Marko Anastasov wrote this on September 10, 2015

Enjoying The Conversations

One of the less obvious things that I enjoy about running a product company are the diverse conversations that I get to have with our customers. It starts with a formal correspondence, initiated by a support request, customer interview or feedback discussion. And it often ends there. But sometimes after you’ve exchanged enough words or spent enough time talking, something clicks. People relax and tell you more about what it is that they do, what’s happening, what have they learned recently, or what’s bothering them. It’s just a common human trait to enjoy sharing and hearing stories, I suppose. Count me in.

I’ve noticed that it is an often repeated startup lesson to go out and talk to your current or potential users. People get a little obsessed with the ideas that they have and start ignoring the rest of the world. And I can relate to that. New ideas can be really exciting. But if you’re building a product and not talking to your users on a regular basis, it’s not only the product-market fit that you’re likely going to miss. It’s the timeless pleasure of establishing human contact too.