A minimum viable product is the smallest version of a product that solves the core problem for real users — built to learn whether the idea works before financing the full vision. A good MVP is not a rough draft of everything; it is a finished version of the one thing that matters, measured in use.
The discipline is in the cuts: deciding what stays out is the hard half, and doing it early is what keeps budgets and timelines honest — the method is in MVP scoping: what to cut.