Most MVPs fail not because the code is bad but because the team builds too much before learning anything. A minimum viable product is an experiment: the smallest release that lets you test whether a real person will use your product to solve a real problem.
Begin by writing the problem in one sentence and naming the single user journey that proves your idea. For a finance app that might be 'record an expense and see where my money went'; for a rewards app it could be 'scan a code and get paid'. Everything else is a candidate to cut.
Prioritise features with a simple filter: does the first user need this to complete the core journey? If not, it waits. Keep a visible backlog so stakeholders see that ideas are parked, not rejected.
Design before you build. A clickable prototype in a design tool lets you put the flow in front of real users within days. Watching someone struggle with a prototype costs far less than rewriting a shipped feature.
Choose technology for speed and longevity. A cross-platform framework can put one codebase on both iOS and Android, and a mainstream web stack makes hiring and handover easier. Avoid exotic choices you will have to justify later.
Build in short iterations with working software at the end of each one. Demo regularly, collect feedback and adjust. Include basic analytics from day one so you can see which parts of the product people actually use.
Finally, plan for what comes after launch: bug fixes, support, and the first round of improvements based on real data. An MVP is the start of a conversation with your users, not the end of a project.