Method: our product development process for startups, from idea to growth
Understand
Before we design a single screen, we get to know the problem, the people living with it and the numbers that say it's worth solving.
- What happens
- Interviews with you and, where possible, with early users
- A look at the alternatives out there and the data you already have
- The project's assumptions, written down one by one
- What you get
- A document setting out the problem, the users and the assumptions to test
- The main risks, technical and commercial
- A first view on what to build and what to leave alone
- Who's involved
- You and whoever makes the calls on your side; on ours, the person who will lead the project, with design and engineering in the room from the start.
Decide
A few well-chosen priorities beat an endless list of ideas: this is where we settle what goes into version one.
- What happens
- The scope of the first version, and the list of what stays out
- Core flows and a clickable prototype of the key screens
- Stack and architecture choices, running costs included
- What you get
- A written scope, with the metrics that will tell us whether it works
- A prototype you can put in front of users and investors
- A proposal with phases and an engagement model
- Who's involved
- Product design and engineering together, so every screen we draw is one we can build. If the product uses AI, Giallo Studio joins in.
Build
Design and code move forward together in short releases you can try: no months of silence followed by a surprise handover.
- What happens
- Development in Next.js, React and TypeScript, with PostgreSQL for the data
- iOS and Android apps from the same web codebase, when you need them
- Automated checks on every change before it goes live
- What you get
- A test version updated with every release
- Components and rules that design and engineering share
- A product ready for its first real users
- Who's involved
- The group's design and engineering team: the same people who build and grow Athleex, our own SaaS with a mobile app.
Launch
Launch isn't a day in the diary: it's when the product meets real people and the measuring starts.
- What happens
- Going live and, for apps, getting through App Store and Google Play review
- Tracking the conversions and events that matter
- A website or landing page ready for search and for the first campaigns
- What you get
- The product live, with clean data coming in
- First activation and conversion metrics
- A ranked list of what to improve first
- Who's involved
- Engineering for the release; My Web Lab for the website, SEO and Google Ads campaigns when you need them.
Grow
After launch the work moves to the numbers: who stays, who leaves, who pays. Whatever works becomes method.
- What happens
- Experiments across acquisition, activation and retention
- New features picked by the data, not by the latest idea
- Maintenance, updates and an eye on technical debt
- What you get
- A clear read of recurring revenue, churn and customer value
- A roadmap revisited every cycle
- A product that takes more users without a rewrite
- Who's involved
- The group's product, data and marketing people, with what we've learnt growing Athleex. If you're missing technical leadership, a fractional CTO.
Measuring
How do we measure results at each phase?
Each phase answers one question, and has a number or a document that says whether the answer is yes. If it isn't, we step back before spending more.
| Phase | The question | What we look at |
|---|---|---|
| Understand | Does the problem exist, and does it matter enough for people to pay to solve it? | What the interviews say, how people get by today, the data you already hold. |
| Decide | What is the smallest version that proves the value? | A written scope, measurable assumptions, a prototype users understand without a walkthrough. |
| Build | Does it work as intended, for the right people? | Releases tried by real users, errors in production, page speed. |
| Launch | Do the people who arrive get the value and take the first step? | Conversions, activation, cost to acquire a customer on paid channels. |
| Grow | Do they stay, pay and tell others? | Recurring revenue, churn and customer value over time: the same numbers as the Athleex dashboard. |
The terms in this table, from MRR to churn, are explained in our startup glossary.
Where to start
Can you join the process halfway through?
Yes. Where we start depends on what you already have, but we always do a slice of Understand: even a live product has open questions.
- You have an idea and no code yet
- We start at Understand, with idea validation before anything gets built.
- You have a prototype built with AI or no-code tools
- A short Understand, then Build: we take it from prototype to production.
- You have a live product that isn't growing
- Grow, with growth marketing, SEO and measured campaigns.
- You're missing technical leadership
- Every phase, with a fractional CTO beside you.
Questions about the method
How long does each phase take?
It depends on the scope: Understand and Decide usually take far less time than Build, and Grow has no fixed end. We don't promise dates before we know the project; they go into the proposal. Our pricing and timelines page shows which factors stretch each phase.
Can I skip Understand if I already know what I want?
We shorten it, we don't skip it. Even a clear idea needs its users, assumptions and risks written down: that's what stops you building the wrong thing beautifully. If you've already run interviews or tests, we start from there.
What do I get at the end of each phase?
Something concrete: a document on the problem and assumptions after Understand, a scope and prototype after Decide, a working product after Build, clean metrics after Launch. In Grow you get a roadmap revisited every cycle.
Does the process work if my product is already live?
Yes: you come in at the phase you need. With a live product we usually run a short Understand on the numbers, then work in Grow, or in Build if the code needs sorting out first. The stages of a startup are laid out on our startups page.
Who works on my project?
People from MPN Group and its brands: My Web Lab for websites, web apps, SEO and campaigns, Giallo Studio for AI, and the team behind Athleex for product and apps. The group is led by Marco, Pietro and Niccolò, in Milan.
Which chapter shall we start from?
We reply within one business day.
Get in touch