Is your idea good enough to start up? Lessons since leaving Google

Great article! I couldn't agree more with the idea that a great product alone isn't enough to build a sustainable business. I ran a business in college for almost three years with a product-first mentality. I was of the mindset that marketing was that thing that got in the way of engineering and product design. Unsurprisingly we were not able to grow beyond a very niche market.

I've since transitioned to thinking about businesses in terms of their CAC and their LTV. A great product matters only to the extent that it makes it cheaper to get people to use the product, and to the extent that it makes them willing to pay more for it and remain a customer for longer. This sounds a lot like the distribution and monetization arms in your model.