Growth & Strategy
Personas
SaaS & Startup
Time to ROI
Short-term (< 3 months)
Last year, a potential client approached me with what seemed like every developer's dream: a substantial budget to build a complex two-sided marketplace platform. The technical challenge was interesting, the money was good, and it would have been one of my biggest projects to date.
I said no.
Here's the thing - they came to me excited about the no-code revolution and new AI tools like Lovable. They'd heard these tools could build anything quickly and cheaply. They weren't wrong technically. But their core statement revealed a fundamental misunderstanding: "We want to see if our idea is worth pursuing."
They had no existing audience, no validated customer base, no proof of demand. Just an idea and enthusiasm. This is exactly what most founders get wrong about MVP scaling - they think scaling means building more features when it actually means proving market demand first.
In this playbook, you'll learn:
Why your MVP should take one day to build, not three months
The difference between scaling features vs scaling validation
How to use manual processes to test before you build
When to actually invest in development (and when to keep it manual)
Real examples of successful growth strategies that started with zero code
Industry Reality
What every founder believes about MVP scaling
Most startup advice follows the same predictable pattern when it comes to MVP scaling. The conventional wisdom sounds logical: build an MVP, get user feedback, iterate based on that feedback, add more features, scale the platform.
This approach has become the startup gospel, reinforced by accelerators, VCs, and product management courses. Here's what the industry typically recommends:
Start with a simple MVP - Build the minimum viable product with core features only
Collect user feedback - Launch to early users and gather their input
Iterate quickly - Add features based on user requests and usage data
Scale the platform - Invest in infrastructure and additional functionality
Measure and optimize - Use analytics to guide further development
This methodology exists because it feels logical and provides a clear roadmap. VCs love it because it shows "progress" through development milestones. Founders love it because building feels like moving forward.
But here's where this conventional wisdom falls short: it assumes your idea needs a technical solution before you've proven it needs any solution at all. Most founders skip the crucial step of validating whether people actually want what they're building, not just whether they can build it.
The real problem isn't that your MVP needs more features - it's that you haven't proven people care about the problem you're solving. In the age of AI and no-code tools, the constraint isn't building. It's knowing what to build and for whom.
Consider me as your business complice.
7 years of freelance experience working with SaaS and Ecommerce brands.
When that client came to me with their marketplace idea, I recognized a pattern I'd seen too many times. They wanted to "test if their idea worked" by spending months building a complex platform. No existing audience, no proof of demand, just excitement about the technology.
This was exactly the trap I'd helped other clients avoid. The real issue wasn't their technical approach - it was their validation strategy. They were treating MVP development like the validation step instead of understanding that validation should come before any serious development.
The client had a classic two-sided marketplace concept: connecting service providers with customers in a specific niche. They'd done some basic market research, created user personas, and even had wireframes. Everything looked professional and well-thought-out.
But when I asked them about their current customers, the answer was telling: "We're building this to find our customers." That's backwards thinking. Your customers should help you figure out what to build, not the other way around.
I'd seen this movie before with other clients. They spend months building, launch to crickets, then scramble to figure out why no one cares. The problem isn't the product - it's that they built a solution without proving the problem was worth solving.
What made this particularly interesting was their budget. They had real money to invest, which actually made the decision harder. Taking that project would have been easy money for me. But I knew it would have been wasted money for them.
Instead of taking their money to build something that might fail, I proposed something that made them uncomfortable: prove demand first, build second. This wasn't about being anti-technology - it was about being pro-validation.
Here's my playbook
What I ended up doing and the results.
Instead of accepting their project, I walked them through what I call the "Manual-First MVP" approach. This isn't anti-technology - it's about using technology only after you've proven demand exists.
Day 1: Create a Simple Value Proposition Test
I recommended they start with a basic landing page or Notion doc explaining their value proposition. Not a complex platform - just a clear explanation of what problem they solve and for whom. This takes hours, not months.
