Shipping an MVP fast shouldn’t mean torching the codebase three months later. I’ve rebooted more than a few prototypes that skipped structure, so now I front-load a few habits that keep Flutter startups nimble past launch week.
1. Align architecture with the funding milestone
First, I translate the next investor story into technical outcomes. AfCircle needed to prove daily retention, chat stickiness, and creator growth. That became three modules with analytics baked in from day zero. Anything not tied to those metrics waited.
2. Organise by feature, not by layer
My default layout: lib/feed, lib/chat, lib/profile, each with data/, logic/, and presentation/. When founders pivot, we delete a folder, not untangle the whole tree. New hires can grok a feature by reading one directory.
3. Pick state management on purpose
- Tiny team, high velocity? GetX with bindings lives in each feature folder—easy to teach, easy to reason about.
- Longer runway, web/desktop ambitions? Riverpod + StateNotifier gives us composable testability.
Whatever we choose, I document why in a DECISIONS.md so future engineers don’t rip it out blindly.
4. Leave hooks for experiments
Every module gets an experiments.dart file exposing toggles. Product and growth teams use Remote Config to flip variants without new releases. One fintech client shipped three onboarding flows in a week because toggles were ready.
5. Wrap analytics behind an interface
Even if dashboards aren’t ready, I log key events through an AnalyticsService. Switching from Firebase to Amplitude later becomes a dependency swap, not a refactor. Founders get usage insight without slowing builds.
6. Document relentlessly
I hand over a Notion “MVP Playbook” covering domain language, API contracts, release rituals, and suggested first hires. When the next engineer joins, they ramp in days and spend their first week shipping—not asking Slack for context.
Delivering a solid MVP is about combining speed with future-proofing. These habits keep founders confident that velocity today won’t become tech debt tomorrow.