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It’s a fact: The majority of startups in our sample are seeking customers.

This is a short post.  We took a random sample of 115 companies in our database who had told us what they were looking for.  As the chart below illustrates, 39% are actively seeking to connect with early customers.

What startups are looking for.

This number is slightly higher than those saying they needed to connect with capital sources.  Another interesting data point is that nearly one out of three companies, or 31%, are actively looking for support on a wide range of issues, from marketing to legal advice.

Finally, it was surprising that just 10% of companies in our sample mentioned they were actively seeking to build their management teams.  This is due, perhaps, that for many getting customers and capital is a top priority.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 24th, 2012 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Founders, Startup Blvd, Startups. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “It’s a fact: The majority of startups in our sample are seeking customers.”

  1. Matt Hooper Says:
    July 24th, 2012 at 10:29 pm

    Customers are always the better time spend. The problem is cashflow. If I could spend 60 days to win an investor, I get a check a day 61. If I spend 60 days to win a customer I get check at day 105 if I am fortunate enough to get 45 day payment terms and there are no delivery issues. The insanity is, every investor wants you to have paying customers. (at least in the Boston Market). So it becomes a chicken egg dilema.

  2. Enrique Says:
    July 25th, 2012 at 7:10 pm

    Great point Matt! I believe that capital must come in the right doses so you can finance your quest for product-market fit. This way, you can focus on learning from and landing early customers.