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Michael Seibel: Go After the Customers Who Are Desperate, Not the Ones Who Are Convenient

By Michael Seibel · Startup Growth · 1 min read

Seibel says most founders sell to whoever will listen. The right move is to find people who are desperate for your solution.

Key Points

Desperate customers will tolerate a bad product because they need the solution
Convenient customers are nice but will not fight for your product
Your first 10 customers should be people in pain, not people doing you a favor

Find the people who are desperate. They will use your terrible first version because they need it that badly.

Desperate Over Convenient

Seibel says those are the worst first customers. They tolerate your product. They do not need it.

Find the people in pain. The ones who are desperate for a solution. Any solution.

Why Desperate Customers Matter

Desperate customers use your terrible v1. Because the alternative is worse.

They give you honest feedback. They tell you what is broken because they need it fixed.

Nice customers give you polite feedback. Desperate customers give you survival feedback.

Go after the customers who are desperate. They don't need your product to be good — they need the problem solved.

The First 10

Your first 10 customers should be people who cannot live without your product.

Not because it is good. Because their problem is that bad.

Once you serve the desperate, the convenient customers follow.