At PSV, we've honed a powerful and accessible toolkit that enables us to rapidly develop and deploy MVPs. While you’ve probably heard of these tools (or even use some yourself), we wanted to give a shoutout to the software that helps us build software. This is certainly not an exhaustive list (ahem, Slack and Google Suite), but it definitely features some of our personal favorites.
Notion
We use Notion as our central knowledge hub and project management tool. It's where we document all our product requirements, track sprint progress, and store important research. Our resident Notion Queen Breena sets up interconnected databases for customer feedback, feature requests, bug tracking, and really everything that can be planned and notioned. This ensures our entire team stays aligned on project goals and priorities, no matter which MVP we're working on.
Miro
Miro is our virtual whiteboard for collaborative ideation and visual planning. We liked FigJam but didn’t use it enough to warrant the cost. With Miro’s free plan, we can start from a template and quickly jam (sorry Figma) on user flow mapping, wireframing, and branding exercises. Its infinite canvas is perfect for creating product roadmaps, customer journey maps, and architecture diagrams. Really, we just love how easy it is to share and iterate on these visual assets, especially with our distributed team members.
Tome
When it's time to showcase our MVPs, we turn to Tome. As a designer, I fell in love with Tome and started pulling away from my toxic relationship with Google Slides. We use its powerful features to quickly generate compelling pitch decks and product presentations. The dynamic and interactive format allows us to tell engaging stories about our products' value propositions and market potential, whether we're pitching to potential investors or demonstrating to clients. In the end, our presentations look and feel as beautiful as we’ve dreamed them - and that’s not nothing. That being said, I’m also very excited for Figma Slides…
Claude
We've found Claude to be an invaluable AI assistant throughout our MVP development process. We use it for rapid prototyping of product ideas, generating sample content, and even as a foundational LLM in one of our ventures. We thought very long and hard about building on AI, so the fact that Quin’s interactions are (in a small way) powered by Claude speaks volumes about its quality. Its ability to understand context and provide creative solutions has made it a key asset in our brainstorming and problem-solving sessions.
Docker
This might get a little dev-nerdy, so brace yourselves. Big Docker fans over here. Docker is essential for creating consistent development environments and streamlining our deployment process. We package our MVPs and all their dependencies into containers, ensuring that our software runs consistently across different environments. It's particularly useful when we need to quickly spin up new instances of an MVP for testing or demonstrating to stakeholders. And that’s all we have to say about that.
Blackbox AI
Look, we know there are a lot of AI coding assistants out there, but Blackbox blew me away. It’s totally changed the way I personally code. We employ Blackbox AI to accelerate our coding process. It's great for generating boilerplate code, suggesting optimizations, or even creating entire functions based on natural language descriptions. This tool allows our developers to focus on higher-level architecture and unique features while reducing time spent on routine coding tasks.
Each of these products works in unison to form the backbone of our MVP development process, collectively playing a crucial role in our workflow. We often start with brainstorming sessions in Miro, then flesh out the ideas into project plans in Notion. Throughout this process, we're using Claude to assist with insights and content generation. As we move into development, Docker ensures we have consistent environments across our team, while Blackbox AI helps us code more efficiently. When it's time to present our progress or pitch our MVP, we turn to Tome, pulling in data and visuals from our other tools to create compelling narratives.
This integrated toolkit allows us to move rapidly from concept to functional MVP. Each tool complements the others, creating a seamless workflow that fosters innovation and efficiency. It's this synergy of products that enables us to stay agile and deliver high-quality MVPs in record time. And we’re just grateful for all the builders out there paving the way for new ideas and innovation.
If you’re looking for more tools we love, be sure to check out our Cool Tools directory. And if you’ve got a tool that you love, feel free to share!
