While some learning happens during the requirements-gathering stage, most learning happens after you release your product.

The first step is to reduce the scope of your minimum viable product (MVP) to its essence so that you build the smallest thing possible. Reducing the scope of your MVP not only shortens your development but also removes unnecessary distractions that dilute your product's measuring.

How to accomplish an MVP:

Clear your slate: include only features which can be justified
Start with your number one problem: the job of your unique value proposition (UVP) is to make a compelling promise and the job of the MVP is to deliver on that promise.
Eliminate nice-to-haves and don't-needs: eliminate don't-needs right away, nice-to-have should only be included if they are a prerequisite feature of a must-have feature - otherwise, add it to your features backlog queue.
Repeat previous step for your number two and number three problem
Consider other customer feature requests: such as integration for example
Charge from day one, but collect on day 30
Focus on learning, not optimization: don't waste efforts optimizing servers, code, database - most likely you will not have a scaling problem when you launch.
Get Started deploying contentiously: a technique of shortening the cycle time from requirements to release in a way in which the product is built end-to-end versus a batch-and-queue approach. Implemented correctly, Continues Deployment does not shortcut quality as long as stricter testing and monitoring is in place.

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