Explaining a Tech term to a non-tech audience:MVP

So I have the task of explaining MVP to a non- tech audience. First, MVP is probably not exactly a tech term. Let's call it a buzz word. The term is an interesting one, so interesting, I can't seem to complete this post about it.

So yeah.. here is my 1 min layman explanation of Minimum viable  Product.

MVP is simply an abrreviation for Minimum viable product.It is the least thing you could do as a startup to provide or be of value to your customers. 

There has been so many arguments on the definition of a MVP, and just like the many other startup topics, there is no silver bullet, no clear cut answers, definitely no asking "How do you know what minimum is". 

Some folks have tried to bring understanding to the concept by coining their own version of the same concept. An example is MLP... minimum lovable product. but there is the question of if the love can translate to $$. 

In my humble opinion, I would say, forget MVP, MLP and do MSP. Minimum sellable product. I may have seen this somewhere, but I agree we should let sales be the final judge. Thank you.

Good enough? 

[Incomplete] Minimum viable Product. How to define what minimum is?

The concept of minimum viable product is relative. While this maybe an obvious truth, same may not hold for many newbie entrepreneurs (like myself). How do you determine what is minimum?

I think this would be based on at least 2 variables like the technology available to you and the knowledge of the idea available to you and you are sure off. Let's add a third one, your risk appetite.

Stepping back, the why of a MVP is to test. We think of it as an experiment and the outcome of this experiment is data.

Page 95 of The Lean Startup and read what Eric Ries says: “deciding how complex an MVP [Minimum Viable Product] needs to be cannot be done formulaically. It requires judgement”...

Still thinking about this... stay tuned.