{"id":3044,"date":"2013-10-21T16:41:59","date_gmt":"2013-10-21T16:41:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/insideintercom.io\/?p=3044"},"modified":"2020-07-30T13:03:59","modified_gmt":"2020-07-30T12:03:59","slug":"the-right-type-of-revenue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.intercom.com\/blog\/the-right-type-of-revenue\/","title":{"rendered":"The right type of revenue"},"content":{"rendered":"

Don’t confuse consulting revenue, one-time deals, or charity donations with actual recurring monthly product revenue. They’re very different beasts.<\/p>\n

Articles that boast titles like “How I built a product in a weekend that makes more money than Quora\/Medium\/Tinder\/etc<\/em>” always seem to miss the point that a few goodwill gestures are not the basis of a business. They provide a nice quick hit of emotion, but your friends can’t be your only customers. They’re the wrong type of revenue.<\/p>\n

Just like any teenage rock band is guaranteed a friends & family crowd at its first few gigs, any new start-up is guaranteed a spike right after launch. And in much the same way rock bands start to run out of good will and good friends, start-ups start to run out of customers.<\/p>\n

Yes, revenue is important, but only when it’s the right type. It’s not the right type if:<\/p>\n