PRINCIPIVM
How to get from an idea to a first product you can put in front of users and investors — without burning the budget on the version nobody asked for.
The most common failure we see with founders is not a technical one. It is scope: the list of what must be in version one starts at eight screens and reaches forty before a line of code is written.
This cluster covers the work that happens before and during the build: how to cut scope without cutting the product, what it actually takes to show something to an investor, and why product timelines collapse in such a predictable shape.
There is no formula here. There are decisions we have watched repeat, and what each side of them costs.
Article
Ten real users before launch are worth more than a thousand sign-ups after it, because they change what gets built. The way to get them is conversations rather than marketing, and it can start before a line of code exists.
8 min read ·
Article
Most scopes do not grow because of new requests; they grow because of deferred decisions. The one tool we have seen work is stating version one as a single question the product has to answer.
8 min read ·
Answer
A prototype exists to show an idea and does not have to work; an MVP is a product a real user uses. Confusing the two is the most common source of budget arguments.
5 min read ·
Answer
A realistic range is six to twelve weeks for a narrow first version a real user actually uses. What decides where you land in that range is decision clarity, not development speed.
5 min read ·
