How can a startup balance strict grant objectives with real market customer feedback?

Question

Accepted Answer

Hey, you have named the trap. Free money can be very expensive money if it's pulling you away from your customers.

The grant seems like it's a weird big customer who has all kinds of specific stuff that you have to deliver on that may or may not fit the market. Fine ... that's a necessity. But since you do not have a investor who is driving you to respond to the market, you've got to treat the market as that investor, and you have to train yourself to have the discipline to say, that what the market is telling me is way more important than what the grant is requiring.

At Netflix, we cut lots of features that we loved because the customer's didn't respond to them. So I think you're just going to have to figure out some methodology that ensures that the market gets veto power. You should be (as you already are) talking obsessively to your customers. Each time you introduce some new feature, find out from them, what they feel about it, how it's being used. So you have a huge advantage in having a non-dilutive grant. But don't let that let you take your eye off the ball.

(This is a video answer as you can tell. So it it's a little less structured. If you want more detail, let me know. These are designed so people realize, it's really me giving the advice. But since you already know, it's really me, you can speak and go back to doing it by text. All right? Good luck.