MVP Development for Business and Startups
We launch the first version of your product to test the idea on real users: scope, prototype, development, analytics, and release. The format is an MVP sprint with fixed scope, price, and a 6–12 week timeline. We work with founders and companies in Almaty and across Kazakhstan.
- 6–12 weeks
- Prototype
- Metrics
What is MVP development and how long does it take?
An MVP (minimum viable product) is the first version of a product with its core user scenario, released to test demand before major investment. At InterLAB (Almaty, Kazakhstan) an MVP is built as a sprint: the reference is 6–12 weeks from brief to release, the exact timeline and price are fixed after discovery and scope agreement, and a clickable prototype of the key screens comes before development starts. Budget reference: 2–5 million ₸ depending on the scenario and platforms; with a smaller budget, the first version's scope is honestly narrowed to what matters most.
Who it's for
Founders with an idea
Test demand before committing to a full product. We narrow the idea down to its core scenario, launch, and watch how real users behave — instead of relying on surveys.
Established businesses
A new digital line next to the core business: an online service, a customer portal, a marketplace. The MVP answers "will anyone use this" at a fraction of the cost.
Teams preparing for a round
Investors trust a working product with metrics more than a deck. An MVP with analytics gives your pitch real numbers: signups, retention, first payments.
Teams whose MVP "takes a year"
If the first version has been in development for over six months, it is no longer an MVP. We re-cut the scope down to a testable minimum and get it released.
Questions an MVP answers
How do you test an idea without a full product budget?
Narrow the scope to the core scenario: one key value, one user path, minimal screens. Everything else — integrations, roles, fine-tuning — goes into the post-validation roadmap. A product like that ships in weeks, not a year.
Web, mobile, or PWA — what should an MVP be?
Starting with a web app or PWA is usually faster and cheaper: no app-store review, instant updates, one codebase. A native mobile app makes sense when the scenario depends on camera, geolocation, push, or offline. We cost both options honestly at the brief.
What if the hypothesis doesn't hold?
That is a result too — and the very reason to build an MVP. Analytics runs from day one, so you see exactly where users stop. The data tells you what to change: the offer, the scenario, or the audience. The code and groundwork stay with you and get reused in the next iteration.
How does an MVP grow into a full product?
The architecture is extensible from day one: auth, the database, and the API are designed so new modules are added without a rewrite. After release we build the roadmap from data and develop the product in sprints — or hand it over to your team with documentation.
What MVP development includes
items
- Discovery: goal, audience, scope boundaries
- Clickable prototype of key screens — before development starts
- UX/UI design of the core scenario
- Frontend and backend: API, database, authentication
- Admin panel for content and enquiries
- Analytics and events from day one
- Payments: Kaspi, payment gateways — when needed
- Testing and launch: domain, hosting, app-store publishing
- Code handover and a post-MVP development plan
Building an MVP product: stages, outcomes and decisions
After each stage you have a concrete outcome in hand, followed by a decision we make together: carry on, adjust course or stop.
| Stage | What you get | Decision we make |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | A hypothesis and the metric to test it, the core scenario, a list of what is not in the MVP, a price and timeline estimate | Approve the first version's scope and fix the price and timeline |
| Prototype | A clickable prototype of the key screens that you can show future users before development | Confirm the scenario or change it before development starts |
| UX/UI design | Mockups of the core scenario for phone and desktop, and a basic set of interface components | Approve the design that development will follow |
| Development | A working version on a staging environment at the end of every sprint | Adjust the next sprint's priorities based on what the demo shows |
| Testing | Critical scenarios verified on the main devices and browsers — sign-up, the core action, payment, access rights — plus a list of the version's known limitations | Release, or fix what was found first |
| Launch | A live version on your domain and your accounts, with analytics and payments connected | Who gets access and when: a closed group or everyone at once |
| Analytics | A dashboard for the hypothesis metric and events for each step of the core scenario, set up before release | Where users drop off and what to change first |
| Iterations | Short improvement cycles, with each change tied to the metric it is meant to move | Keep iterating or revisit the hypothesis |
| Scaling | A list of what was simplified for the MVP and needs work before growth: load, roles, automated tests, integrations | Grow the product with InterLAB as a technical partner or hand it over to your own team |
A team for a startup: who works on the MVP
Who takes part in the MVP sprint and what is needed from the founder.
Project manager
Keeps scope and timeline in check, runs the backlog, holds the end-of-sprint demo and is the first to raise the issue if the idea does not fit the budget.
UX/UI designer
Designs the core scenario and the prototype, checks that it is easy to understand and prepares mockups for development.
Developers
Frontend and backend, plus React Native mobile development when needed. They own an architecture that will not need rewriting after the MVP.
