As a founder, what do you have in common with the founders of $100M+ ARR businesses? They too sell roadmap to win, retain, and expand their customers. Done right, selling roadmap is an incredibly effective tool for founders to drive deals faster, set clear expectations, and delight customers with what they bought today and what they'll get in the near future.
This doesn't mean filling your backlog with tickets created from empty promises. It means setting a clear set of expectations that your customers want, that make your product better, and that help you build toward future state faster while generating more revenue.
Where teams get into trouble
The best companies in the world do this, and do it often. Teams get into trouble when they don't specifically scope requirements and get internal alignment on deliverables. As a founding team, you don't need to make this a contractual obligation — if you've built trust and earned the technical win on what you offer today.
Selling roadmap keeps your company in "growth mode," moving closer to the company you envision building. When customers trust you and love your product, they'll battle and partner with you to build the best one possible.
Which company would you buy from?
From a buyer's point of view, which product would you buy if you were willing to bet on an early-stage startup?
Company A
- Has the best logos in the market as customers, tons of promise, tons of hype.
- Has some features you'd expect, an exciting vision for what's coming next, and "Q3" as the answer to every feature you ask about.
- A network-connected CEO promises features will be ready in two months if you sign today.
- If you buy today, there isn't much you can use — but you've seen what others accomplished once the product is in production.
- No formal plan or written document; occasional access to their product and engineering folks when slides (not a collaborative doc) are presented.
Company B
- Fewer logos, but similar promise and hype as Company A.
- Fewer features, but the CEO clearly understands and has documented your needs, has looped in engineering, and has defined timelines for when you'll get each feature.
- The CEO commits to weekly meetings, async communication over Slack, and constant updates on feature delivery — as long as you sign today. You believe them when they say it.
- You have direct access to their product and engineering resources over Slack. They're transparent and thoughtful.
- If you buy today, you can use the product. It has some bugs, but the team's turnaround is incredibly quick. Unclear why others don't use this instead of Company A.
The old trope of "building the plane while flying it" is real, and the most important thing is setting very clear internal and external expectations. People want to buy from and support hard-working CEOs — but you have to earn the trust of your buyers and technical champions.