Blog, Enterprise Creation, Ideation, Lean Startup Methodology

From MVP to MVD: The Minimum Valuable Difference

Leave a comment

Why startups should focus on meaning, not just minimalism

In today’s startup world, speed to market is everything. Entrepreneurs are taught to ship fast, break things, test quickly, and get feedback. Enter the Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—a core concept from lean startup methodology that encourages launching the simplest version of a product to validate assumptions.

The MVP is practical. It’s efficient. But here’s the problem:

🚨 Too many MVPs forget about value.

They prove an idea can technically work, but say little about whether it actually matters to the user.

That’s why I believe it’s time for a shift in thinking—from MVP to MVD: the Minimum Valuable Difference.

What is the MVD?

The Minimum Valuable Difference is the smallest possible change, feature, or action you can introduce that delivers real, meaningful value to your target customer.

It answers questions like:

  • What pain am I truly relieving?
  • What task am I genuinely simplifying?
  • What desire am I directly fulfilling?

It’s not about what’s viable for you—it’s about what’s valuable to them.

MVP vs. MVD: What’s the Difference?

MVPMVD
Tests feasibilityCreates meaningful impact
Focuses on minimum productFocuses on minimum transformation
Often prioritises speedPrioritises significance
Asks “Can we build this?”Asks “Should we build this?”
Measures engagementMeasures improvement or outcomes

Why MVD Matters More Than Ever

In a saturated digital world, users are overwhelmed by options. The market is flooded with viable products—but few of them make a real difference.

🧠 A basic to-do list app? Been there.
🧠 Another newsletter tool? Yawn.
🧠 A photo filter that changes eye colour? Cool… for 5 seconds.

What people remember—and keep using—are the tools and services that improve their lives in noticeable ways.

Real-World Examples of MVD Thinking

1. Calendly

Their MVD? Eliminating the pain of back-and-forth emails for scheduling. That single, clear difference made users immediately say, “This is better.”

2. Slack

Slack didn’t launch with a full suite of integrations and channels. Its initial MVD was centralised team messaging that actually reduced internal email. That alone got teams hooked.

3. Duolingo

Rather than launch with hundreds of languages, Duolingo focused on one: Spanish. Its MVD was making language learning fun, gamified, and mobile-friendly—solving a problem that textbook apps didn’t.

How to Build with MVD in Mind

  1. Find the Critical Friction Point
    What’s the single most frustrating or inefficient part of your user’s day? Start there.
  2. Go Deep, Not Wide
    Don’t try to solve every problem. Focus on one, and do it better than anyone else.
  3. Prototype for Value, Not Just Function
    Ask: “Does this improve someone’s situation in a tangible way?” If not, keep refining.
  4. Measure Real Outcomes
    Instead of tracking clicks or installs, look at retention, referrals, or behaviour change.

What the Research Says

Academic literature is increasingly supporting a value-first mindset in entrepreneurial design.

“Entrepreneurial success lies not in the novelty of an idea, but in the significance of the solution.”
– Fisher, 2012, Journal of Business Venturing

And in the world of effectual entrepreneurship, co-creating value with early users—not just validating an MVP—is seen as the more sustainable approach.

Final Thoughts: What Are You Really Offering?

It’s easy to launch something. It’s harder to launch something that matters.

So the next time you’re planning a product, prototype, or pitch—ask yourself:

  • Will this make someone’s life measurably better?
  • If it disappeared tomorrow, would anyone miss it?
  • Am I building for validation, or for value?

Because in the end, traction doesn’t come from being viable—
It comes from being valuable.

Case Study: Calendly – From Simple Scheduling to a Minimum Valuable Difference

Overview: A Tool to End Email Ping-Pong

Calendly, founded by Tope Awotona in 2013, didn’t enter the world with an elaborate suite of scheduling features. Its early product was stripped down—yet laser-focused. What it did do, it did exceptionally well: eliminated the back-and-forth of scheduling meetings.

