Okay so at the risk of getting on my high horse again, I have to point to Rick Segal's posts over the weekend. There's some great food for thought on some of the most common mistakes entrepreneurs make:
1. The Eyeballs vs. Customers Trap -- So true. I thought we had moved past this notion of eyeballs, but Rick's down at the Microsoft VC Summit talking with all kinds of startups, so obviously he's seeing this again. His post on the need to focus on paying customers sounds elementary, but it's actually not. When you start to focus on customers with money to spend vs. early adopters that love technology, everyone in your startup starts to gain clarity about what's important. You get off the hamster wheel of building it because you can. Choices get weighed against the value to the person out there who cares about what you do enough to part with their hard earned dollars. That's the acid test.
2. The Delicate Balance between Build vs. Buzz - Rick also posted about the dangers of the rubber chicken circuit and startups spending too much time building buzz. I agree with this but with one caveat. I always encourage inventors and entrepreneurs to get out and talk to the market. But you've got to be careful not to make it your primary job -- you're not running for office, you're building a business. It's the same danger that exists when founders become consumed with raising money, at the expense of building the business -- nothing whets a VC appetite like paying customers, strong partner relationships, and a product that's finished. So enough said on that.
The point I wanted to focus on here is the need for going out to get the customer input and then going back to the shop to build the product. I see a lot of inventors and entrepreneurs that don't get out to seek input from their prospective target customers -- the old "we know what they want mentality" or "we're going to build the first version and then show it to customers". So I find myself always encouraging and prodding these folks to hit the road sooner rather than later.
So I encourage a delicate balance - spend time with customers and if you can get a few folks to be advisors. Stay focused on the real game -- the game of customers with money to spend and willingness to spend it on what you've got. That says you've got something that's real. And a future that's bright.
Enjoy your day!
Wendy
author/advisor/lady with the flipcharts!
www.wendykennedy.com
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