SaaS MVP Checklist: What to Nail Before You Build

Skipping discovery leads to scope creep and rebuilds. Use this as a pre-build checklist.

Problem and audience – Can you state the problem in one sentence? Who exactly has it (role, company size, current workaround)? If you can’t, run a few user interviews or surveys first.

Success metrics – What does “it worked” look like? (e.g. “50 teams onboarded in 3 months”, “support tickets for X cut by 30%”). Define one or two metrics so you know when to pivot or scale.

Scope – What’s the smallest set of features that delivers that value? Cut everything else to v2. A single workflow done well beats five half-built ones.

Non-functionals – Security (auth, roles, data isolation), compliance (GDPR, SOC2 if needed), and “who runs it post-launch” should be agreed before build. You don’t need every detail, but you need a plan.

Team and timeline – Who’s building, who’s deciding, and what’s the first ship date? Align on cadence (e.g. bi-weekly demos) so there are no surprises.