Rather than testing if users would click a scheduling link (MVP logic), Calendly focused on delivering an immediate, meaningful outcome—saving users time and frustration. This wasn’t just a minimal product—it was a minimum valuable difference.

The Problem

Scheduling meetings is a universal pain point. Most professionals were stuck in endless email threads:

  • “Are you free Tuesday at 3pm?”
  • “No, how about Wednesday?”
  • “That doesn’t work for me, maybe next week?”

This inefficient dance cost time and often resulted in dropped opportunities. Tools like Outlook and Google Calendar helped manage time, but not coordinate it between people.

The Insight

Tope Awotona’s insight wasn’t technical—it was human. He asked:

“What’s the smallest thing I could build that would truly remove this pain?”

The answer?
A link that lets others pick from your available time slots.

Not a calendar app.
Not a meeting manager.
Not an all-in-one productivity suite.

Just a solution to the one thing that hurts the most: scheduling friction.

Execution as MVD: The First Version of Calendly

Calendly’s early product had:

  • Integration with your existing calendar (Google, Outlook)
  • A link with your available times
  • Automatic timezone detection
  • Confirmation emails

That’s it.

But these features, though minimal, delivered maximum difference. Users who tried it once saw the value immediately: no more email ping-pong. It felt like magic.

Customer Response and Growth

Calendly didn’t need fancy marketing. The product spread virally:

  • Sales teams shared it with clients
  • Recruiters shared it with candidates
  • Coaches and consultants added it to their email signature

“The true power of Calendly was in its shareability—it solved a problem so simply that people naturally wanted to pass it along.”
— TechCrunch, 2021

Key Metrics That Reflect MVD Success

  • Over 20 million users by 2022
  • Used by 90% of Fortune 500 companies
  • $3 billion+ valuation (without raising early VC money)

More telling than the numbers, however, was the retention. Users didn’t just try Calendly—they stuck with it. Why? Because it had created a daily improvement in their lives.

Lessons for Entrepreneurs

  1. Focus on the Problem, Not the Product
    Calendly didn’t ask: “How do we build a scheduling app?”
    It asked: “How do we eliminate scheduling pain?”
  2. Make a Small But Clear Difference
    Instead of bloated features, aim for impact. What’s the one thing your user will thank you for?
  3. Deliver Emotional Relief
    The best products don’t just save time—they remove frustration. Calendly’s early adopters felt the difference immediately.
Blog, Enterprise Creation, Entrepreneurial Mindset, Ideation, Lean Startup Methodology, Motivation Techniques

Creating Value-Driven Startups: Moving Beyond the MVP Hype

Leave a comment

Why lean isn’t enough—and how value creation builds businesses that last

In today’s startup culture, the Minimum Viable Product (MVP) has become something of a holy grail. Popularized by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup, the MVP is described as the simplest version of a product that can be released to test hypotheses and gain customer feedback. It’s fast, frugal, and focused.

And yet, as someone who has worked with hundreds of startups and advised entrepreneurship programmes across sectors, I’m starting to ask:
Have we gone too far with the MVP mindset?

Too many founders are stuck shipping half-baked products, mistaking viability for value. They aim to “fail fast”—but often end up failing shallow.

It’s time to move beyond MVP hype and refocus on something more enduring: creating real value.

The MVP Trap: Fast But Fragile

Don’t get me wrong—lean thinking has its place. It prevents founders from building in a vacuum and encourages rapid iteration. But over time, the MVP approach has been reduced to “launch anything quick and dirty” without a deeper reflection on long-term customer value.

As academic research begins to show, this oversimplification has real consequences.

“Lean startup methods can result in premature scaling if the learning process focuses on superficial feedback rather than deep value creation.”
– Blank & Dorf (2012), The Startup Owner’s Manual

In other words, just because something is “viable” doesn’t mean it’s meaningful. Without understanding the core value you’re delivering—and to whom—there’s a risk of building a product that works but doesn’t matter.

