SaaS MVP in six weeks: how we build
Easy Insight ·
We build our own SaaS products, Manifold and Quarterly, with our own money on the line. That's changed how we think about an MVP, and it's the method we bring to founder builds.
The MVP is a scope decision, not a quality decision
A six-week MVP isn't a rough version of a big product. It's a complete version of a small one. The skill is deciding what the product must do to be worth paying for, and having the discipline to leave everything else for later.
Week by week, roughly
Weeks 1-2: sharpen and shape. We cut the idea down to the single loop that delivers value, design the core screens, and stand up the boring-but-essential foundation: auth, database, deployment. Nothing users see yet, everything they'll rely on.
Weeks 3-4: build the loop. The one thing the product must do, built end to end, for real, on real data. By the end of this stretch you can log in and do the core job.
Weeks 5-6: make it payable and observable. Billing, the rough edges, and (non-negotiably) analytics from day one so you can see what users actually do. Then it goes live.
What we deliberately leave out
Settings pages nobody's asked for. The second and third user type. Every "wouldn't it be nice if." An MVP that tries to be complete is just a slow product that launches late and still guesses wrong about what users want.
Why analytics from day one matters
The point of shipping in six weeks is to start learning in week seven. If you launch blind, you've bought speed and thrown away the reason for it. We instrument the core loop so the next thing you build is a decision backed by evidence, not the loudest opinion in the room.
That evidence-first instinct is the same one our data practice brings to reporting. It's not a coincidence that our practices reinforce each other.
This is the method behind our SaaS and MVP builds and the wider app development practice.
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Frequently asked questions
What does "MVP" mean in this method?
A complete version of a small product, not a rough version of a big one. The skill is deciding what the product must do to be worth paying for and leaving everything else for later; the six weeks come from cutting scope, not cutting corners.
What happens in each phase of the six weeks?
Weeks one and two sharpen the idea to the single loop that delivers value, design the core screens and stand up auth, database and deployment. Weeks three and four build that loop end to end on real data. Weeks five and six add billing, fix the rough edges, add analytics and go live.
What gets left out of a six-week MVP?
Settings pages nobody has asked for, the second and third user type, and every "wouldn't it be nice if". An MVP that tries to be complete launches late and still guesses wrong about what users want.
Why is analytics from day one non-negotiable?
Because the point of shipping in six weeks is to start learning in week seven. Instrumenting the core loop means the next thing you build is a decision backed by evidence rather than the loudest opinion in the room.
Next step
Have an app or a product in mind?
We build mobile apps and SaaS products end to end, and run two of our own, Manifold and Quarterly, so the advice comes from production, not a pitch. Apps from £6,000, SaaS and MVP builds from £12,000, fixed price in writing.