Your customers hate MVPs. Make a SLC instead.

Cohen argues that minimum viable products serve the team's learning at the expense of customers, who dislike unfinished software. His alternative is the SLC: a first version that is narrow in scope yet does its job completely and earns real affection. Using examples such as Google Docs, Snapchat, and WhatsApp, he shows that a small but finished product can stand on its own, grow later, or simply remain useful without more investment.

• MVPs help teams learn quickly, but customers dislike using products their creators consider embarrassing.
• A simple product can still be complete if it does well the narrow job it promises.
• Products that are loved, even with few features, tend to beat feature-rich products people dislike.
• An SLC that never gets more investment remains a modest good product, unlike an abandoned MVP.
• Many successful products began as very simple tools and only later added complexity.
• Prioritizing delight from the start, rather than climbing a hierarchy from utility upward, sets a product apart.

Cohen writes in a punchy, opinionated voice, with short declarative sentences, memorable coinages, and concrete company examples. Retyping him teaches how to state a contrarian thesis plainly, define a new term, and back each claim with quick, familiar cases.

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