Most MVPs fail before launch because teams try to ship too much in version one. The fastest teams are not the ones that code the most. They are the ones that decide clearly what not to build.
Our planning starts with one constraint: what must be true in 12 weeks for this product to be testable with real users? That single question forces better decisions on scope, architecture, and team focus.
We split every feature into three tiers: must-have for launch, should-have for follow-up, and nice-to-have for backlog. If a feature does not directly support the launch hypothesis, it moves out of sprint one.
At the end of planning, founders should have four concrete outputs: a launch hypothesis, core user flow map, technical blueprint, and weekly sprint milestones. With these in place, execution becomes predictable.