Where product development should start

We all need to know our customers in order to create products they’ll actually buy. This is why the minimum viable audience idea is so powerful.

It doesn’t start with the product. It starts with the customer.

That means the media you create — the daily podcast, weekly Hangouts, the monthly downloads — all contribute to attracting an audience. As that audience grows, you learn their needs, wants, hopes, and fears.

That information allows you to build a worldview of your customer. And when you confirm that worldview in your media, it allows you to sell products they actually want to buy.

Think of the Theodore Roosevelt quote:

Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

Empathy is your goal.