Why it matters who your early customers are

Excerpted and edited from 10 Ideal Customers are More Important than 30 Random Customers by David Cummings:

[When you’re looking for product/market fit], signing 10 customers that fit your ideal customer profile is more important than signing a large number of random customers in the near-term. Here are a few reasons why quality is more important than quantity at the earliest stages:

— Customers will always ask for product enhancements, so it’s key that requests align with the entrepreneur’s vision of the future
— Live customers represent oxygen for the product, so clean air is better than the alternative
— Ideal customers are going to be happier customers and happier customers are going to provide testimonials as well as references for future customers