What Does A Real MVP Look Like?

MVP - or Minimal Viable Product - is a buzzword that was made popular by Eric Ries in his book The Lean Startup. The concept is simple: release as quickly as you can with the minimal required features to get your feedback loop started.

Yet, when we enter into an MVP project, we find ourselves in a sea of unfinished tasks, shifting requirements and developers who simply cannot deliver on time and budget. We get hit with a bad case of scope creep or are forced to release something that is not fit for public use.

So where did it all go wrong? And what does a real MVP look like?