The issue here is not really the abstract definition of the customer. Every user has a certain value to the business regardless what the business model is. If you have a free ad-based application then maybe this is only some cents per user. In this case it does not hold that the 'first ten customers' is what is important. Maybe the first 10.000.
On the other hand if you are selling dirt expensive stuff then the first 10 customers is a big deal.
Every user has a certain value to the business regardless what the business model is.
Sure, but in some business models, that value is negative-- take the case of a non-paying user who demands a lot of support resources, for example.
If you have a free ad-based application then maybe this is only some cents per user. In this case it does not hold that the 'first ten customers' is what is important. Maybe the first 10.000. On the other hand if you are selling dirt expensive stuff then the first 10 customers is a big deal.
I disagree. Having ten (paying) customers is a good milestone, regardless of the cost of the product. (Remember that in an ad-based application, ten paying customers would mean ten advertisers, not ten users.)
The point of the original article is that if you haven't reached that ten-customer milestone, you haven't really validated your customer development work. "If you build it, they will come" is a cute phrase, but hope is not a strategy. If you build it, and ten people come and pay, you're on your way.
Comments
The issue here is not really the abstract definition of the customer. Every user has a certain value to the business regardless what the business model is. If you have a free ad-based application then maybe this is only some cents per user. In this case it does not hold that the 'first ten customers' is what is important. Maybe the first 10.000. On the other hand if you are selling dirt expensive stuff then the first 10 customers is a big deal.
Every user has a certain value to the business regardless what the business model is.
Sure, but in some business models, that value is negative-- take the case of a non-paying user who demands a lot of support resources, for example.
If you have a free ad-based application then maybe this is only some cents per user. In this case it does not hold that the 'first ten customers' is what is important. Maybe the first 10.000. On the other hand if you are selling dirt expensive stuff then the first 10 customers is a big deal.
I disagree. Having ten (paying) customers is a good milestone, regardless of the cost of the product. (Remember that in an ad-based application, ten paying customers would mean ten advertisers, not ten users.)
The point of the original article is that if you haven't reached that ten-customer milestone, you haven't really validated your customer development work. "If you build it, they will come" is a cute phrase, but hope is not a strategy. If you build it, and ten people come and pay, you're on your way.