> 1. Be extremely deliberate about your audience sequencing. Think about the first 1k, the first 10k, the first 100k, and the first 1M customers. [snip] the rig

> 1. Be extremely deliberate about your audience sequencing. Think about the first 1k, the first 10k, the first 100k, and the first 1M customers. [snip] the right product to fit your audiences’ needs to reach each subsequent level of scale. This matters for any startup. All those wasted pitches taking about total addressable market (common enough to be given an acronym TAM). Although still need to avoid waterfall thinking. My internal metaphor has always been running up a hundred steps instead of planning to run headlong into a wall a hundred metres high. First time I've heard "audience sequencing" - is there a better name for this? > 5. Find ways to get the first 1k or 10k customers to help fund the business. If you can’t get 1k customers to take the bet and spend money on your product, investors probably shouldn’t place a bet on you either. Above is true for great software startups too. The less equity you have to give away, the better off you are. Also can be cashflow positive ($0 investor money required for customer acquisition): https://youtu.be/otbnC2zE2rw?t=16m14s https://youtu.be/otbnC2zE2rw?t=16m14s It has been amazing watching software design processes take over traditional engineering processes (e.g. SpaceX) so this article needs some balance?