Who’s Your Real Customer? (Hint: It’s NOT Just One)
YODA one for me!
Dear Impact Star,
You’ve heard it a million times: "Find product-market fit."
But what happens when your product is solving something massive—like plastics in the ocean, biodiversity loss, or the pesticide problem in agriculture?
What if you’re working to restore a dying coral reef?
Who’s your customer?
The coral?
The marine life there?
The ocean?
The local community?
Or, let’s be real, the planet?
Traditional startup playbooks? Forget it. There’s no simple “customer” for these problems. So why do we keep trying to fit a square peg into a round hole?
You can’t define a coral reef in terms of a transaction with any one customer.
Here’s the truth both innovators and funders need to hear:
Sometimes, the customer isn’t one person.
It’s a constellation of stakeholders all invested in the same vision.
And guess what?
This requires a different playbook.
The Stakeholder Discovery Playbook
Step 1: Identify the Key Stakeholders That Matter
When there’s no “customer,” your stakeholders might be:
Patient capital investors who care about impact more than returns.
Foundations with aligned missions.
Governments looking for innovative solutions.
Businesses that need that reef to survive (like hotels or fisheries).
The community on the ground, who may have the most to gain or lose.
The scuba divers who love that reef and call it their ‘second home.’
Step 2: Enter the Listening State
I was talking to a regenerative entrepreneur the other day who’s building a cool product. I told him to read The Mom Test, because this work requires listening—real listening—first. Get into a strategic pause, take a step back, and get inside the heads of your stakeholders before even talking about your idea.
Here’s what you’re listening for:
Their deepest fears, needs, funding priorities, hair-on-fire problems, and wishes.
For example, you could ask:
“What’s the biggest challenge your org faces in restoring local coral reefs?”
“How do you evaluate the impact of coral reef restoration?”
“When was the last time the local community celebrated this work?”
“Who has consistently funded this work in the past?”
“What do you have budget for in the next fiscal year?”
Listen without jumping in with your solution (trust me, that’s hard). I know from experience—it’s wicked hard. But resist it, and you’ll be glad you did.
Remember this rule: Behavior is far more predictive than what people say.
If they’ve funded something similar before, that’s a better indication than their hypothetical interest in your idea.
If they show interest, gauge how serious they are about actually taking action. Ask them to put their money, time, or resources where their words are.
Talk is cheap—action is gold.
Step 3: The Empathy Pause
This is where the magic happens—in the pause. Resist the urge to talk about your shiny new product. You need to be in tune with whether what they need matches what you’re offering. If it doesn’t, thank them for their time and pivot.
Step 4: Enter Co-Created Serendipity
Here’s where it gets juicy. If there’s a fit, don’t just present your solution—co-create it with them. Get them in the mix. Let them shape the final product. When they feel like co-owners, they’ll be more invested in the outcome.
And if they’re not a match, embrace that too. It could mean a breakthrough in a different direction. Be open to the possibilities…
Pro tip: Objections are gifts. Every “no” helps you refine your approach, tighten your narrative, and find new opportunities. Map them, learn from them.
Reminder: You're not just building a product. You're building a movement, a movement with many stakeholders. So keep pushing boundaries.
The world needs your audacious solutions. 💡
One Last Thing
It’s 10x easier to implement the Stakeholder Discovery Playbook if you have someone to advise you along the way.
Give them permission to tell you when you’re drinking too much of your own Kool-Aid.
Tell them to watch for when you skip over the Empathy Pause.
And let them be your shoulder to cry on when you don’t hear what you want to hear — before you get back on the sea horse, and dive into that coral reef again.
I’m happy I get to play that role for others:
…and have advisors who play that role for me.
Warmest,
Neesha
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💌 Made with Love in Raleigh, NC for Systems Changers and Impact Innovators Everywhere. I only get to do what I do — because you do what you do. So THANK YOU.
