An MVP isn't a smaller version of your full product. It's the smallest thing that can prove or disprove your riskiest assumption. Getting that distinction right is what separates a launch in weeks from a project that drifts for a year.
Start by writing down the one question the MVP must answer. Will people pay for this? Will they use it weekly? Can we deliver the core experience reliably? Every feature that doesn't help answer that question goes on a later list.
Prototype before you build. A clickable prototype tested with five real users will surface most usability problems in a few days, at a fraction of the cost of finding them in code.
Then build with a production mindset, even when the scope is small. A clean architecture, automated tests, and a proper deployment pipeline take a little longer at the start and save you from rewriting everything when the MVP succeeds.
Finally, launch to real users quickly and measure. The goal of an MVP is learning, and you only learn once people are actually using it.