Value Creation: The Real Driver of Lasting Businesses

In contrast, value-driven startups focus on solving real problems for real people in ways that are desirable, feasible, and sustainable. This isn’t just about functionality—it’s about impact.

As strategy scholar Michael Porter argues:

“Competitive advantage is created and sustained when firms deliver greater value to customers or create comparable value at lower cost.”
– Porter (1985), Competitive Advantage

Value creation means understanding:

  • What your customer truly cares about
  • How your solution improves their life
  • Why your offer is better than alternatives

This leads to stickier products, stronger word-of-mouth, and deeper emotional engagement—all of which support long-term growth.

Examples of Value-Driven Startups That Went Beyond MVP

1. Canva

In my recent blog on Canva’s early days, we saw how co-founder Melanie Perkins identified a deep pain point: the complexity of design software for non-designers. Rather than simply launch a basic design tool, Canva focused on ease, speed, and beauty from day one.
They delivered value—not just a viable product.

2. Notion

Notion didn’t release its first product until years after development. Why? Because it wasn’t just about launching an MVP—it was about creating a tool that people loved using every day. Their focus on elegance, simplicity, and modularity led to high retention and viral growth.

3. Duolingo

Instead of launching a barebones app to test assumptions, Duolingo obsessed over learning outcomes. They made language learning fun, gamified, and research-backed—leading to real user value and a product that has scaled globally with strong loyalty.

Academic Perspectives on Value-First Innovation

Value creation is increasingly seen as the central pillar of innovation in entrepreneurship literature. Sarasvathy’s concept of effectuation—a theory on how expert entrepreneurs operate—places strong emphasis on leveraging existing means to co-create value with stakeholders, rather than just validating hypotheses.

“Entrepreneurs start with who they are, what they know, and whom they know… and interact with others to co-create opportunities.”
– Sarasvathy (2001), Effectual Reasoning in Entrepreneurial Decision Making

Likewise, Osterwalder’s Value Proposition Canvas has emerged as a tool that shifts attention from the MVP to customer gains and pains, helping entrepreneurs design products that are deeply aligned with user needs.

From MVP to MVD: The Minimum Valuable Difference

What if, instead of focusing on the Minimum Viable Product, we focused on the Minimum Valuable Difference?

What is the smallest thing you can offer that makes a real difference in someone’s life or work? That’s where true traction starts.

Value-driven startups don’t just ask, Can we build this?
They ask:
Should we build this? And will it truly help someone?

Final Thoughts: Redefining Startup Success

MVPs can get you started—but only value creation keeps you going.

In a world where users are drowning in “viable” but soulless products, it’s the businesses that focus on deep, relevant, and transformational value that will stand the test of time.

If you’re a founder, ask yourself:

  • What is the real outcome I’m enabling for my customer?
  • Am I focused on features, or on transformation?
  • Would anyone care if my product disappeared tomorrow?

Only when the answer is “yes”—because of the value you create—should you launch.

Want to build a value-driven business from day one?
Join our upcoming session on “From Ideas to Impact” at Albion Business School, where we’ll explore the tools and mindsets to make your startup matter.

9 stages, Blog, Enterprise Creation, Enterprise Education, Ideation, Lean Startup Methodology, Motivation Techniques, Resources

Unlocking Growth: The 9 Stages of the Entrepreneurial Lifecycle

Leave a comment

How a structured approach to entrepreneurship can drive national economic development

Entrepreneurship is often romanticized as a chaotic, unpredictable journey—but the truth is, behind every successful business lies a lifecycle. Just as humans grow through distinct stages, so do entrepreneurial ventures.

Over the past few years—through my work in academia, consultancy, and government advising—I’ve found that helping people understand where they are in the entrepreneurial journey can make the difference between failure and flourishing.