Week 1: Manual Outreach and Connection
Instead of building matching algorithms, they should manually reach out to potential users on both sides of their marketplace. Use email, LinkedIn, whatever works. The goal is to find 10 people with the problem and 10 people who could solve it.
Week 2-4: Manual Matching Process
Here's the key insight: manually facilitate the connections. Use email, WhatsApp, Slack - whatever gets the job done. If your marketplace idea has value, people will be willing to work through manual processes to access that value.
This approach reveals everything you need to know:
- Do people actually have this problem?
- Are they willing to pay for a solution?
- What's the real friction in the current process?
- How much are both sides willing to pay?
- What features actually matter vs what you think matters?
Month 2: Scale Manual Processes
Only after proving demand should you start thinking about automation. But even then, start small. Maybe build a simple form to collect leads, or a basic matching spreadsheet. Don't jump straight to a complex platform.
The breakthrough insight I shared with them: Your MVP should be your marketing and sales process, not your product. Distribution and validation come before development.
I told them that if they couldn't manually facilitate 50 successful matches, they had no business building a platform to facilitate 5,000 matches. The constraint isn't technical - it's market validation.
This approach also reveals your real business model. Maybe you discover that one side is willing to pay subscription fees while the other prefers transaction-based pricing. Maybe you learn that the real value isn't in matching but in the vetting process. You can't learn this from user interviews - you learn it from real transactions.
Manual Validation
Test demand before building anything. Use manual processes to prove people want your solution.
Market Discovery
Learn what customers actually need vs what you think they need through real interactions.
Process Documentation
Document every manual step so you know exactly what to automate later.
Revenue First
Generate actual revenue manually before investing in platform development.
The client initially resisted this approach, but eventually decided to test it. Within 6 weeks, they had facilitated 23 successful matches manually and generated their first $1,200 in revenue.
More importantly, they discovered their original platform concept was wrong. The real value wasn't in the matching algorithm - it was in the vetting and quality assurance process. Customers cared more about trust and reliability than convenience.
They also learned that their pricing model was backwards. They'd planned to charge service providers, but discovered customers were willing to pay premium fees for vetted, high-quality providers. This insight completely changed their business model.
By month 3, they had a waiting list of 150+ customers and a clear understanding of what features actually mattered. Only then did they start building - but they built something completely different from their original concept.
The manual approach saved them months of development time and thousands in development costs. More importantly, it gave them confidence that when they did build, they were building something people actually wanted.
What I've learned and the mistakes I've made.
Sharing so you don't make them.
Here are the key lessons from this manual-first approach to MVP scaling:
Manual processes reveal real value - You can't fake demand with manual workflows. If people won't work through manual processes for your solution, they won't use your platform either.
Revenue validates everything - Getting people to pay manually is the ultimate validation. If they won't pay for a manual solution, they won't pay for an automated one.
Build your distribution first - Focus 90% of your effort on finding and reaching customers, 10% on building. Most founders reverse this ratio and fail.
Document everything - Every manual process you create becomes a requirement for your eventual platform. This documentation is invaluable for development.
Start with high-touch, move to low-touch - Begin with manual, high-touch processes, then systematically automate only the parts that add real value.
Technology amplifies existing demand - If there's no demand for your manual solution, technology won't create demand. It will just automate failure.
Real customers change everything - User interviews and surveys lie. Real customers with real money tell you the truth about what they actually need.
The biggest pitfall to avoid: thinking that building is progress. Building without validated demand is just expensive procrastination. Focus on proving demand first, solving problems second, scaling solutions third.
How you can adapt this to your Business
My playbook, condensed for your use case.
For your SaaS / Startup
For SaaS startups scaling MVP:
Start with manual onboarding and support processes
Use tools like Airtable and Zapier before building custom features
Generate revenue through consulting/services before productizing
Validate each feature manually before development
For your Ecommerce store
For ecommerce stores scaling MVP:
Test product demand through pre-orders or manual sales
Use existing platforms (Etsy, Amazon) before building custom stores
Manually handle customer service to understand pain points
Document operational processes before automating fulfillment