A product design partner is an early user and potential customer that provides regular organized feedback about your product. In return, they get a hand in designing the product to fit the needs of their organization, early access to the product, and discounted pricing once it launches.
These partners should match the target market closely otherwise you will end up getting misleading guidance (or guidance on a different problem). A good sign of validation is when several design partners convert into paying customers after launch.
See also:
- Product work is a pursuit of facts about the user, market, and their problems
- Founder-led sales
- Founder led sales helps identify product problems
Links to this note
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§ How to Make Your First Sales Before Launching
Answering the question, how do you do early sales when you are pre-product?