MVP vs Prototype vs POC: What Should Founders Build First?

Here's a conversation I've had more times than I can count:

Founder: "We built this amazing product over six months. It's got everything—AI recommendations, gamification, social features, a referral system…"

Me: "Cool. How many users?"

Founder: "Uh, well… we wanted to make sure it was perfect before launching."

Me: "And how do you know people want it?"

Founder: [long pause] "We did some surveys?"

This is the trap. Most founders leap straight to building the "real thing" when they should be asking a simpler question first: What exactly am I trying to prove?

Enter the three musketeers of startup validation: MVP, Prototype, and POC.

But here's what nobody tells you: these aren't just different names for the same thing. They're fundamentally different tools for fundamentally different questions. Use the wrong one, and you'll either waste months overbuilding or fail to prove what you actually need to prove.

Let's break it down.

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The Core Question Each One Answers

Before we dive into definitions, let's start with the questions each approach answers:

See the difference? One is about desire. One is about feasibility. One is about willingness to pay.

Most founders skip the first two and jump straight to "will people pay," which is like trying to run before you can crawl. And then they wonder why their six-month project flops.

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Prototype: The "Would Anyone Care?" Detector

A prototype is a facade. It's something that looks like the real product but isn't actually functional. Think of it as a movie prop—convincing enough to evoke emotion, but you definitely can't drive the Batmobile with it.

When to Use a Prototype

You need a prototype when:

• You're unsure if people want what you're building
• Your idea is so new that people might not understand it
• You're trying to decide between 2-3 different directions
• You need to communicate your vision to co-founders, investors, or potential team members

What a Prototype Is NOT

A prototype is not:

• Something you ship to users
• A minimum version of your product
• Something that needs to actually work
• A replacement for user testing

Real-World Prototype Wins

Dropbox is the poster child here. Before writing a single line of syncing code, Drew Houston created a 3-minute explainer video. It wasn't a real product—it was a prototype that demonstrated the idea. The video got 75,000 waitlist signups overnight. That told Dropbox: "Yes, people want this."

Instagram started as a location check-in app called Burbn. It was too complex and confusing. So co-founder Kevin Systrom built a simple prototype—just the photo-sharing part—and showed it to friends. The reaction was immediate: "Forget the rest of this. Just do the photo part." That insight became Instagram.

How to Build a Prototype Fast

The best prototypes are built with:

• Figma or Adobe XD (for visual prototypes you can click through)
• Keynote or PowerPoint (surprisingly effective for concept demos)
• Loom videos (record yourself walking through the concept)
• Landing page with a sign-up form (like Dropbox did)

Time investment: 2 days to 2 weeks

Cost: $0 to $500

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Proof of Concept: The "Can This Even Work?" Test

A proof of concept answers: "Is this technically possible?"

Sometimes you have an idea that seems brilliant in theory but might be impossible to build, prohibitively expensive, or require technology that doesn't exist yet. That's when you need a POC.

When to Use a POC

You need a POC when:

• Your idea involves emerging technology (AI, blockchain, AR/VR)
• You're unsure if the technical approach is viable
• The problem requires complex data processing or integration
• You're building something that has never been done before
• You need to convince technical co-founders or investors

What a POC Looks Like

A POC is usually:

• A narrow, focused technical demonstration
• Not concerned with UI, UX, or polish
• Built to test one specific technical hypothesis
• Disposable—you'll likely rewrite everything after

Real-World POC Examples

Tesla built POCs of their battery technology before committing to building cars. They needed to prove that lithium-ion batteries could actually power a vehicle for reasonable distances. The POC was a prototype electric drivetrain in a Lotus Elise body—ugly as sin, but it proved the concept.

OpenAI built POCs of GPT models before scaling up. Each iteration tested whether larger models actually produced better results. They weren't building products—they were testing technical feasibility.

The POC Trap

Here's where founders go wrong with POCs: they fall in love with them.

A POC is supposed to answer one question and die. But I've seen founders spend 8 months "refining" a POC, turning it into a quasi-product, and then getting attached to it emotionally.

Rule of thumb: If your POC is taking more than 4-6 weeks, you're probably over-engineering it or avoiding the harder question of whether anyone wants it.

