16 of the best MVP examples

I think these are all well-known stories and MVPs. I also wonder what role survivorship bias plays into this. We tend to think that these companies succeeded early on because of how basic yet ingenious their MVPs were, but I am not so sure that is necessarily the most logical conclusion.

I always think the best startup stories are where the company pivoted early and then did phenomenally well, like a few of the examples that you mention. I think it's common to quit early on if your MVP fails, but identifying how to change it to suit the audience is really smart.

It's interesting to see how basic some of these MVPs were. It's easy to think you need to create something perfect before launching, but in my experience, launching your MVP quick, even something very basic, is a great way to get early user feedback and make the necessary improvements/changes to see your startup really take off.

Good post.

I'd add in You Need A Budget (YNAB) as a great example of an MVP.

It started off selling a barebones spreadsheet & (with the right marketing strategy - https://thebluntmethod.com/case-study-you-need-a-budget-ynab/) turned it into a highly successful business.

I think Dropbox has the best MVP ever.

MVP Examples
Dropbox. The CEO of Dropbox, Drew Houston, knew that there were a lot of companies providing cloud-storage services. ...
Amazon. Jeff Bezos used either a Concierge or Wizard of Oz MVP type before launching Amazon.
Airbnb. Before launching this famous app, the owners rented their own apartments via a website.