The Right Customers At The Right Time

I’ve had some discussions lately with teams at different stages of their journey about their “ideal customer.” The old “take any customer…

I’ve had some discussions lately with teams at different stages of their journey about their “ideal customer.” The old “take any customer you can get” adage is short-sighted, because the customers you have at different stages of your business impact how your product evolves and how your team prioritizes. Especially for venture-backed businesses that optimize for growth before cashflow, not all customers are equal. What makes a customer attractive throughout the lifecycle of a company? It really varies, depending on the stage of your company and product.

1. Willing Customers: Most willing to try your product, and try again.

In the beginning, your challenge is to find customers willing to engage with your newly launched (or pre-launch) product. You will benefit most from the customers that are willing to try something new, share feedback, and continuously give your product more tries as it evolves. In the early days of Behance, I recall certain members of our network that responded to eve…