Understanding the problem and the target audience is the foundation of effective product design.

Building an audience before launching a product is crucial; it ensures that there are people ready to engage and provide feedback from the start.

Audience expansion is key to success in consumer startups; we layer our core audiences as we grow.

Your first users should be people you know, like friends and family, to gather initial feedback and refine your product before reaching a broader audience.

Choosing your customers is crucial; if you aim to attract anyone, you risk failure. Instead, focus on a specific audience and understand their needs and characteristics to shape your product effectively.

You only start learning about your users when you put a product in front of them; the goal is to get a product out quickly and talk to initial customers to make it useful for them.

Successful startups filter their initial users to ensure they are the right fit for the product, which helps in refining the solution.

When starting something new, especially in an established category like email, it's crucial to focus on a specific user base rather than trying to please everyone. I believe that creating a product with deep appeal to a small group of people is more effective than trying to attract a broad audience from the start.

When too many users join an app quickly, it can be challenging to identify the actual customers who will retain the product. It's essential to focus on the right users to avoid building the wrong product.