Most MVPs don’t fail because of missing features.
They fail because building them takes too long.
The MVP backend trap
Early MVPs often involve:
- Over-designed schemas
- Premature auth decisions
- Infra choices that don’t matter yet
- Backend work that gets rewritten anyway
All before you’ve validated the idea.
What an MVP actually needs
For most products, the first version needs:
- CRUD endpoints
- Users
- Authentication
- Persistence
- Some visibility into errors
That’s it.
A different approach
Instead of building a backend:
- Define your data model
- Call real endpoints from the frontend
- Use session tokens for per-user data
- Log requests automatically
- Upgrade only when needed
This is exactly how ReqRes is designed.
From UI to working app
You can go from UI prototype → real app in minutes.
The Notes example app shows a production-style flow without backend code.
👉 https://app.reqres.in/examples/notes-app
What happens later?
When your MVP proves itself:
- Increase limits
- Add automations
- Enable longer log retention
- Keep the same API calls
No migrations. No rewrites.
Final thought
MVPs should validate ideas-not lock you into architecture.
If you’re building frontend-first, your backend should be too.
Start here:
👉 https://app.reqres.in