That’s why I developed a practical framework called the 9 Stages of the Entrepreneurial Lifecycle. This model doesn’t just help entrepreneurs navigate their own paths—it also provides governments, educators, and economic developers with a blueprint for building an entrepreneurial nation.

Let’s take a closer look.

The 9 Stages of the Entrepreneurial Lifecycle

Each stage reflects a different phase in a business’s evolution—from the first spark of an idea to a successful exit. Here’s how it breaks down:

1. Discovery – Spotting the Opportunity

This is where it all begins. Entrepreneurs identify problems, needs, or gaps in the market.
🧠 Connected blogs:

Why Every Entrepreneur Needs to Master the Art of Opportunity Recognition

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 1 – Discovery

2. Modeling – Designing the Business Blueprint

Once the opportunity is clear, the focus shifts to business models, customer segments, value propositions, and revenue streams.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 2 – Modeling

The Business Plan – Deep Dive into Financial Planning

Developing a business process diagram for your startup

3. Startup – From Idea to Action

The venture becomes real—founders mobilize resources, form teams, build MVPs, and launch early versions of their product or service.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 3 – Startup

Revolutionizing Startups: Harnessing AI for Efficiency and Growth Without Relying on Cheap Labour

4. Existence – Validating the Market Fit

The business acquires early customers and proves the value proposition. It’s about proving the concept works in the real world.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 4 – Existence

Its Sunday Afternoon, what should I do?

5. Survival – Achieving Sustainability

This is where many ventures struggle. They need enough cash flow to cover costs, scale operations, and survive the lean times.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 5 – Survival

The Importance of Mental Health for Entrepreneurs

6. Success – Growing and Expanding

Now it’s about taking off. Businesses in this stage often seek funding, expand their teams, enter new markets, or optimize their operations.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 6 – Success

The Role of Mentorship in Entrepreneurial Success

Understanding Locus of Control: A Key to Entrepreneurial Success

7. Adaptation – Responding to Change

Markets shift. Competitors appear. New technologies disrupt. Adaptable businesses innovate and pivot to stay relevant.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 7 – Adaptation

Building an Inclusive Culture from the Ground Up: A Guide for Leaders and Founders

8. Independence – Owning the Market

These businesses are now robust, profitable, and self-sustaining. They often become leaders in their space.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 8 – Independence

Remember your motive for starting a business

9. Exit – Passing the Torch

Founders may sell the company, go public, or transition to a new leadership team. This frees capital and energy for the next idea.

🧠 Connected blogs:

9 Stages of Enterprise Creation: Stage 9 – Exit

Do you know your Exit Strategy?

Why This Model Matters for National Economic Development

Too often, economic development policy focuses narrowly on startup support—but this ignores the reality that entrepreneurial needs evolve.

By using the 9-stage model, governments and support organizations can:

✅ Design targeted interventions (e.g., ideation grants vs. scale-up finance)
✅ Measure success more accurately across each stage
✅ Create stage-specific training, mentoring, and funding tools
✅ Avoid one-size-fits-all policies that fail to meet real needs
✅ Support entrepreneurial ecosystems that are holistic, not fragmented

Just imagine the power of national strategies that don’t just encourage people to start businesses—but help them grow, adapt, succeed, and exit effectively.

Embedding the Lifecycle in Education and Practice

At Albion Business School and through our entrepreneurship programmes, we’re embedding this lifecycle into student learning—from foundation year to graduate-level projects. We also encourage schools to introduce the concept at an earlier age.

🧠 Connected blog: Building Entrepreneurial Mindsets in Teenagers: Lessons from Education and Practice

When young people understand the journey of entrepreneurship, they stop expecting overnight success—and start building step by step.

Final Thoughts: A Pathway to Prosperity

We live in an age where economic transformation is urgently needed—whether due to climate challenges, digital disruption, or population shifts.

Entrepreneurship, when supported well, has the power to revitalise economies, create meaningful jobs, and build national resilience.

