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Don't look for customers. Look for 'earlyvangelists' — they'll sell your product for you.
💡 Earlyvangelists have the problem, know it, and are actively looking for a solution with budget in hand. Find 5-10 to validate your business.
Most startups try to sell to mainstream customers from day one. But Steve Blank identifies a special breed of customer that makes or breaks early-stage companies: earlyvangelists.
Earlyvangelists aren't early adopters. They're something more specific. They have all five of these traits: they have the problem, they know they have it, they've been actively searching for a solution, they've cobbled together a partial fix on their own, and they have budget to spend on a better solution.
Why do they matter so much? Because earlyvangelists will buy an unfinished product. They'll forgive bugs. They'll give you detailed feedback. They'll tell their colleagues about you. They're not buying a polished product — they're buying a solution to a painful problem they've been living with.
Finding just 5-10 earlyvangelists can validate your entire business hypothesis. If you can't find them, your problem might not be painful enough to build a company around.
Source: The Four Steps to the Epiphany — Steve Blank