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Macaly is blowing my mind 🤯

Built this MVP launch tracker in a few mins. Here are the exact 4 prompts I asked to build this 👇

Every founder knows they should build an MVP. Get something working, test it with users, learn what matters. Simple concept, but most founders still build way more than they need.

I've watched hundreds of no-code founders through our community, and the pattern is always the same. They start with good intentions—build small, launch fast. But six months later, they're still "almost ready" with a product that has user dashboards, email sequences, payment integrations, and a dozen features nobody asked for.

The problem isn't lack of knowledge about MVPs. It's lack of systems to enforce the discipline. You need checklists that force hard decisions and prevent feature creep before it starts.

There are three main reasons founders ignore MVP principles:

Fear of judgment. Launching something basic feels embarrassing. What if people think you're not a real developer? What if it looks unprofessional?

Perfectionist tendencies. "Just one more feature" becomes a never-ending cycle. Each addition feels necessary and justified.

Lack of constraints. Without firm boundaries, scope naturally expands. Features multiply. Polish becomes a priority.

Checklists solve this by creating external constraints. They force decisions upfront and provide clear criteria for what ships and what waits. When you're tempted to add "just one more thing," the checklist becomes your reality check.

The most important decisions happen before you write any code. This pre-build checklist forces you to define constraints that will guide everything else.

Time constraint:

Time constraints are non-negotiable. Without them, you'll always find reasons to delay. Eight weeks feels short, but it's enough time to test any core assumption if you stay focused.

Feature constraint:

Your core assumption should fit in a tweet. Something like "Small business owners will pay $20/month for automated invoice reminders." Everything you build should directly test that assumption.

Success metrics:

Vague goals like "get some users" lead to vague products. Define success upfront: "10 users complete a purchase" or "5 businesses use it for 30 days straight."

This is where most MVPs go off the rails. Every feature feels important when you're building. This checklist creates objective criteria for what makes the cut.

For every feature you want to add, ask:

If any answer is "no" or "maybe," cut it. You can always add it later.

Here's what this looks like in practice. Say you're building a tool for freelancers to track time. Your core assumption: "Freelancers will pay for simple time tracking with automatic invoicing."

Features that pass the test:

Features that don't:

The key insight: you're not building a complete product. You're building the minimum test of whether people want what you're offering.

Scope creep happens gradually, then suddenly. Weekly check-ins catch it early.

Scope creep check:

"Quick wins" are scope creep in disguise. That user dashboard feels easy to add, but it's not testing your core assumption. Same with email confirmations, password resets, or settings pages.

Timeline check:

If you're behind schedule, the answer is always to cut features, never to extend the timeline. Deadlines create urgency. Extended deadlines create more features.

Two weeks before your deadline, everything gets evaluated ruthlessly. This is where discipline pays off.

Core functionality check:

If users can't easily start and complete your core action, nothing else matters.

Nice-to-haves to cut:

This list hurts to read if you've built these things. But they're not testing your core assumption. They're making you feel like a real product without adding real value.

Technical shortcuts to embrace:

Manual processes aren't technical debt—they're learning opportunities. If 10 users love your product even when parts are manual, imagine how they'll feel when you automate it.

Your MVP is ready when you can check all these boxes:

That's it. If you check all those boxes, ship it. Don't wait for better design, additional features, or perfect copy. Those are excuses disguised as quality concerns.

The hardest part comes after launch. Every piece of feedback will feel like a feature request. Every user complaint will seem urgent to fix.

First 100 users focus:

Before adding anything new:

Most feedback isn't about missing features—it's about unclear value propositions or broken core experiences. Fix the foundation before adding floors.

Here's the real test of MVP discipline: you should be slightly embarrassed by your first version.

If you're proud of how polished it looks, you've probably overbuilt. If you're excited about all the features, you've probably lost focus. If you think it's ready for a big launch, you've probably spent too long on it.

Your MVP should feel uncomfortably simple. It should make you worry that users will think it's too basic. That discomfort is the signal that you've actually built an MVP instead of a full product.

No-code tools make building fast and easy, which creates a different kind of problem. You can add features quickly, so you do. Zapier integrations, Airtable backends, complex Webflow interactions—they're all possible in hours, not weeks.

But possible doesn't mean necessary. The ease of no-code building makes discipline more important, not less. These checklists provide that discipline.

The goal isn't to build something impressive. It's to learn something important as quickly as possible. Your first version will disappoint you. That's exactly what you want.

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