The Problem with Minimum Viable Product

I like this thought from Seth Godin on the problem with minimum viable product:

There's a burst of energy and attention and effort that accompanies a launch, even a minimally viable one. If there's a delay in pick up from the community, though (see #1) it's easy to move on to the next thing, the next launch, the next hoopla, as opposed to doing the insanely hard work of sticking with that thing you already launched.

I have a bunch of issues with the conversation around lean and minimum viable product (probably the biggest of which is any ideology that people get religious about seems a bit scary). The biggest issue I have, though, is that it seems inherently about building products, not companies. There's nothing wrong with that if you're building a little something on the side, but if you're building a company you have a whole bunch of other things you need to also be thinking about, not the least of which is whether you're building a product you're excited about and a company you actually want to work at. I've never heard anyone mention either of these as part of the product development conversation and it makes me sad. Via Ian Sohn