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From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP – 3 article series

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This is a a developer focused guide in three parts to evolving code, architecture, and processes with the purpose of turning a raw concept into a usable product. This process is one of the hardest parts of software development.

Teams often jump into implementation too early, or they build something polished before testing whether the underlying assumptions hold.

A structured flow—Idea → Proof of Concept (POC) → Minimum Viable Product (MVP)—keeps this journey predictable and reduces waste.

Each stage exists for a specific reason, and each stage demands a different mindset about code quality, design rigor, and security.
For developers, this is also a shift in how code is written, reused, refactored, and prepared for production.
This article explains the journey from the perspective of engineering teams, with practical backend and frontend examples and a clear separation of security activities.

The Idea

A raw concept describing a problem and a possible technical direction. It has no validated assumptions.

At this point, teams focus on understanding why the problem matters and what a potential solution could look like. No production-ready code exists yet.

Read the full article: From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP: The Idea stage (1/3)

The Proof of Concept (POC)

A disposable implementation created to validate one or two critical assumptions. The focus is feasibility, not quality.

The POC answers narrow engineering questions such as: Can this API be used to implement the idea? or Can the frontend render this interaction reliably?

Code is expected to be thrown away or heavily rewritten later.

Read the full article: From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP: The POC stage (2/3) .

The Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

A functional, small-scope product that solves a real user need with the minimum set of features.

Unlike a POC, the MVP requires maintainable code, basic architecture, observability, initial security measures, and repeatable engineering processes.

It is the first version that can be deployed and measured with real users.

Read the full article: From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP: The Minimum Viable Product – MVP (3/3)

The post From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP – 3 article series first appeared on Sorin Mustaca’s blog.

From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP: The POC stage (2/3)

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We continue the series of 3 articles with the second one, about the Proof of Concept (POC).

Here is the first article in the series, From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP: The Idea stage (1/3) .

2. The Proof of Concept (POC)

The POC is where the team tests a specific risky assumption that could make or break the idea.
The aim is not to build a usable product but to verify that a key technical, architectural, or data-processing challenge is solvable.

POC code is intentionally imperfect. It moves fast and cuts corners. However, it should still be written in a way that reduces friction when extracting reusable parts for the MVP.

What Defines a POC

  • A POC is short-lived and narrowly focused. It often tests only one or two questions:
    Can we integrate with this external system?
  • Can this algorithm scale?
  • Can the frontend render a dynamic timeline with the required performance?

The purpose is to generate a clear yes/no answer, not to produce a polished outcome.

Inputs and Outputs

Inputs include the problem statement and hypothesis defined in the idea stage.
Outputs include a working demonstration, documentation of findings, architectural constraints, and a clear decision: continue, pivot, or stop.

Actors

Developers implement the experiment.
Tech leads help evaluate results.
QA may help with validation but does not perform full product testing.
Security engineers review risks that appear during the experiment.

Engineering Expectations at This Stage

Code and Reuse

POC code is disposable, but that does not mean it should be sloppy. Developers should write code that can be extracted later without major re-architecture. This typically means:

  • Avoid hardcoded credentials, external URLs, or secrets.

  • Organize files in a simple but meaningful structure.

  • Implement the core logic in isolated modules instead of burying it inside an ad-hoc script.

  • Use interfaces or adapters to make future dependency injection easier.

The mindset should be: “This code may be thrown away, but if it works well, we want to reuse pieces of it.”

What Must Change Later

Before integrating POC code into the MVP, the team will need to refactor it: add error handling, consistent logging, tests, and proper abstractions.
In other words, the POC shows the core idea works, but the MVP requires turning this into real engineering.

Process Evolution

The POC often introduces small process steps such as:

  • Lightweight code reviews

  • A temporary branch in the repository

  • Simple build scripts to allow teammates to run the demonstration

This is still not production engineering. CI/CD pipelines and test automation usually come only at the MVP stage.

Backend Example

Suppose the team is building a new recommendation engine.
The backend POC might implement a single endpoint that forwards a request to an external ML service and measures latency and response quality.
Logging might be minimal, validation might be non-existent, and error handling might be crude—but the team learns whether the external ML service meets the performance requirements.

Frontend Example

A frontend POC might involve building a rough React component that displays personalized recommendations using mock data.
The component may not follow the design system, may not handle loading states cleanly, and may ignore error cases.
The goal is to check whether the UI interaction model feels intuitive and whether the state updates behave as expected.

Security

Security engineers examine how the POC handles sensitive data, even if the handling is mocked.
They validate risky paths such as authentication flows, data transformation logic, or external integrations.
The POC must identify whether the solution will require additional compliance measures, encrypted storage, or stricter authentication schemes.
This becomes a mandatory input for the MVP.

The post From Idea to Proof of Concept to MVP: The POC stage (2/3) first appeared on Sorin Mustaca’s blog.

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