It's About the Customer in 2024 (But hasn't it always been about the Customer....)

Happy 2024! Trying to get the year started on the right foot with my first post in a bit. Last year I spent a lot of time listening to pitches as a past founder/current investor. One common thing I noticed in many of the presentations was that not enough time was spent on the customer engagement and business building opportunity. What do I mean by this?

While explaining the potential return on investment is important, it is equally important that a founder articulate three things in their pitch: #1-How does their product produce CLEAR value for the customer; #2-How the early customer engagement model helps to both improve the product and help attract more customers; #3- How the combination of #1 and #2 lead to the building of a DURABLE business.

Customers that pay, are a great source of funding. Selling product to paying customers with a margin is what creates a fundamentally durable business. Showing how your business is built on relentless customer focus and being built for the long term not the flip is a great way to attracting investors who are not only aligned with you as a founder but will stick with your business alongside your customers.

For those Founders pitching in 2024 spend more time talking about customer, engagement and how invested dollars will go to support the building of a durable business. It's a winning combination.