The One Graph Every Founder Should Have in Mind

Most founders make the same mistake early on.

They optimize for scale before they optimize for clarity.

They want SaaS.
They want leverage.
They want thousands or millions of users.

And they skip the most important step.

How to Read the Graph

The graph is simple:

• •X-axis: number of customers
• •Y-axis: revenue per customer

As you move right, you need more customers.
As you move up, each customer is worth more.

What most founders want is the bottom-right corner:
low revenue per user, massive scale.

That's also the hardest place to start.

Why Starting With Scale Is So Hard

Businesses with low revenue per customer require:

• •extreme clarity in positioning
• •flawless distribution
• •strong brand or network effects
• •large amounts of capital or time

B2C SaaS, social platforms, and mass-market products live here.

They can work.
But they are unforgiving environments for learning.

If your positioning is off, you don't get feedback, you get silence.

Where Learning Is Fastest

The top-left of the graph is where most founders should start.

High revenue per customer.
Small customer base.

This is where you'll find:

• •freelancing
• •productized consulting
• •done-for-you services

This part of the graph is underrated.

You get paid quickly.
You talk to customers directly.
You hear objections in real time.
You learn what people actually value.

That feedback compounds.

The Natural Progression Most Founders Skip

The mistake isn't building SaaS.

The mistake is trying to build it too early.

The most reliable path looks like this:

services → productized services → products

As you move down and to the right over time:

• •delivery becomes more systemized
• •offers become clearer
• •risk decreases
• •leverage increases

By the time you reach B2B SaaS or B2C SaaS, you're no longer guessing.
You're executing with signal.

Why This Graph Changes Everything

This graph reframes success.

It shows that:

• •starting small isn't failure
• •charging more isn't greedy
• •services aren't a dead end

They're a learning engine.

Founders who skip this phase usually stall, burn out, or keep jumping between ideas.

Founders who respect it build momentum.

Final Thought

Don't ask, “How do I scale faster?”

Ask, “Where will I learn the most, the fastest?”

Start where revenue per customer is high.
Move toward scale once the signal is clear.

That's how sustainable companies are built.