Customer Quote by Steven Gary Blank
““the first product in a startup, your initial purpose in meeting customers is not to gather feature requests so you can change the product; it is to find customers for the product you are already building.””
About This Quote
Source Book: The Startup Owner's Manual, 2012
The early goal is to validate market demand by finding buyers for the existing product, not to collect feature ideas for redesign.
In simple terms: Find customers for what you have, not ideas for what you could make.
Focus on market validation before product changes.
Themes
Mood
Type
When to use this quote
- pitch meetings
- early sales
- beta testing
- investor demos
Key Concepts
Questions to Reflect On
- Are you listening for market signals or just feature ideas?
- How will you measure true demand?
If customers reject the current product, you may need to pivot, not just find more buyers.