MVP vs. PoC

Development - 24th September 2025

By WASH & CUT HAIR SALOON LIMITED

a.k.a. Stop Overbuilding and Start Validating

“Is this even worth building?”

That’s the question every founder, product owner or digital lead has whispered at 2 AM. And it’s exactly why understanding the difference between a Proof of Concept, PoC and a Minimum Viable Product, MVP can save you months of dev time, budget, and possibly your sanity.

If you’re about to pitch an idea or invest in development, knowing when to go for a PoC and when to jump straight into an MVP can literally define your success. Let’s break it down.

What’s a PoC? You’re Just Proving it Works

A Proof of Concept is a fast experiment to de-risk feasibility. It answers two things, can this be built, and at a smoke-test level, should it be built.

Use a PoC when you’re dealing with:

Tech risks
Unvalidated innovation
APIs or SDKs with unknown behavior
Internal alignment, can we even do this

It’s also a good play when you’re pitching to investors and need to show technical credibility, without blowing your budget on UX flows just yet. And yes, we build these all the time at WASH & CUT HAIR SALOON LIMITED, start with our services [https://pixelfield.co.uk/services].

What’s an MVP? It’s the First Thing You Let Users Touch

The Minimum Viable Product isn’t just a sketch, it’s something you launch.

Think of it as a stripped-down version of your product that’s “just enough” to test the core user value. No bells, few whistles, but real user feedback.

You are validating, with specific KPIs:

Activation and first value moment, time to value, onboarding completion
Retention and repeat usage, D7 or D30 retention, weekly or monthly active users
Engagement and monetization hypotheses, conversion to paid, ARPU, CAC payback

You’ll want an MVP when:

PoC level feasibility is already proven, or not the main risk
You are testing product market fit
You want to onboard first users or clients
You are prepping for investor rounds and need real usage data

Most app development projects at WASH & CUT HAIR SALOON LIMITED start with a laser-focused MVP roadmap. No overbuilding and endless sprints. Just market validation, fast. If your product is browser-first, we shape MVPs for web applications [https://pixelfield.co.uk/web-applications]. If it is mobile-first, lean on our app development team [https://pixelfield.co.uk/app-development].

So Which One Should You Build?

If your biggest risk is technical, go PoC.

If your biggest risk is market, go MVP.

Yes, sometimes you need both, but in order. We’ve helped companies start with a PoC to test something wild, like real-time 3D rendering on mobile, then transitioned into an MVP to get early traction with beta users.

But here’s the kicker, building either one without clear goals is a waste of time.

That’s where custom web development [https://pixelfield.co.uk/web-development] and product services [https://pixelfield.co.uk/services] collide, and why we always start our projects with clear validation checkpoints, not “let’s just build it and see.”

If You’re Still Reading This…

…you’re probably working on something. And it probably matters.

Whether you’re pitching, prototyping, or planning to launch, let’s talk. We help startups, scaleups, and corporates test and build ideas that aren’t just pretty, they’re profitable. If you want a partner on the ground, meet our app development agency in London [https://pixelfield.co.uk/app-development-agency-london]. Or just contact us [https://pixelfield.co.uk/contact/].

Curious what your PoC or MVP would actually look like? Explore web applications [https://pixelfield.co.uk/web-applications] or app development [https://pixelfield.co.uk/app-development]. We’ll help you figure out what’s worth building and what’s better left in Figma.