A naukri.com initiative
Andrew Chen
4w
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Image Credit: Andrew Chen
DoorDash's v1 was 8 PDF menus on a static HTML website
- The early days of DoorDash, version 1.0, consisted of a static HTML page with 8 restaurant menus in PDF format and a Google Voice number.
- The initial version was created in just 45 minutes, showcasing how simplicity can evolve into a widely-used product over time.
- Lessons from implementing Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) over the past decade reveal common challenges like inconclusive testing and false negatives.
- Product development struggles with competing in existing markets, inadequate user insights, and local optimization, among other issues.
- Testing MVPs often leads to ambiguous results and can sometimes cause false restarts, requiring constant reevaluation and refinement of the product.
- Creating follow-up tests is crucial but challenging due to the influence of previous tests on user perceptions and expectations.
- Learning from existing successes and failures in a market can provide valuable insights for startups entering established sectors rather than pioneering new categories.
- While MVPs have their place, some product categories and stages may not align well with the concept, especially in cases requiring significant upfront investment.
- Overreliance on data over genuine customer insights poses a risk in product development, highlighting the importance of strategic judgment and qualitative understanding.
- The startup journey involves shipping multiple MVPs, learning from failures, and iterating persistently to navigate the challenges of building a successful product over time.
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