What belongs on an MVP planning checklist?
The user, the one job, the steps in that job, non-goals, the success signal, and the build order. Anything else waits until that version is in use.
Guide
MVP planning checklist
An MVP plan lists the user, the one job the product must do, the steps in that job, what you will not build, how you will know it worked, and the order you will build it. If a task does not help a real user finish that job, it waits. Check this before you hire or start coding.
Generate your first PRD free
Describe the idea and get a PRD and build plan. No card required for the first one.
Generate your first PRD freeThe checklist
User: one primary person, not a market. Job: the task they cannot finish well today. Flow: the steps in that job, in order. Non-goals: what this version refuses to do.
Proof: the signal that the version worked, stated so you could count it. Sequence: the first build slice, what it depends on, and what is explicitly later.
Cut before you estimate
Estimates on an uncut list are fiction. Remove screens, roles, and integrations that the one job does not need. Then estimate the list that remains.
A checklist item with no user-facing result is a candidate to drop. Internal polish can follow a version that someone actually uses.
Turn the list into a PRD
The checklist is the outline. The PRD fills in stories, requirements, and technical constraints so another person can build without you in the room.
FounderBrief maps an idea onto that outline: scope, stories, metrics, and milestones. Use the checklist to edit the draft, not as a second document you forget.
Questions
How small should an MVP be?
Small enough to finish, and complete enough that the user can do the one job. If a step is missing from that job, it is in scope. If it is a second job, it is not.
When should I write the checklist?
Before you hire and before you write code. The list is how you decide what the first version is.