[jwilliams]

Seems that MVP is pretty much whatever the situation dictates. So I'll avoid getting to philosophical.

In my last case (funded, growing B2B SaaS company) we built prototypes on "paper" (actually mockups designed for an easy display on iPad). We then went out and pitched potential customers on the back of the prototype. Criteria was getting them to emphatically commit to the product if we were to build it. We were pretty strict on what commitment meant. Probably 1-2 months work.

When we hit the threshold, we built the minimum required, went back to those parties, closed the deals and worked out from there.

[zer00eyz]

1-2 months of work building the prototypes or 1-2 months of work building, iterating and getting commitments, or 1-2 months of work building a launchable product based on them?

Paper prototyping is HUGE. I don't get why more folks won't or can't embrace it. Not only can you do the testing that you have suggested but your engineers and designers will THANK you.

There is a huge upside to paper, UI issues can be spotted early and cheaply.