Title: Building an MVP, with Mindset Health’s Alex Naoumidis
Session context
- Format: Talk + Q&A + live founder questions
- Host: Louisa (Startmate)
- Speaker: Alex Naoumidis (Co-founder & CEO, Mindset Health)
- https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexnaoumidis/
- Audience: Launch Club founders (validation → MVP → early revenue)
- Objective: Adopt an MVP mindset; learn how to ship fast, charge early, and iterate with users
About the speaker (Alex Naoumidis)
- Role: Co-founder & CEO, Mindset Health (digital therapeutics; e.g., Nerva for IBS)
- Background: Accounting/finance student → self-taught developer with his brother → YC alum → scaled to 40+ team,$30M raised
- Focus: Foundation model for psychophysiology; AI-powered therapeutics
- Hard-won lessons: Shipped complex product too slowly at first; pivoted to “good but small,” tight build–talk–iterate loop
What is an MVP (and why it matters)
| Principle | Why it matters |
|---|
| Good but small | Validates core value; eliminates bloat; avoids “barely functional” pitfalls |
| Ship fast | Increases iteration speed and “surface area for luck” |
| Talk to users | Reality-checks assumptions; guides what to double down on or kill |
| Charge early | Free users ≠ paying users; pricing tests validate real willingness to pay |
Core concept: Narrow slice of quality (not a crappy prototype)
| Attribute | Minimum bar for MVP | Anti-patterns |
|---|
| UX/Usability | Clear path to value; simple, intuitive flow | Confusing IA, broken onboarding |
| Reliability | Stable, non-buggy core journey | Crashes, data loss, flaky steps |
| Scope | One job-to-be-done; smallest path to outcome | Feature-stack, scope creep, “nice-to-haves” |
What not to do vs what to do
| Don’t do | Do instead |
|---|
| Build in a vacuum for months | Launch in 1–2 weeks; iterate in public with users |
| Cargo-cult without understanding | Copy best practices for non-core UX with explicit reasons |
| Delay charging | Use trials/pre-orders; price via market proxies and value framing |
| Over-index on brand fear early | Assume few will notice; prioritize solving the user’s problem quickly |
MVP testing before building
| Funnel test | Tooling stack | What you learn |
|---|
| Demand via pre-orders | Ads → Unbounce → Typeform quiz → checkout | CAC-to-preorder, message–market fit, pricing sanity |
| Offer resonance | Landing variants, value props, proofs | Which promises/claims drive intent |
| Manual sales | 15-min consult calls | Live objections, language, positioning to productize |
Pricing and charging
| Tactic | Guidance |
|---|
| Proxy pricing | Anchor to familiar comparables (e.g., Noom, category norms) |
| Value-based framing | Price to outcome/value, not cost-plus |
| Early monetization | 7-day trial with card-on-file is effective; avoid “too cheap” distortion |
Copying vs “cargo culting”
| Copy this (non-core) | Don’t copy blindly |
|---|
| Navigation, progress, layout | Unknown/low-impact patterns without a reason; understand “why” it works |
| Messaging patterns | Features that are central to another app but not to your core |
Do things that don’t scale
| Motion | Purpose |
|---|
| 1:1 calls/DMs | Rapid learning; conversion practice |
| Community outreach | Find users where they live (subreddits, FB, etc.) |
| Manual onboarding | Understand activation steps to later automate |
| Decision | Practical guidance |
|---|
| Web vs Mobile | Choose the fastest medium that validates learning; web is often faster to ship |
| iOS first | Typically monetizes better and is simpler early |
| When Android matters | If distribution (e.g., clinician referrals) demands device-agnostic delivery |
Build loop to product–market fit
| Step | Focus | Output |
|---|
| Define | Sharpest pain + smallest cohort | One job-to-be-done |
| Build | “Good but small” MVP | Minimal screens/steps to outcome |
