When should a startup say no to its biggest customer?
A customer offers to pay for a feature. The money would help, but the feature only fits their workflow.
Saying yes could fund the next few months. It could also leave you maintaining a second product inside the first one.
What would make you take the deal?
Would you need other customers asking for it, a separate maintenance fee, or a way to keep it outside the core product?
If you have faced this, what did you agree to and what did you wish you had put in writing?
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I'd say no if nobody else on your list has asked for anything close to it. if two or three other customers want some version of it, it's probably just a roadmap item they're paying you to build early :)
@neerajnathany The catch is whether those customers want the same version. Three requests for exports could mean three different integrations.
Would you show the others a concrete shared design before promising it to the paying customer?
yeah, I'd show them a rough shared version first and see who pushes back. would you give the paying customer early access in exchange?
@neerajnathany Yes, early access seems fair if they help shape and test the shared version. I would agree on what counts as delivered and how much support is included, so early access does not quietly become unlimited custom work.