Markets are cyclical: long bull runs interrupted by semi-regular short corrections. Data suggests that we are in a correction. This means investors are expecting tangible results from companies. As a product leader, this means your product launch needs to deliver on the expectations set when you pitched it to the executive team. Having a real beta test is the insurance policy you have to deliver on the investment thesis.
Being close to your customers during development brings certainty to the value you’re creating.
The bad news is initiatives that are not well-researched are going to be at risk of being cut (hence the layoffs). The good news is that if you keep in touch with your customers throughout the development process, you know your product delivers value and is less likely to be cut. Being close to your customers during development brings certainty to the value you’re creating. Certainty in times of uncertainty is invaluable.
We found out that the sweet spot lies between 50 and 200 customers for a representative beta testing phase with 20 being the bare minimum.
Your beta testing phase becomes ever more important since it’s the first opportunity you truly get real-world feedback from your customers using a real product in their environment. When product teams go under the microscope of executive diligence, data and science supersede gut feeling and intuition. That doesn’t mean your intuition is not a good barometer. It means that you need to validate your hypothesis more thoroughly. You just need to make sure you have a statistically significant population to represent your customer base. Typically that caps out at 500 customers if you are expecting to serve tens of thousands of customers. But having 5-10 customers during beta is simply statistically insignificant to launch your product with the confidence your company demands from you. We found out that the sweet spot lies between 50 and 200 customers for a representative beta testing phase with 20 being the bare minimum.
Sounds intimidating to stay on top of that many customers? Lucky for you we built the easiest to use platform so you can manage large scale betas effectively.
Ayham Ereksousi
Co-Founder CEO