Scope a six-month MVP for a startup that connects people with local handymen

You are the product manager at a young startup that wants to help people find a handyman for small jobs around their home. Assume the startup operates in a world where Facebook does not exist. The first version has to be live within six months. Design the product and define the minimum viable product (MVP) you would launch by that deadline: who it serves first, what it does and deliberately leaves out, and how you would know whether it is working. ```hint Solve the empty-marketplace problem Customers and handymen each join only if the other side is already there. Think about which side is harder for a brand-new startup to attract, and how narrow a first launch would need to be for every request to get a good answer. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - Which customers matter most for the first launch: homeowners, renters, or landlords and property managers who need repairs across several units? - Which jobs count as handyman work here: small repairs, assembly and installations only, or also licensed trades such as electrical and plumbing work that may need permits? - Does "Facebook does not exist" only rule it out as a channel for sign-in, ads and community groups, or should we also assume there is no comparable social network to recruit users from or borrow trust signals from? - How big are the team and the budget for these six months, and does the startup need revenue at launch or only proof of demand? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A goal for the MVP that fits a startup with six months, such as proving that jobs get booked, completed well and booked again. - A deliberate choice of first customer segment, job types and handyman supply, grounded in the pain points of both sides. - A plan for the cold start and for acquiring both sides without Facebook, including how trust is established between strangers. - A scoped feature set that separates what ships at launch from what waits, with the reasoning for each cut. - Success metrics, guardrails and the main risks to the business, with how the team would respond. ### Follow-up Questions - Halfway through the build, engineering warns that in-app payments will not be ready for launch. Do you cut the feature, delay the launch or ship a workaround? - After launch, many customers find a handyman through the product and then book that person directly for later jobs. How do you respond? - How would you decide that the product is ready to expand beyond its first market, and which market would come next?