What does it take to launch a mission-focused tech platform? More than a good idea. It takes experimentation, iteration, and listening to users every step of the way. That’s why Hold the Rope embraced the principles of LEAN startup from the beginning.
At the core of LEAN is a simple but powerful loop: Build, Measure, Learn.
- Build – Create a Minimum Viable Product (MVP): the simplest version of your idea that allows for testing.
- Measure – Collect real-world data on how users interact with the MVP to test your assumptions.
- Learn – Analyze the results to determine whether to pivot (adjust your direction) or persevere (move forward).
We believe in this process because we want Hold the Rope to be more than just functional—it needs to be meaningful, engaging, and scalable. We want to make it easy and rewarding for anyone to engage with God’s mission.
Our MVP: A Mobile First 30-Day Global Adventure
Our long-term vision is a native mobile app, but the lowest-cost, lowest-risk way to test our idea was to build a Progressive Web App (PWA). This allowed us to simulate a near-app experience in a mobile browser while collecting real feedback.
So we built and beta-tested the PWA version of our 30-Day Global Adventure: On Mission with God Among the Nations. We launched it with four distinct groups:
- Churches in Lafayette, Louisiana, Atlanta, Georgia, and Grand Rapids, Michigan
- A fourth group made up of individuals from multiple churches and mission agencies nationwide
These weren’t full church-wide rollouts. Instead, we asked each partner to invite a smaller test group so we could better manage feedback and learn from the experience.
What’s Next: From Data to Decisions
All four beta groups completed the 30-Day Global Adventure, which featured our first mission agency partner, Crossover Global. Along the way, we gathered valuable user data—engagement patterns, technical performance, and direct feedback.
Now we’re in the Measure phase, analyzing the results to understand:
- What’s working well
- Where we need to pivot
- Where we should persevere
This learning will shape the future of Hold the Rope—how we improve the user experience, what features we build next, and how we serve our partners with excellence.
Stay in the Loop
In the coming weeks, we’ll share more about what we’ve learned and where we’re going in 2026.
Want to be part of shaping the future of Hold the Rope?
Click here to join our early adopter community.