What "MVP" should mean, and usually does not
A minimum viable product is the smallest thing that produces evidence. It is not a cheap version of the real thing.
"MVP" has drifted. It now often means "the full product, but rushed" — every feature present, each one slightly worse than it should be.
Viable means it answers a question
The point of a minimum viable product is to produce evidence about an assumption you cannot resolve by argument. Which assumption is the first thing to write down.
If you cannot say what would make you change course, you are not building an MVP. You are building version one and hoping.
Minimum means narrow, not shallow
Cutting scope by doing everything badly gives you a product nobody can evaluate. Cutting scope by doing one path properly gives you a real signal.
Pick the single journey that matters most and make it genuinely good. Leave the rest visibly absent rather than half-present — an obviously missing feature invites feedback, while a broken one invites distrust.
Plan the second decision, not just the first
Before you build, agree what you will do with each possible outcome. Evidence you have no plan to act on is expensive entertainment.