Why most briefs fail
They describe features instead of outcomes. 'We need a dashboard with filters and exports' tells us nothing. 'Our ops lead spends 4 hours a week pulling the same CSV — kill that job' tells us everything.
Question 1: Who is the one user?
Name them. Job title, what they do today, what they hate. One persona only. Multi-persona MVPs are not MVPs — they're v2 disguised as v1.
Question 2: What's the one job?
The single workflow this thing has to nail. If the user only ever does this one thing, you've already won. Everything else is feature creep wearing a suit.
Question 3: What does success look like in 30 days?
A number, not a feeling. '20 paid signups', '8 hours/week saved', '50 inbound leads'. If you can't write this sentence, the MVP isn't ready to be built — it's still being figured out.
Question 4: What are you NOT building?
List five features you've thought about and explicitly cut. This is the most valuable line in any brief. It's what keeps the scope honest when week two gets exciting.
Question 5: What's the budget and deadline?
Real numbers, not 'flexible'. We'd rather you say $6k by August 1st and we tell you what fits, than guess and disappoint you in week two.