Published on: 08/13/2025
By Laksh Sharma
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In the startup world, timing and precision define whether a product becomes a fleeting experiment or a lasting market leader. The discussion around MVP vs MLP or Minimum Viable Product versus Minimum Lovable Product has become a decisive factor in how founders approach their first launch. An MVP is about getting to market quickly with just enough features to meet a clear need. An MLP, on the other hand, is about building something people do not just use but also feel connected to it from day one.
At Eximius Ventures, we see this choice as a high-stakes strategic decision that shapes a startup’s trajectory. We work closely with early-stage founders to determine when lean execution is the smartest path and when investing in delight will create exponential returns. This is not about chasing trends but applying conviction led thinking, anticipating market shifts and ensuring founders focus their energy on building products that stand out and endure.
The Minimum Viable Product is the stripped down version of your vision that focuses on the core features needed to solve the main problem for early users. The goal is speed to market, learning and iteration. By releasing an MVP, founders can test hypotheses about user needs without investing years into building a full-scale product. Eric Ries popularized the term through “The Lean Startup” methodology, where the emphasis is on validating ideas with the least effort possible. The MVP is not meant to be perfect, it is meant to be functional enough to collect real-world feedback.
For example, if you are building a new food delivery app, the MVP might only allow users to order from a limited set of restaurants with basic payment integration. You do not invest in advanced features like AI-driven recommendations or complex loyalty programs until you know that people want your core offering. An MVP helps you answer the most important question: Do people need this?
At Eximius Ventures, we guide founders through defining the boundaries of their MVP so they can test quickly without wasting resources. We have seen that clarity in MVP scope allows teams to pivot or persevere with confidence.
The Minimum Lovable Product builds on the MVP concept but adds a layer of emotional engagement. It is about creating an experience users are excited about from the first interaction. The MLP acknowledges that in today’s hyper competitive environment, functionality alone is often not enough to capture attention. Users have choices and they stick with products they genuinely enjoy.
An MLP for the same food delivery app might still have a limited restaurant selection but would add small touches that delight users, intuitive design, fast load times, personalized welcome messages, or playful micro-animations when orders are placed. These elements do not require massive budgets but they elevate the experience, making early adopters more likely to recommend the product.
We at Eximius understand that emotional resonance can be a powerful growth lever. When advising founders, we help them identify low-cost, high-impact ways to make a product lovable without overbuilding too soon.
The contrast between an MVP and an MLP goes deeper than surface level definitions. It reflects two fundamentally different approaches to early product strategy. An MVP aims for the fastest route to market with a focus on functionality and testing assumptions, while an MLP layers on user delight and emotional engagement from day one. Both have their strengths and risks. Choosing the right one requires understanding your target audience, competitive landscape and growth objectives. For founders, mastering this balance means launching a product that not only solves a problem but also secures lasting user loyalty.
An MVP prioritizes speed above all else, enabling founders to launch quickly, collect real-world feedback and refine their offering with agility. The focus is on essential functionality rather than perfection, ensuring momentum is not lost to overbuilding. In contrast, an MLP balances this urgency with intentional touches that spark emotional connection from day one. While this may extend development slightly, it creates a product that users remember and talk about. For founders, the challenge is to decide when speed alone is enough and when injecting emotional resonance early will lead to stronger market positioning and deeper, lasting user relationships.
Related: When Is the Right Time to Launch Your MVP?
The MVP’s core mission is validation. It exists to prove your concept has real demand and that your solution addresses a genuine pain point. This version allows rapid hypothesis testing and data-driven pivots without heavy resource commitments. The MLP shifts focus toward retention by delivering a product experience that keeps users engaged and coming back. Beyond functionality, it integrates elements that inspire satisfaction and loyalty, transforming casual users into advocates. The distinction is clear, validation ensures your product deserves to exist, while retention ensures it thrives. Founders must weigh which priority aligns with their immediate growth objectives.
An MVP is designed for strict budget efficiency as it aims to minimize costs while maximizing learning. Founders strip away everything non-essential, channeling resources into the smallest build capable of meaningful feedback. An MLP, while still mindful of resources, allocates more toward design quality, seamless user experience and small features that elevate perceived value. This additional investment can create disproportionate returns through stronger word of mouth, higher user satisfaction and faster organic growth. The choice is strategic, sometimes efficiency is the key to survival, other times perceived value drives faster market adoption. Knowing which lever to pull is a founder’s advantage.
Must read: Truth About Early Adopters for MVP Development and Product-Market Fit
The decision is rarely binary. It depends on your market, competition and product category. In a market with low competition, you might get away with an MVP that is purely functional. But in a crowded market, launching with only an MVP could mean you are forgotten before you can iterate. The stakes are higher in segments where user loyalty can be won or lost within days, making a first impression critical.
Founders should also consider user expectations. If you are in a category where aesthetics and user experience are non-negotiable like consumer facing apps or lifestyle products; leaning toward an MLP can pay off. Conversely, in enterprise or B2B markets where utility dominates, an MVP might be the better first move. The right call often requires assessing not just competition, but also how quickly users form habits around similar products.
At Eximius, we help founders map these variables against their goals. Our conviction-led approach means we are not swayed by trends. We focus on what will work for the specific product and market. We encourage founders to think strategically about timing their “lovability” investments, ensuring every stage of product development is aligned with both near-term validation and long-term emotional engagement.
A smart path for many startups is to begin with a robust MVP deliberately designed to evolve into an MLP over time. This approach demands foresight in both design and engineering, ensuring that even the earliest version has the structural integrity to support future enhancements. Even if your first release is intentionally bare bones, build it with scalability and modularity in mind so that delightful features can be added later without requiring a complete rebuild.
We urge founders to constantly track both functional and emotional user feedback. If recurring feedback suggests the product feels impersonal or transactional, it is a strong signal to infuse humanity and personality into the experience. This might mean improving visual design, adding personalized interactions, or incorporating small but meaningful touches that surprise and engage users. By listening closely to these cues, founders can transition from simply being viable to truly being lovable with surgical precision, ensuring that the evolution feels natural and aligned with user expectations rather than rushed or forced.
The MVP vs MLP conversation is not about choosing one and ignoring the other. It is about sequencing and strategy. The MVP gets you to market fast and proves that your core idea has merit. The MLP turns your product into something people want to return to, talk about and champion. Both matter, but the timing and execution depend on your specific journey.
At Eximius Ventures, we go beyond capital. We work closely with founders to ensure they launch with clarity, adapt with agility and scale with purpose. Whether it is helping define the sharpest MVP possible or guiding the evolution toward an MLP, our role is to ensure that early-stage startups not only survive but thrive. In a world where attention is scarce and loyalty is priceless, the right product strategy can be your strongest advantage.
It is the simplest version of your product that solves the core problem and allows you to test your idea with real users quickly.
It is a version of your product that not only solves the problem but also delights users from the very first experience.
Neither is inherently better; the choice depends on your market, competition and product category.
Yes and for many startups, this is the most efficient approach – starting lean, then layering in elements that make the product lovable.
We partner with founders to analyze their market, product and goals; then guide them in making the right choice for their launch and growth strategy.
