[EpicEng]

The OP said "doesn't even work", which I took to mean "not viable, not minimally viable". That "V" is quite an important differentiator. Sure, it's not perfect, but it should be minimally viable, and that includes... "working".

[jonnathanson]

I interpreted the OP's use of "MVP" to mean the founders' self-proclaimed "MVP," not necessarily an actually viable product. To your point, if it were actually viable, then a "viable" product that "doesn't even work" would be a contradiction in terms.

[derefr]

There are many edge-cases where a product can be viable without actually working. They mostly come down to markets where the buyers are affected by principal-agent problems, and thus are willing to buy something that "doesn't work" for the principal's use-case, as long as it matches the incentives the principal has put upon them.

For example, it's very easy to sell things to defense [sub]contractors. They're not spending their own money; and, in fact, the more money they hand out to others, the more they can consume as a margin. As long as what they get in return matches the strict definition of a few check-boxes, they can't be blamed.