Ep. 83 Minimum Viable Solution: Start Small, Play Big With Creative Innovation
12/16/25
Minimum Viable Product strategies take center stage as hosts Kimberly Daniel and Steven Lewis explore business innovation through an unexpected lens: childhood play. Today's DO GOOD X podcast episode reveals how entrepreneurial beginners can test ideas without wasting precious time and money. Drawing from Catherine Finney's wisdom, Kimberly and Stephen emphasize building a minimum viable solution with available resources rather than perfectionism. Through candid storytelling about creative problem solving and imagination, listeners discover practical approaches to product development and market testing that honor both constraints and possibilities in purpose-driven business.
What You Will Learn in this Episode:
✅ How to apply minimum viable product principles to launch your business idea without overspending on unproven concepts or services
✅ Why resource management and working within constraints can actually fuel business innovation rather than limit your entrepreneurial potential
✅ The power of playful experimentation and collaborative innovation to test assumptions and develop solutions that truly address customer needs
✅ Practical listening strategies for understanding what your market wants and refining your business strategy through honest feedback and iteration
In This Episode
- 00:00 Defining minimum viable product and minimum viable solution for new entrepreneurs, and why market testing prevents wasting resources on unwanted products
- 03:57 Childhood playtime as a model for business innovation and experimentation, and using imagination and flexibility to address real customer needs with available resources
- 07:23 Getting out of your head into action through creative problem solving - thinking big and building small
- 09:07 Three steps toward innovation: identifying pain points, collaborating, and stretching possibilities
- 11:04 The art of listening to customers and intuition in product development
Key Takeaways
- A minimum viable solution means spending minimal time and money to test whether your market actually wants what you're building, emphasizing intentional growth over premature scaling
- Starting a business requires playful imagination to work creatively within constraints, transforming limitations into opportunities for authentic business planning and testing
- Success in entrepreneurship depends on listening deeply to both your customers' actual needs and your own intuition, allowing solutions to emerge through openness and collaboration
About The Hosts
Kimberly R. Daniel
Kimberly R. Daniel catalyzes entrepreneurs and organizations to do good. She is co-founder and project director of DO GOOD X, a community that provides programs and support for faith-driven social entrepreneurs whose businesses focus on positive Change.
Kimberly also helps purpose-driven organizations clarify and design compelling brand and communication strategies. With over 15 years of experience developing and leading communications efforts, it is her commitment to produce effective processes and create authentic, “sticky” brands that are community-centered.
In addition, Kimberly has nearly 10 years of experience as a certified life coach and has facilitated workshops, spoken to communities, and written about innovation and entrepreneurship centered on social impact. She is co-author of A Way Out of No Way: An Approach to Christian Innovation (2021).
In any aspect of her work, she is deeply passionate about purpose, meaning, and the common good.
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Stephen Lewis
Stephen Lewis is the president of the Forum for Theological Exploration (FTE) and creator and co-founder of DO GOOD X, a start-up accelerator for diverse Christian social entrepreneurs. He is an organizational change strategist and a leadership development specialist, focused on inspiring the next generation of faith-inspired leaders and entrepreneurs to live and work on purpose. Stephen is the co-author of Another Way: Living and Leading Change on Purpose (2020) and A Way Out of No Way: Approach to Christian Innovation (2021).
Social Media to Connect: