Design partner (lighthouse customer)
An early customer who uses an unfinished product and shapes it in return for influence, a lower price or early access.
Startups use a handful of design partners to find out what to build before building it for everyone. The relationship works when both sides write down what they give: the partner gives time, data and honest feedback; the startup gives priority, a discount and often a reference deal later. A design partner who later becomes a public reference is called a lighthouse customer.
Related terms
- MVP (minimum viable product): The smallest version of a product that tests whether people want it enough to use or pay.
- Riskiest assumption: The one belief that, if false, ends the idea. Test it first.
- Land and expand: A B2B sales strategy: win a small first contract with one team, then grow it to more users, teams and products inside the same company.
- Proof of concept vs pilot (PoC, POV): A proof of concept shows something can work on sample data; a pilot runs it for real users on real data; a proof of value measures whether it pays.
