Saas mvp planner

Skill tanveerriaz/Skillz/skills/saas-mvp-planner

Use when shaping a SaaS or app idea into a buildable MVP. Pins down the core user, the one problem, the smallest valuable solution, a basic user journey, and what to deliberately leave out — so you build the thinnest thing that's actually useful instead of a bloated v1.From its SKILL.md

Install

npx -y skills add tanveerriaz/Skillz --skill saas-mvp-planner

Assembled from the repository path, not quoted from the project. Check it against their README if it does not work.

One thing to look at

1 stars1 stars. Stars are a popularity signal and not a quality one, but at this level it is likely that nobody has read this closely except its author, and you would be relying on your own review.

SKILL.md

3.4 KB, as published. Nobody here has run it

Purpose

Turn a SaaS idea into a focused, buildable MVP. The common failure is building too much: a v1 stuffed with features nobody asked for. This skill forces a single core user, a single problem, and the smallest solution that delivers real value, with everything else explicitly deferred.

When to Use

Use when you have a product idea and need to decide what to actually build first, when a planned v1 is sprawling, or when validating whether an idea is tight enough to start.

Inputs

The idea and the user it's for.
The problem you believe it solves.
Any constraints (time, stack, solo vs. team).

Outputs

A one-line problem statement and target user.
The core value the MVP must deliver.
A minimal feature set (and an explicit "not now" list).
A basic happy-path user journey.
The single riskiest assumption to test first.

Procedure

Name one core user. Resist "everyone" — pick the user who feels the pain most.
State one problem in a sentence. If there are several, choose the sharpest.
Define the core value: the one outcome the user gets. The MVP exists to deliver this.
Cut to the minimal feature set that delivers that value — typically a single core loop (sign in → do the one thing → get the result).
Write the "not now" list. Everything tempting that doesn't serve the core loop goes here. This list is the point.
Sketch the happy path as a short user journey so the build has a spine.
Identify the riskiest assumption (will they use it? will it work? will they pay?) and how the MVP tests it.
Sanity-check feasibility against constraints; if the MVP is still too big, cut again.

Quality Checklist

Exactly one core user named
One problem stated in a sentence
Core value is a single clear outcome
Feature set is the minimum for that value
Explicit "not now" list exists
Happy-path journey defined
Riskiest assumption identified and testable

Edge Cases

"It's for everyone": pick the sharpest segment for the MVP; broaden later.
Two-sided marketplace: seed one side first; don't build both at full strength.
Regulated/complex domain: scope the MVP to a non-regulated slice or a manual-in-the-loop version to validate demand first.
Idea depends on scale to work: find a smaller proxy to test the core assumption cheaply.

Safety Rules

Don't build features outside the core loop in the MVP — defer them.
Don't confuse "what's impressive" with "what delivers the core value".
Keep any example data public-safe; don't model the MVP on confidential client specifics.

Examples

Good: "User: solo founder drowning in receipts. Problem: expense tracking is manual. Core value: photo → categorized expense. MVP: upload receipt, auto-extract amount/date, list view. Not now: multi-user, reports, integrations. Riskiest assumption: extraction is accurate enough to trust — test on 50 real receipts."

Bad: A v1 plan with teams, roles, dashboards, integrations, and billing — before anyone has confirmed the core action is useful.