Soft Stuff is the Hard Stuff: Loving Your Customer

I recently spoke to an old friend who was a senior leader at an early-stage software company. He informed me that he had just left his job. Leaving the position was difficult for him as he enjoyed the customers and the value proposition the company said they were providing.

His main complaint was that he felt the leadership did not genuinely love their customers. The north start metric always seemed to be about MRR growth and not solving the customer's problem. This became very evident when customer interactions happened post-close. The customer priority seemed to drop. Founders often think they have found product market fit because they sold a handful of customers. I would say usually there is much more customer discovery needed post close to course correct to delivering a great product.

It got me reflecting on the successes I have had in my past. Universally all of the founders loved their customers. They understood them. They knew their pain points and continually strived to deliver value even when upset.

Being a founder is hard. But, the hard stuff is truly the soft stuff.