SaaS MVP: The 8 Features You Actually Need to Launch

The Overbuilt MVP Problem

Most founders build too much before launch. They add features for hypothetical users, edge cases that won't appear for 12 months, and 'nice-to-haves' that delay the launch date by weeks. Here are the only 8 features a SaaS MVP needs.

The 8 Non-Negotiable MVP Features

• 1. Authentication — email/password + Google OAuth minimum. Use Auth0 or Clerk, do not build from scratch.
• 2. The Core Feature — the one thing your product does that made someone willing to pay. Everything else is secondary.
• 3. Billing & Subscription — Stripe with at least two plans. No billing = no revenue = not a business.
• 4. User Dashboard — where logged-in users see their data, settings, and use the core feature.
• 5. Email Notifications — confirmation, onboarding sequence (3–5 emails), and password reset. Nothing more.
• 6. Basic Admin Panel — see users, manage subscriptions, impersonate users for support. Django admin works perfectly.
• 7. Error Tracking — Sentry. You need to know when things break before your users tell you.
• 8. Analytics — Mixpanel or PostHog. Know who is using what. No analytics = flying blind.

What to Cut From Your MVP

• Team/organisation features — build these after you have individual users.
• API access for users — build after your UI is stable.
• Advanced reporting — users want insight, not configuration.
• Mobile app — web-first, mobile later (unless mobile is the core use case).
• Integrations — one CRM integration max at launch.
• Custom domains, white-labelling — enterprise features, add post-revenue.

The Launch Sequence

• Week 1 post-launch: Watch every new user session in FullStory or Hotjar.
• Week 2: Call every user who signed up and did not activate.
• Week 3: Ship the single biggest friction point you observed.
• Month 2: Add the first feature your paying customers request most.

Why Less Is More

Your first 100 users will tell you what to build. Your assumptions will be wrong about half of them. Ship the minimum, learn fast, and build the second version of the product with real user data.