This is a very bad idea: "Maybe you can suggest a solution that would have 20% of the cost and get 80% there?"

It's definitely right to think about the fast and cheap way to get there, but the point of a minimum viable product is that you do 100% of what needs to be done, not 80%.

The best case outcome above is that somebody who's a much better programmer than you takes over, does the last "20%" in "80%" of the time, gets bitched out for being slow, and gets burned out.