Prioritizing Roles For An MVP: Who To Hire First

When launching an MVP the goal is to test your idea as quickly and efficiently as possible, using just enough functionality to gather real feedback. Hiring too many people too soon can burn through your cash and create unnecessary overhead. Instead, prioritize strictly the key positions that actively develop your MVP.



Your first non-founder hire is a founder-engineer. This individual must be able to build the minimum working product, make architectural decisions, and iterate rapidly based on real-world usage. They don’t need to be an master of all frameworks, but they must be independent and pragmatic, and нужна команда разработчиков effective with minimal support. If you lack coding skills, hiring this person is non-negotiable.



Next, consider bringing on a product manager—or someone who can take ownership of product direction. This person doesn’t need a fancy title, but they must deeply understand user needs, prioritize features effectively, and facilitate alignment between the developer and potential customers. They ensure the team is solving real problems—not just shipping fast. In many early-stage startups, this role is taken on by the visionary if they have customer empathy.



After the MVP foundation is solid, bring in a designer focused on UX who can simplify user journeys. A great UX designer doesn’t need to deliver pixel-perfect visuals immediately—but can create usable prototypes that make your MVP pleasing to interact with. A clean, simple interface can turn early users into advocates in initial testing phases.



Avoid hiring roles like growth hackers, customer support agents, or salespeople until you have something real to show. Do foundational outreach personally through content platforms, product hunt, or direct outreach to early adopters. Customer support can be handled personally at first—this also gives you direct access to pain points.



The secret is ruthless focus while driving measurable results. Every hire should directly contribute to developing, validating, or refining the MVP. Once you have traction, then you can scale your operations with support staff. Bringing on the wrong people prematurely burns cash and derails your primary objective: proving your idea works.