Let's be honest, the term "Minimum Viable Product" has been poisoned. For many in the startup world, it has become a lazy excuse to ship a half-baked, ugly, and barely functional prototype and see what sticks. It's the "throw it at the wall" approach.

For a B2C social networking app in 2025, that's a recipe for disaster. Our initial target audience—a savvy, design-conscious crowd of 18-35 year olds—can smell a cheap, rushed product from a mile away. They won't give you a second chance.

That's why, at SoloBudd, we're taking a different approach.

Our "MVP" is Not a Prototype

A prototype is a sketch. An MVP, for us, has to be a real, working piece of art. It needs to be stable, respectable, and give a clear, exciting indication of the future vision. It can't look like "a child did it."

This is especially true when, like for us, design is a core feature. Our 1970s Bauhaus-inspired "living room" vibe isn't just a skin; it's a fundamental part of the user experience, designed to create a feeling of safety, nostalgia, and trust. To compromise on that in the first version would be to compromise the very soul of the app. We can simplify, but we cannot be sloppy.

Building on Bedrock, Not Sand

This philosophy extends to our technical architecture. It's tempting for an early-stage startup to use quick, simple code (or the dozens of low code or quick code, cheap services) to get a product out the door as fast as possible. The problem? In 6-12 months, you hit a wall. The code is unmanageable, you can't add new features without breaking old ones, and you're forced into a slow, expensive, and soul-destroying complete rebuild.

We've chosen to do the hard work upfront.

We are building SoloBudd on a foundation of pro-growth architecture. Yes, it's a more complex and time-consuming approach. It requires a higher level of skill to build. But the payoff is immense. It creates a codebase that is scalable, maintainable, and robust from day one. It means that when our community grows and asks for new features, we can add them quickly and efficiently, without having to tear the whole house down and start again.

The Goal: Good, Not Perfect

So, what are we launching? We are not producing perfection. That's impossible. But we are also not producing a flimsy prototype.

We are launching something Good.

A stable, beautiful, and thoughtful product that solves a real problem for a picky audience that deserves our respect. It's a slower, more deliberate path, but we believe it's the only way to build something that lasts.

So come along for the ride, join our Founders Budds programme (see main page) today!