| Charge | Price proxy + trial | Real willingness-to-pay signal |
| Learn | Daily user conversations + data | Keep/kill list; clarified next iteration |
| Iterate | Weekly releases | Momentum and compounding insight |
Stages and typical goals
| Stage | Description | Common goals |
|---|
| 1 | Validate idea | 15–20 interviews/week; map pains/jobs; 50–100 waitlist; pre-orders via funnel |
| 2 | Build MVP | Ship in 1–2 weeks; usability tests; define activation/retention metrics |
| 3 | Get users | DAU/WAU targets; activation ≥ threshold; qualitative “love” signals |
| 4 | Revenue | Turn on revenue; aim ~10% WoW (≈40% MoM) post–first dollar (venture path dependent) |
Selected Q&A highlights
| Topic | Takeaway |
|---|
| Pricing unknowns | Use market proxies + value framing; don’t underprice; pricing is a learning vehicle |
| Pivoting with paying users | Ship better; refund if needed; brand damage fear is overrated early |
| Non-technical founders | You become technical by building; AI-assisted dev compresses timelines to weeks |
| Freemium vs paywall | Both can work; avoid “free out of fear”; trials with card-on-file convert well |
| Domains for MVP | Ship on main domain; use dev/prod envs; few will notice early |
| iOS vs Android | iOS often monetizes better; Android if strategic (e.g., clinician referrals) |
| Handling demand spikes | “Champagne problem”; extend support hours, then add process/people |
| Credibility for clinicians | Ladder: testimonials → modality evidence → partner’s research → your observational data → your RCT |
| B2C → B2B2C motion | Follow organic signals (patients telling doctors); formalize provider channel |
| Fundraising signals | Early VCs back team/resourcefulness; revenue is strong if applicable; show you can ship and learn fast |
Benchmarks and pacing
| Milestone | Guidepost |
|---|
| Post first revenue | ~10% WoW growth (≈40% MoM) |
| Year-1 venture path | Rough trajectory toward ~$1M ARR in ~12 months (model/market dependent) |
MVP action template (fill this in)
| Area | Baseline (now) | 2-week MVP goal | Weekly target | Success criteria |
|---|
| Customer | X interviews/demos per week | ≥ Y total interviews; Z live usability sessions | ≥ N interviews + M sales calls | 3–5 actionable insights/week; clear objections |
| Product | Current state (none/prototype/beta) | Ship “good but small” MVP (screens A→B→value) | 1 build + 1 release + 1 test cycle/week | Activation ≥ B%; crash rate ~0; clear UX path |
| Revenue | $MRR and # paying/presales | Pre-orders or paid trial starts ($Z or P users) | Daily outreach volume; trial activations | Trial→paid ≥ T%; CAC-to-preorder within bounds |
Practical metrics you can choose
| Metric class | Options |
|---|
| Activation | % new users completing core action within 7 days |
| Usage | DAU/WAU; session cadence; key feature adoption |
| Retention | Day-7 return %, Week-4 retention %, cohort curves |
| Love/value | “Very disappointed if removed” %, qualitative proof quotes, repeat task completion |
| Demand | Pre-orders; # paid pilots; LOIs; MRR; # paying customers; CAC-to-preorder |
Outreach and testing playbook
| Channel/Action | Tactic |
|---|
| Communities | Join subreddits/FB groups; be helpful; invite to 15-min consults |
| Manual sales | 10–20 high-touch calls/week; script objections; update copy |
| Funnel tests | 2–3 landing variants; message, pricing, proof toggles |
| Evidence stack | Testimonials; modality research; partner credibility; early observational data |
Action items
| Step | Action |
|---|
| 1 | Define the sharpest user pain and the smallest cohort |
| 2 | Specify the “good but small” path to value (3–5 screens/steps max) |
| 3 | Choose pricing proxy and trial approach; set a concrete price for learning |
| 4 | Launch a demand funnel (ads → landing → Typeform → pre-order) and a 1:1 consult flow |
| 5 | Commit to a 2-week ship date; run daily user conversations; iterate weekly |