Learn how solo founders can ship MVPs fast without burning out—featuring real examples, tools, and weekly product launches from the Built This Week podcast.
If you’re building solo, you don’t have the luxury of long dev cycles, internal meetings, or a team to spread the workload. You're designing, coding, writing copy, and answering support tickets — all while trying to build momentum.
So the question becomes: how do you ship MVPs fast as a solo founder—without burning out or cutting corners that matter?
That’s something we think about (and do) every week at Built This Week, a podcast made by and for solo builders. In every episode, we walk through what we built that week, what helped us move faster, and what slowed us down — in real time.
Here’s what we’ve learned about shipping MVPs quickly and consistently as a solo founder.
The fastest MVPs are the ones that don’t try to do everything. If you can’t explain what your product does in one sentence, you’re building too much.
The question to ask isn’t: what features does it need to feel complete?
It’s: what’s the minimum that proves this solves a real problem?
Most of our fast launches start with:
That’s it. No dashboard. No complex auth. Just something a real person can use or react to.
In 2025, AI is a builder’s superpower—if you use it wisely. We routinely use AI tools to:
The key isn’t to automate everything — it’s to let AI handle the repetitive stuff so you can focus on what matters: shipping.
We often feature these tools on the podcast as our “Tool of the Week” because they genuinely help us build and launch faster without burning out.
This is baked into the Built This Week format: we ship something every 7 days. Even if it’s small. Even if it’s rough.
Deadlines drive momentum. When you know you have to talk about your progress publicly—or even just document it—you move with more clarity.
Some of our best MVPs came out of one-week challenges where we committed to launching something by Friday. It forces trade-offs and gets you out of endless iteration mode.
Most solo founders wait too long to launch. You're never fully ready. And that’s okay.
Shipping fast means launching before you're comfortable—because your comfort isn't the goal. Learning is. Validation is.
We’ve shipped:
Each one taught us something, moved us forward, and gave us feedback we couldn’t have gotten otherwise.
The best way to keep shipping fast is to make it a habit. That’s why Built This Week exists — to hold ourselves accountable, share our process, and keep up the momentum.
Each episode is a mini case study in what it looks like to build and ship week by week. We talk through:
It’s part storytelling, part stand-up report, and part builder therapy.
Like anything else, launching MVPs quickly is something you get better at. The more you do it, the more confident you get in cutting scope, choosing tools, managing your energy, and hitting “publish.”
And the faster you ship, the faster you learn.
🎧 Subscribe to Built This Week
If you want to hear how solo founders are shipping MVPs fast, finding users, and building real products in public — all in 15 minutes a week — give Built This Week a listen.
Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you build your playlist.
Because if you're solo, your speed is your edge. Ship something this week.