Time investment: 2 weeks to 3 months

Cost: $2,000 to $25,000 (mostly developer time)

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MVP: The "Will They Pay?" Experiment

The MVP is where most founders start, but they shouldn't. An MVP is a real, usable product—just with the minimum features needed to deliver value. It's not a facade. It's not a test of feasibility. It's an actual solution to an actual problem that you put in front of actual users.

When to Build an MVP

You should build an MVP when:

• You've validated desire with a prototype
• You've proven feasibility with a POC (if needed)
• You need to test willingness to pay
• You're ready to start getting real user feedback
• You want to start building a user base

The True Definition of MVP

Eric Ries, who popularized the term, said it best: "The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort."

Key words: validated learning. Not features. Not polish. Learning.

Real-World MVP Lessons

Airbnb's MVP was literal: they photographed their own apartment and put it online. Then they realized people would pay to stay in strangers' homes. Their MVP didn't have reviews, instant booking, or payment processing initially. It had one listing and a way to contact the host.

Slack started as a gaming company called Tiny Speck. They built an internal communication tool because nothing else worked for their distributed team. When the game failed, they realized the tool—Slack—was actually the product. Their MVP was messy, internal, and never meant to be sold. But it worked.

WhatsApp had an MVP so minimal it was almost painful. No photos, no status updates, no stories. Just: send a message. It solved one problem exceptionally well.

The MVP Anti-Pattern

Here's the mistake founders make: they confuse "minimum" with "barely usable."

An MVP should still be:

• Usable: People can actually accomplish something
• Valuable: It solves a real problem
• Quality: It doesn't feel broken or 垃圾

What it shouldn't be:

• Feature-complete: You don't need all the features
• Polished: Good enough, not perfect
• Scalable: It just needs to work for early users

Time investment: 4 weeks to 3 months

Cost: $3,000 to $15,000 (or more, depending on complexity)

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The Decision Framework: Which One Do You Need?

Let me make this simple with a decision tree:

Question 1: Do people even want this?

If NO or I DON'T KNOW → Build a Prototype

• Show mockups, videos, or landing pages
• Measure interest (signups, waitlist, survey responses)
• Goal: Validate desire

Question 2: Is this technically possible?

If NO or I'M NOT SURE → Build a Proof of Concept

• Test the core technical hypothesis
• Prove feasibility (or discover infeasibility)
• Goal: Validate technical viability

Question 3: Will people pay for this?

If NO or I NEED TO TEST → Build an MVP

• Create a usable product with core features
• Launch to early adopters
• Measure conversion, retention, willingness to pay
• Goal: Validate business model

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What Happens If You Skip Steps?

I've watched founders skip from idea to MVP without validating desire or feasibility. The results are predictable:

Skipping Prototype → Build Something Nobody Wants

You spend 6 months building features that users don't care about. The prototype would have told you this in 2 weeks for $200.

Skipping POC → Build Something That Doesn't Work

You build an elaborate product only to discover that your core technical assumption was wrong. The POC would have saved you months.

Building All Three → Move Too Slow

Some founders get stuck in infinite validation. They build prototypes, then POCs, then more prototypes, never launching anything. Paralysis by analysis.

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The Startupbricks Approach

At Startupbricks, we help founders navigate this decision constantly. Here's our standard process:

1. Day 1-3: Prototype. We don't care about code. We care about demonstrating the core idea to 5-10 target users and measuring their reaction.

2. Day 4-14 (if needed): POC. Only if the idea involves unproven technology or complex integrations.

3. Week 3-8: MVP. Once we've validated desire and feasibility, we build a lean MVP that can be tested with real users.

This approach typically saves founders 3-6 months of wasted effort and $20,000+ in development costs.

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The Bottom Line

Here's the uncomfortable truth: most founders already know which stage they should be in. They just don't want to admit it.

• If you're scared to show people because it looks "unfinished"—that's called a prototype, and you should do it anyway.
• If you're not sure your technical approach will work—that's a POC, not a reason to delay.
• If you haven't talked to real users yet—you're not ready for an MVP.

The goal isn't to build something impressive. The goal is to build something that teaches you what you need to know.

Start there.

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Quick Reference: Prototype vs POC vs MVP

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Ready to Validate Your Startup Idea?

If you're stuck figuring out whether you need a prototype, POC, or MVP, let's talk. At Startupbricks, we help founders validate ideas quickly and build the right thing—the first time.

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