The most expensive mistake I see in startups? Treating an MVP like a masterpiece. I once workedThe most expensive mistake I see in startups? Treating an MVP like a masterpiece. I once worked
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Paweł Łuczak
pro
• Feb 27
The most expensive mistake I see in startups?
Treating an MVP like a masterpiece.
I once worked on a “simple” feature that somehow turned into a multi‑month production. UI improved. Flows refined. Edge cases multiplied. Scope expanded.
And the weekly mantra stayed the same: “We’re not ready yet.”
Meanwhile, the market didn’t wait. It moved on — as it always does.
By the time we launched, the early momentum was gone. Users weren’t sitting around waiting for perfect button alignment.
The real cost wasn’t imperfection. The real cost was delay disguised as “quality.”
An MVP is supposed to show whether people care — not whether a team can polish for 12 weeks straight.
But many startups build MVPs like they’re crafting something for a museum.
Ever watched a product get over‑polished into irrelevance?
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