Question
I've recently joined a hardware startup,the first shipping of their product -which is a cool gadget- will be around November, they have already gone through crowdfunding and all that and have around 150k in pre-orders. Few days ago the CEO of the company told me that they want to change their strategy and focus more on growing the number of followers on social media and the hype around the product until the manufacturing and launch in November and not the actuall sales because he thinks people dont like to wait,he even wants to stop any futther more orders.
i just wanted to see what you guys think,sorry if it got too long
Answer
Unfortunately, your CEO is falling under the spell of "vanity metrics". The idea that the number of fans somehow equates to the number of dollars in the bank.
Pre-orders pay the bills. Facebook Fans, Twitter Followers, YouTube views do little to no good paying the bills.
I'm happy to discuss this with you (to share how you can talk to the CEO about this) or talk with the CEO directly and give a different perspective (so you aren't the bad guy).
Book a call and let's discuss.
-Shaun