The 9 Stages of the Entrepreneurial Lifecycle provides more than just a roadmap for individuals—it offers a strategic tool for countries and communities to design better support, smarter policies, and more successful ventures.

Let’s stop guessing what entrepreneurs need—and start guiding them with clarity and purpose.

Blog

Building Entrepreneurial Mindsets in Teenagers: Lessons from Education and Practice

Leave a comment

When we think about entrepreneurship, we often picture ambitious adults pitching to investors or launching tech startups. But the entrepreneurial mindset doesn’t begin in adulthood—it starts much earlier, often during teenage years when curiosity, creativity, and confidence are at their peak.

Over the years, through writing stories for young audiences and delivering workshops in schools, I’ve come to believe one thing strongly: we’re not doing enough to nurture entrepreneurial thinking in teenagers. And yet, doing so is essential—not just to create future founders, but to shape adaptable, proactive, and resilient individuals.

What Is an Entrepreneurial Mindset, Really?

It’s not just about starting a business. An entrepreneurial mindset is a way of thinking and acting. It includes:

  • Problem-solving
  • Creative thinking
  • Taking initiative
  • Learning from failure
  • Seeing opportunity where others see obstacles

It’s a mindset that benefits all young people—whether they become entrepreneurs, freelancers, employees, or changemakers.

What I’ve Learned from Writing and working with Young Audiences

In my recent work with teenagers, I was amazed by how easily young people are connected with themes of resourcefulness, teamwork, hustle, and standing out from the crowd.

What I realised is this: teenagers are naturally entrepreneurial—they just don’t know it yet.

They’re already flipping clothes on Depop, building YouTube channels, creating TikTok trends, and running gaming communities. But without support from education systems, much of this talent remains unrecognised and underdeveloped.

What Schools Can Do to Nurture Entrepreneurial Thinking

Here are practical, proven ways schools can foster this mindset:

1. Teach Through Projects, Not Just Theory

Entrepreneurs learn by doing. Let students solve real-world problems through project-based learning. Set challenges like:

  • Create a product for your local market
  • Launch a campaign to tackle a social issue
  • Prototype an app that solves a school-based frustration

2. Celebrate Failure and Resilience

Most schools reward perfect answers and punish mistakes. Entrepreneurship flips this: failure is part of the process. Create safe spaces where students can test ideas, make mistakes, and reflect on what they’ve learned.

3. Bring in Real Entrepreneurs

Guest speakers, mentors, and local business owners bring fresh energy and authentic stories. Teenagers respond well to people who’ve actually walked the path—not just those teaching from slides.

4. Create Micro-Enterprise Opportunities

Set up “school businesses” that students can run—like snack shops, event services, or merch lines. Let them manage budgets, handle marketing, and experience real risk and reward. Young Enterprise is a great formula for school to use.

5. Make it Cross-Curricular

Entrepreneurship doesn’t belong to business studies alone. Science, art, design, IT, even English—all have space for entrepreneurial thinking. Link subjects to innovation, storytelling, and problem-solving.

6. Encourage Independent Learning

Entrepreneurs are self-starters. Give students the freedom to explore their own interests and ideas, whether through personal projects, blogs, or digital content creation.

A Vision for the Future

Imagine schools that see every student as a potential innovator. Classrooms where creativity is valued as much as compliance. Timetables that include financial literacy, digital skills, ethical leadership, and storytelling.

That’s not a dream—it’s a blueprint for a future-ready generation.

Final Thoughts: Start Now, Start Young

Teenagers are already full of entrepreneurial energy. Our job as educators, parents, and mentors is to guide that energy, provide structure, and most importantly—believe in their potential.

Whether or not they ever start a business, students with an entrepreneurial mindset will be better equipped to adapt, create, and lead in a world that desperately needs new ideas.

Let’s stop asking kids what they want to be when they grow up, and start asking:
What problem do you want to solve today?

