The Lean Community Cycle: Validating Ideas with an MVC

The Lean Framework for Community Validation

In community building, the "all-in" approach often leads to wasted resources and misalignment with user needs. Instead, success is found in starting small through a Minimum Viable Community (MVC). As discussed at London Community Week 2025, an MVC is the first iteration of a community designed to provide the maximum amount of learning with the least effort. By establishing a "home base" for a small group of initial users, builders can attract early adopters who will help co-develop the future of the space.

"What's the minimum viable community? That's the first version of the community that gives you the maximum amount of learning. You want to start small."

The Seven-Step Journey

To navigate this journey, practitioners are encouraged to follow the Lean Community Cycle. This framework prevents the common mistake of building a solution before defining the problem. The process begins with defining a clear purpose, followed by research to uncover specific assumptions. From there, the riskiest assumptions must be tested and validated through small-scale experiments.

The seven steps of the cycle include: