Most MVPs ship missing 6 of these 12 things. Then founders wonder why users don't trust the product, why Google doesn't index it, or why they can't debug production issues. Here's the non-negotiable checklist.
Authentication (Non-Negotiable)
Email/password at minimum. OAuth (Google) strongly recommended it removes friction and increases signups by 30–40% in my experience. Use Supabase Auth or NextAuth. Never roll your own.
Payments Before Launch
If your MVP has a paid tier, Stripe must be live before you tell anyone about the product. A waitlist with no payment option is just a list. A waitlist with a "pay to skip the queue" option is revenue.
Error Tracking
Sentry. Free tier. 10 minutes to set up. You need to know when things break before your users email you. This is not optional.
SEO Basics
Title tags, meta descriptions, and OG images on every page. A sitemap.xml. Canonical URLs. This takes 2 hours and determines whether Google ever finds your product.
Analytics
PostHog free tier. You need to know which features get used, where users drop off, and what the conversion funnel looks like. Without analytics you're guessing.
Mobile Responsiveness
Test on a real phone before launch. Not just Chrome DevTools. Real phone. Half your users will be on mobile within the first week.
Want all 12 built in from day one? That's what I ship.
