Customers vs. Prospects: Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of Coupa Software

Name: Customers vs. Prospects: Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of Coupa Software
Uploaded: 2018-06-17T14:52:06+00:00
Duration: 51 s
Channel: Jason M. Lemkin
Description: Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of Coupa Software, argues that relying too heavily on either existing customers or prospects warps product strategy. The iPhone shows…

17 Jun 2018 · 1 min

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Rob Bernshteyn, CEO of Coupa Software, argues that relying too heavily on either existing customers or prospects warps product strategy. The iPhone shows how listening only to current customers kills breakthrough innovation, while chasing prospects disconnects you from real usage. The answer is a two-way dialogue where customers share challenges, prospects learn from them, and everyone co-creates value together.

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If you spend too much time with customers, yes, they could become the only group that influences what you develop and you're never gonna have the, the, the iPhone, right? I mean, that's the example, right? You spend too much time with prospects, you're gonna forget about what actually matters on the ground. So you have to balance that. And I think it's really nice to have that interplay because you're interacting with the customer, you're hearing about challenges as well as successes. And you're taking that to the conversation with the prospect, also sharing the challenges as well as the successes that you're having. And, and then it's a real conversation. It's not the 1990s, you know, PowerPoint and demo and then good luck and we'll see in 3 years. It's we're actually going to make this work together. Join our community of like-minded folks that want to drive value on the platform we're developing. So you have to be throttling back and forth.