate and improve it, based on customer feedback.