Static is healthy

Transmission #21 from Jupiter Dispatch

Dec 05, 2024

`Time: 2.50 Minutes`

I have two buddy’s. One serves many different customers. The other just one at a time.

Who do you think is happier?

I know. That’s an easy one.

But having the right spread in your customer base is vital to live a good life without lying awake at 3 am in the morning.

Basecamp founder Jason Fried has a cool take on this:

“If you have a small handful of customers paying you significantly more than most of your customers, you’re no longer a product company — you’re actually a consulting company working for those big payers.”

The main takeaway here is, a static customer base with a consistent pricing structure is what you should aim for. Especially if you want to be free of dependencies.

This also means, if one customer outgrows your product and your pricing, it’s sometimes better to let them go. Otherwise you probably move away from being a product company without even knowing.

Like so often, focus is key.

And if many customers outgrow your product and pricing, you can still build a “follow up” product which comes with a new pricing tier to fit these customers. But be careful and aim also here for a static customer distribution.

If you want to go down Jason’s rapid hole, read on here…