Reference table
Design partners vs beta testers and pilot customers
Four kinds of early customer for a B2B startup
A comparison of four kinds of early customer for a B2B startup: design partners, beta testers, pilot customers and friendly users. For each it shows what the customer gets, what the company gets and how long the commitment lasts. Use it to decide which relationship you are really offering before you write an agreement. A design partner is the only one with mutual, contractual commitment.
Where this appears
What's in this reference table
| Type | What they get | What you get | Commitment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Design partner | Influence over roadmap, custom pricing, priority support, sometimes equity | Weekly feedback, public testimonial, eventual paid contract | 3 to 12 months, contractual |
| Beta tester | Free or discounted early access | Bug reports and feature feedback | Loose, opt-in |
| Pilot customer | Discounted paid pilot of working product | Revenue, case study | 30 to 90 days, paid |
| Friendly user | Early product access | Casual feedback | None |
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Free to use in your docs, decks and posts under CC BY 4.0, as long as you credit Koji with a link to this page. To embed it, paste this into your page:
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<a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/design-partner-vs-beta-pilot-friendly-user-table"><img src="https://www.koji.so/visuals/design-partner-vs-beta-pilot-friendly-user-table/design-partner-vs-beta-pilot-friendly-user-table.png" alt="Table comparing design partners, beta testers, pilot customers and friendly users by what they get, what you get and how long they commit." width="1200" height="719" /></a>
<p>Source: <a href="https://www.koji.so/visuals/design-partner-vs-beta-pilot-friendly-user-table">Design partners vs beta testers and pilot customers</a>, Koji</p>
