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Ultimately the customer is at the top of the org chart, although one may be many abstract levels removed from their aggregate "management" decisions -- by inter
by redler 6y ago
Ultimately the customer is at the top of the org chart, although one may be many abstract levels removed from their aggregate "management" decisions -- by intervening "middle managers" like the CEO, the board, and VCs. But certainly, in a smaller entrepreneurial venture, one feels the pressure from that ultimate boss more acutely.
- WalterSear 6y agoOn the contrary: the customer is a resource to be sought, managed and exploited. The boss ultimately dictates how this is to be done. Businesses fire customers, pivot the business to seek better ones, abuse/shortchange/swindle their customers all the time. There are Bureaus of Consumer Protection, but no Bureaus of Boss Protection.
- redler 6y agoPerhaps you understood me too literally. I mean the customer as boss in the abstract sense — not as if they are making literal management decisions. Customer as metonym. When you seek product-market fit, or decide which features to prioritize for development, you are in effect seeking to satisfy this boss. When you make pricing decisions, you’re likewise being guided by the constraints of your target customer base. The customer can ultimately shut you down, firing everyone, to stretch the metaphor. Can you fire the customer? Sure. But you always need a customer of some kind, and as a going concern you ultimately serve at the pleasure of that (aggregate) customer, and not the reverse.