When A&W Lost to McDonald’s—Because of Fractions
In the 1980s, A&W tried to take on McDonald’s Quarter Pounder by offering a 1/3-pound burger for the same price.
It had more meat.
It won in blind taste tests.
It was the better burger.
Yet, it failed spectacularly.
The Fraction Problem
Most customers believed 1/4 was bigger than 1/3—because four is more than three.
Alfred Taubman, then-owner of A&W, explained in Threshold Resistance:
More than half of the participants in focus groups questioned the price of our burger. Why should we pay the same for a third of a pound as we do for a quarter-pound at McDonald’s? You’re overcharging us.
The assumption that people would recognize 1/3 > 1/4 was completely wrong.
The Market Is Always Right (Even When It’s Wrong)
A&W’s team had experience. Their product was superior. Their pricing was better.
But none of that mattered—because customers didn’t understand the value being offered.
The customer, regardless of their proficiency with fractions, is always right.
Not because they have the right facts, but because if people don’t understand your product, they won’t buy it.
The MVP Connection: Test assumptions early
The A&W failure highlights a fundamental truth: products fail when key assumptions go untested.
A&W assumed people could grasp basic fractions. They were wrong.
Now ask yourself: What assumptions are you making?
Most product teams operate under dozens—if not hundreds—of untested assumptions. This is why launching and even building in small increments is crucial: it helps you test critical assumptions before investing too much into the wrong thing.
What Questions Should an MVP Answer?
An MVP isn’t about building a full product. It’s about validating specific, high-impact assumptions before committing resources.
An effective MVP should answer one or two key questions, such as:
Market Questions:
✅ Does anyone want this?
✅ Will anyone pay for it?
✅ Is this priced right?
Marketing Questions:
✅ Can I reach this market profitably?
✅ Will people understand my messaging?
✅ Will my acquisition strategy work?
Product Questions:
✅ Will people sign up?
✅ Will users know where to click?
✅ Will they get value from it?
A common mistake? Building an entire app first. This is like asking all these questions at once—an expensive, risky gamble.
A (Good) Real-World MVP Example
While working on a niche job platform, we needed to know:
“Will anyone visit it?”
Instead of building an entire job site, we added a simple button to an existing blog with niche traffic.
People clicked. ✅
Next, we asked:
“Will anyone sign up and search for jobs?”
We built a basic sign-up and search form—without real job listings.
Thousands signed up and searched. ✅
Now, we had data on demand before writing a single line of job board code. Only then did we invest in building the platform, knowing exactly which businesses to target.
The Takeaway: Start Small, Ask Fewer Questions
If your first step is building a full-on app, you’re making too many assumptions.
The MVP should be a series of simple iterative experiments that answer one or two critical questions at a time. Anything more is speculation.
📌 Get real user behavior data before committing to a big build.
📌 If your messaging doesn’t land, your product won’t either.
📌 Ship small, learn fast, iterate often.
Because no matter how great your product is—if people don’t understand it, they won’t buy it.
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