MVP is in the eyes of the beholder #rant

Asking a friend what's truly an MVP, he looked at me for awhile and jokingly said 'MVP is in the eyes of the beholder'.

I laughed. But also pondered on it for a full day and kept thinking that in line with my friends definition, who is the beholder?

This is not a new debate and it can never be exhausted. My take.

Who decides what's a better MVP?

In some quarters, it doesn't matter what's defined by the product roadmap and product manager, what an MVP should look like is defined by what the CEO says it is.

And this has produced a lot of frustrated product manager, especially if it's your first PM role.

Also, the user is never the decider in this case. If what you've given them is not enough, they will make a request, either by way of interview or rants.

And definitely, the beholder is not the PM. You just can't behold yourself unless you don't mind bias coming in.

Never mind. This is just a product manager’s rant. And me, taking the time to clear my head to try and find clarity. 🤑