Product: A Small Group That Loves You
The central line of the whole playbook: it's much better to first make a product a small number of users love than a product a large number of users like. Love is the signal. Lukewarm approval at scale is a slow death that feels like progress.
Why? Because love spreads and like doesn't. Users who love a product tell their friends unprompted, and that word of mouth is the only growth engine that's nearly free. It's also much easier to expand from love to more users than to deepen like into love.
The test is behavioral, not verbal. People say nice things to be polite. Watch whether they come back, whether usage grows, whether they'd be upset if you disappeared. If you haven't made a great product, nothing else will save you.
“It's much better to first make a product a small number of users love than a product that a large number of users like.”
Key idea
Optimize for intensity of love in a small group, not breadth of mild approval. You can expand love; you can't compound 'like.'