i feel like most founders are chasing the wrong thing.
in the earliest days of a startup it's not about large numbers, marketing, funding rounds, or fancy websites. the only thing it's about is finding one true customer.
60% of early stage founders get this wrong. and i don't blame 'em. i've done it many times. the temptation is to cater to investors and people who don't truly know what startups are about, because we founders are exposed to their opinions, questions, and ways of thinking constantly.
what most people don't get is that as a startup you are a research team looking for a repeatable business model. steve blank wrote best about this. you aren't executing, you're searching.
many users who sign up and pay are just tinkerers. the truth is messier — talking to your users and watching how the thing you made fits into their life.
one true customer is someone who needs and loves what you made so much that they can't stop relying on it and would be very disappointed if it no longer existed. this is the person who one day becomes your evangelist and biggest growth driver.
most startups never get that one true customer. from the outside there can be revenue, usage, attention, all the signs that look like success. but the truest reality is a level deeper.
maybe i'm too idealistic on this, but my artist heart resonates with it. there's nothing worse than scaling something neither you nor your users truly believe in. it's infinite catch up then, which distracts you from the core mission: building something people can't live without.
so the takeaway: find your first true customer. growing becomes stupidly simple after that. and you'll know when you found them. cut the noise until you satisfy this initial condition.