QA
Tests every build before the demo and the release, keeps the list of defects found and verifies the fixes.
On your side: the product owner
A founder or employee who knows the users, makes scope decisions and attends the demos. No technical background is needed for this role.
If there is no CTO
Architecture decisions and acceptance of the work can rely on an external technical specialist — regular reviews, decisions and a roadmap without hiring a full-time CTO.
Before we talk about timelines
Two free tools help you come to the first meeting with a clear task — no sign-up, everything runs in the browser.
Contract, payment and warranty
The same terms for every B2B project: payments are tied to accepted results, and a stage price does not change after it starts.
| Term | How we work |
|---|---|
| Payment for smaller projects | Projects up to 3 million ₸ and the MVP sprint: 50% upfront, 50% after acceptance |
| Payment for larger projects | ERP, CRM, SaaS, portals — in stages of 1–2 months: 30% before a stage, 70% after the stage is accepted and signed off |
| Stage price | Fixed before the start. New requirements are estimated separately and taken on only with your approval |
| Warranty | 6 months after acceptance: we fix defects in our code free of charge — whenever the system does not work as agreed |
| Not covered by the warranty | New features and changed requirements, as well as failures caused by changes in third-party systems (a 1C update, a new bank or service API) — that is support |
| Code and access | Owned by the client from the first commit: repository, servers and keys are on your accounts. NDA on your template or ours |
The terms are fixed in the contract before work begins.
How the MVP sprint works
- 01
Brief and scope
We phrase the hypothesis and the core scenario, and explicitly record what is NOT in the MVP — that protects the timeline. Price and timeline estimate after reviewing the task.
- 02
Prototype
Before development starts — a clickable prototype of the key screens. Changes on a prototype are cheaper than changes in code.
- 03
Development
Two-week sprints with a live demo at the end of each. You see the product take shape and can adjust course.
- 04
Launch
Production environment, domain, analytics, payments. For native apps — publishing to the App Store and Google Play.
- 05
Hypothesis check
We look at the metrics: signups, retention, conversion to the target action. The data decides: grow it, change the scenario, or close the hypothesis — an honest outcome either way.
Get your project assessed before development starts
Describe the task in the form below — we reply within a business hour and suggest the next step: a call, a review or an estimate.
Technology: fast, but not disposable
An MVP is built on the same stack as InterLAB's full-scale products: Next.js and React for the web, React Native for mobile, Node.js and PostgreSQL on the server. So once the hypothesis is confirmed, the product isn't rewritten from scratch — it scales from the same codebase.
- Next.js
- React
- React Native
- TypeScript
- Node.js
- PostgreSQL
- Vercel
Integrations
Even a minimal product usually needs payments, notifications, and passwordless sign-in. We connect payment providers, social auth, WhatsApp and Telegram notifications, and — when tied to an existing business — data exchange with 1C.
Kaspi API, Payment gateways, WhatsApp, Telegram, 1C, REST API
InterLAB projects in this area
Real work with a dated status: what's live, what's still in development, where it's a demo.
status as of Oct 12, 2026
FAQ
InterLAB's reference: most MVPs land within 2–5 million ₸. That's a range, not a price list — the exact fixed price is set after the brief (estimated after reviewing the task) and depends on the scenario, platforms, and integrations. If your budget is below the range, we don't turn you away — we honestly narrow the first version's scope to what matters most: that's what staging is for. Payment in two steps: 50% at the start, 50% at release.
The reference is 6–12 weeks from brief to release, depending on the scenario's size; we set the exact timeline after discovery and scope agreement. First a clickable prototype, then two-week sprints with a live demo at the end of each.
A prototype is clickable mockups without code: it tests whether the interface makes sense. An MVP is a working product with real users, data, and metrics: it tests demand. In the MVP sprint the prototype is an intermediate step on the way to release.
Yes — and it's often the right order: a web version or PWA launches faster, and a native app is added once the scenario and demand are proven. The backend is designed from the start to serve both platforms.
No. At the MVP stage, project management, design, development and testing are covered by the InterLAB team; on your side you need a product owner who makes scope decisions. It makes sense to hire your own team once the hypothesis is confirmed and it is clear which product to grow: the code, documentation and access are handed over to that team.
You do — from the first commit. The repository is created in your organization; domains and infrastructure are set up on your accounts.
We collect metrics and feedback and build a data-driven roadmap. Then one of two paths: we keep developing the product as your technical partner, or hand it over to your team with documentation and onboarding.
Deep dives in the blog
Related services
Got a project?
We'll scope and estimate it — for free.
Tell us about the product or the problem. After reviewing the task we'll come back with an architecture, a timeline and a price for the first version.
- Scope and risks estimated before we start
- NDA — yours or ours
- Work starts within a week