I discovered a new concept recently that I love.
It comes from product builder Jiaona Zhang, and it’s called a Minimum Loveable Product.
You may have heard of the MVP: the Minimum Viable Product.
An MVP is the simplest version that works. Get it out the door quickly. Learn from reality.
I’ve been practicing a version of that for years, with writing in particular, which is why I sometimes call myself the Queen of the Shitty First Draft.
I love getting a first version out the door before I have time to talk myself out of it.
Interestingly, my first attempts are never as bad as my mind predicts.
But Jiaona Zhang offers an interesting twist.
Instead of aiming for viable, what if we aimed for loveable?
A Minimum Loveable Product isn’t just functional. It comes from a deep understanding and reverence for
what actually delights people.
Her analogy in this article:
If you’re trying to see whether people like pizza, and you serve them burnt pizza, you won’t learn if they like pizza.
You’ll only learn they don’t like burnt pizza.
The lesson?
Your “minimum” version should still contain the thing people might love about it.
This gets me thinking about creative work and entrepreneurship.
A lot of people are trying to get things perfect before sharing them. Others rush things out that technically work, but feel a little lifeless.
What if there’s a third path?
Not perfect. Not burnt pizza.
Just the simplest version someone might actually love.
That’s a much more interesting target.
In the Pantheon community we’re creating something that (I hope) people will come to love.
The Exchange.
It’s a ritual built around moments of real belonging, collaboration, and connection.
So here’s a question I’m curious about today:
What’s the Minimum Loveable Version of the thing you want to create?
Not the full masterpiece, but the smallest version someone might truly appreciate.
If you’d like a place to explore that question together, you might enjoy a DragonHeart Portal
conversation.
We’ll look at the thing you want to create, the people it’s for, and the simplest version that might actually delight them.
Yours in love and play,
Steph 🐲❤️🔥
If you enjoyed this article, join my Daily Dragon emails list here for more playful and provocative musings on business, being gloriously human and changing the world.
