Startup stages, and what each one asks of you
What are the stages of a startup?
There are five stops, and each one changes the question that matters. Follow the line: at every stop you'll find what founders ask themselves, what they actually need, and what we build at that point.
Idea
Is this a real problem, for someone who would pay to make it go away?
- You need
- The problem in one sentence
- Real conversations with the people who have it
- We build
- We help you turn the idea into hypotheses you can test before anyone writes code.
Validation
Does anyone want it badly enough to give me an email, an hour or a card number?
- You need
- One cheap test: a landing page, interviews, a prototype
- A metric and a pass mark agreed in advance
- We build
- Test landing pages, clickable prototypes and the tracking to read the numbers honestly.
Pre-seed
How do I prove it works, on very little money?
- You need
- An MVP that does one thing well
- Your first usage metrics
- We build
- The MVP, in code you can grow, and a technical story that stands up to investors' questions.
Seed
Where will the next customers come from, and what will they cost?
- You need
- One channel that brings customers in repeatably
- Onboarding and analytics inside the product
- We build
- Website and funnel, SEO, Google and Meta campaigns, and a product that holds up for real customers.
Scale-up
What breaks if we double overnight?
- You need
- Retention metrics you can trust
- Infrastructure and processes that don't hinge on one person
- We build
- Platform, data and cloud costs under control: we do it every day on Athleex, our own SaaS.
What do you need now, and what can wait?
At every stage a few things are urgent and many more feel urgent. This is our list, stage by stage.
| Stage | Now | Can wait |
|---|---|---|
| Idea | Talking to people who have the problem | Logo, final website, code |
| Validation | One test with a metric and a pass mark | The full app and the "while we're at it" features |
| Pre-seed | An MVP built around one key feature, usage metrics | A polished admin panel, native apps if the web will do |
| Seed | One or two measured channels, onboarding | Every channel at once, the big rewrite |
| Scale-up | Tested backups, CI, retention, cloud costs | Starting again from scratch: rarely needed |
How do we work with startups?
We join at the stage you're in, not all of them. MPN Group is a Milan-based group with three brands: My Web Lab builds bespoke websites and web apps in Next.js and runs SEO and Google Ads; Giallo Studio brings AI into everyday processes; Athleex is our own SaaS for personal trainers, which we designed and keep growing ourselves.
So the people writing your MVP's code already know what comes next: channels, metrics, a server misbehaving at 2 a.m.
Questions about the stages
What is the difference between pre-seed and seed?
Pre-seed money pays for proof: an MVP and the first signs that people use it and want it. Seed money pays to grow something that already has traction: acquisition channels, a sturdier product, first hires. The thresholds vary by market, so the question you are answering matters more than the label on the round.
Do I need an MVP before talking to investors?
It nearly always helps: a product in real hands answers questions no slide can settle. It doesn't have to be complete; it has to prove the riskiest part of the idea. More on the pre-seed page.
Why do startups fail?
According to CB Insights (2026, 431 venture-backed startups shut down since 2023, multiple answers allowed), 70% ran out of capital and 43% cited poor product-market fit. Many of these causes show up early, if each stage answers its own question before you spend on the next.
Can I start without a CTO?
Yes, plenty of startups do. Validation needs tests that don't involve code; the MVP needs someone to make the technical calls with you. A fractional CTO can cover that role until hiring one makes sense.
Which stage do you come in at?
Whichever one you're at. We often start with validation and the MVP, but we also work on go-to-market and on platforms that need to scale. The first conversation is about the question in front of you right now, and we reply within one business day.
Which stage are you at right now?
One conversation about today's question, no strings attached.
Tell us