Blog

Why Every Entrepreneur Needs to Master the Art of Opportunity Recognition

In the fast-paced world of entrepreneurship, one skill separates thriving innovators from struggling dreamers: opportunity recognition. It’s not just about having ideas—it’s about spotting the right ideas, at the right time, for the right people.

Whether you’re starting your first business or building your tenth, opportunity recognition is at the core of entrepreneurial success. But what exactly does it mean, and how can you sharpen this skill?

What Is Opportunity Recognition?

Opportunity recognition is the ability to identify unmet needs in the market and conceptualize solutions that create value. It’s about seeing possibilities where others see problems, and crafting ideas that resonate with real customers.

This involves three elements:

  • Perception – being tuned into trends, shifts, and gaps
  • Insight – understanding customer pain points and desires
  • Action – evaluating whether the opportunity is viable and worth pursuing

It’s both an art and a science—grounded in experience, observation, and intuition, but also requiring rigorous evaluation.

Frameworks for Spotting Opportunities

Here are three proven frameworks to help entrepreneurs spot and evaluate business opportunities:

1. The Entrepreneurial Opportunity Recognition (EOR) Framework

This model breaks down the opportunity process into four key stages:

  • Scanning – staying informed about industry and social trends
  • Association – connecting unrelated ideas and industries
  • Evaluation – validating market need, competition, and feasibility
  • Refinement – iterating the idea into a testable solution

2. The Problem-Solution Fit

Instead of asking, “What can I build?” ask, “What problem is worth solving?”
Start with a clear problem statement. If it’s a frequent, frustrating, and important issue for a group of people—you may be onto something.

Canva is a great example. Co-founder Melanie Perkins saw students struggling to learn complex design software. She recognized a common pain point and envisioned a tool to make graphic design easy for non-designers. The result? A billion-dollar company.

3. The Market-Movement Model

This focuses on observing big shifts—technological, demographic, regulatory, or cultural—and identifying how they open up new needs.

Examples:

  • The rise of remote work (e.g. Zoom, Notion)
  • Climate urgency (e.g. clean tech startups)
  • Aging populations (e.g. elder care platforms)

Entrepreneurs who stay alert to these movements are first to capture emerging markets.

Real-Life Examples of Opportunity Recognition in Action

Uber

Garrett Camp and Travis Kalanick weren’t the first to think of on-demand rides. But they recognized a critical confluence: smartphones, GPS, and urban transportation frustration. They didn’t invent the wheel—just reinvented how we hailed a ride.

Warby Parker

The founders noticed how expensive glasses were and how inefficient the traditional supply chain had become. Their idea? Sell affordable, stylish eyewear online and donate a pair for every purchase.

Airbnb

It began with an observation: hotels were overbooked during big events. The solution? Rent out extra space. From a small air mattress in a San Francisco apartment to disrupting the hospitality industry.

How to Strengthen Your Opportunity Recognition Muscle

  1. Be Curious, Constantly Read widely. Talk to people in different industries. Travel. Curiosity fuels perspective.
  2. Listen More Than You Talk Ask customers about their frustrations. Watch how they behave. Insights often come from what they don’t say directly.
  3. Document Your Ideas Keep an “opportunity journal.” Whenever you notice something annoying, inefficient, or expensive—write it down. Revisit these ideas later.
  4. Test Quickly and Cheaply Don’t wait for perfection. Create landing pages, prototypes, or mockups to gauge interest.
  5. Build a Diverse Network The more varied your network, the more likely you are to spot cross-sector opportunities.

Conclusion: The Entrepreneur’s Superpower

Opportunity recognition is more than just a startup skill—it’s a mindset. Entrepreneurs who master it don’t just chase trends—they create value. They don’t wait for perfect moments—they shape them.

If you want to build something meaningful, start by mastering this fundamental ability. The world is full of problems waiting to be solved. The question is: Can you see the opportunity hidden within them?

Talking About Entrepreneurship