Recently, I had a unique encounter, the first of its kind for both of us. For me, it was the first time pull marketing (inbound) actually worked—she messaged me first. She gave me one of the best compliments: after I sent her my site link, she said she wasn’t sure what kind of person I was, but I was an amazing writer. Not a fan of the wine and dine ritual, I dropped by her place, and within 3 hours of her message, I was chilling with her. I even sent her my ‘fall stand-up’ beforehand to avoid repeating past mistakes. At first, she couldn’t believe I’d show up on a weekday with barely any prior connection, but that’s just how I am; when I want something, I go for it. I even rescheduled a meeting with a startup founder to meet her.
As soon as I hugged her, I felt that the warmth was worth rescheduling a hundred such meetings. That combined with her well-crafted facial features, her animated Avengers t-shirt, and the bottle of Black Dog’s seasoned scotch that she opened just for the occasion made the risk totally worth it. We ended up watching some series on Netflix and chilling. It was Hotstar, and it was her account as I don’t have one. Even though we were poles apart, still we were so similar. She is a complete introvert, on the other hand, I am an outlandish extrovert. She is totally into her family and friends. I, on the other hand, don’t have any friends and should ideally disown myself for my rude behaviour.
Still, we ended up vibing so well on many levels (Triangular Model).
When I first kissed her forehead, she was surprised I knew that is exactly what she wanted. Anyhow, not just the off-the-charts physical chemistry, but also the non-stop banter and endless laughter with her hilarious sense of humour. The next day, we met again, and a day later, she booked a room at a 5-star hotel, where we chilled once more. Either together or on the phone, the time flew by in her company. We exchanged digs and laughed together. I just didn’t want it to end.
Anyhow, coming to the MBA concept of ‘Minimum Viable Product (MVP)’. It is a version of a product with just enough features to be usable by early customers who can then provide feedback for future product development. A focus on releasing an MVP means that developers potentially avoid lengthy and (ultimately) unnecessary work. Instead, they iterate on working versions and respond to feedback, challenging and validating assumptions about a product’s requirements. It was coined by Frank Robinson, CEO of SyncDev, Inc. in 2001. Robinson used MVP to describe the “simplest version of a deployable product.”
The term proved hugely influential and referenced in several popular books, including The Start Owner’s Manual, The Business Model Canvas, and Eric Ries’ The Lean Startup. In fact, Eric Ries is widely credited with popularizing the term MVP.
The concept of MVP offers some useful insights in the context of modern-day dating. The high school sweethearts or the first relationships are the MVP, in a majority of cases these end being feedback loops where the mistakes provide learnings for future relationships. In a rarity of cases, the first relationship (MVP ) ends up in happily ever after. That also happened in the case of the app Dropbox. But in most cases, once you move on, learn from the mistakes of the first relationship.
By the age of 40, you meet every person who is there in this world. You either meet the person or someone of similar characteristics (KF4D). So archetype people (TG) quickly and avoid falling into similar toxic/ monotonous relationships. Also, avoid falling into the trap of the sunk cost fallacy. A lot of people, especially women, end up investing even years into futile toxic relationships, just in hopes that the other person will change. That’s not how an MVP is built. You can’t expect the person to modify himself/ herself for you. You need to upgrade and move into more compatible, happier relationships. Otherwise, the frustration and constant self-doubt take a huge toll on mental health and adversely affects all future relationships and one also develops serious trust issues. Just remember one thing, ‘your time in this world is limited, the people aren’t’.
That brings me to the Avengers T-shirt date. So, is this it? Have I finally found my ‘Hotstar’? Has my quest finally reached its endgame?
Well, I had mentioned that we are poles apart. She is total oxytocin, while I am pure-play dopamine (TG). So before me, she had just one boyfriend (MVP), it lasted for six years. It took a huge toll on her mental health. She is quite fun as a person, but she is quite innocent and naive at heart. Also, when it comes to physical intimacy, she had slept with only him, and that too just one day. And I am the complete opposite when it comes to love, monogamy, and relationships.
So she decided to quit on a high after a few weeks (peak-end rule) as she knew that the longer she continued, the harder it would get and things would get ugly. I didn’t want to leave, but there’s a maturity lesson I learned way later than I should have is: Providing happiness to loved ones far exceeds the momentous joy of focusing on just one’s own pleasures. I am still using her Hotstar account though. And, I did live up to the five-star ratings again (Diminishing Returns). She even said that the first day we met was a day she so cherished that she would want to see a replay of it even four decades later.
Later,
Sidhant
Fun Fact: She has read every article on this site, some of them even multiple times. No one (including me) has ever done that.
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