Many a startup has bootstrapped off one or two customer "investments" - Marc Andressen famously walked a cheque for 11 million USD round the early Netscape offices.
I believe he regretted taking the money be ause it made them beholden to features that customer wanted - but try telling the difference between that and a equity investment
Honestly, I don't get the down vote. Maybe a facetious tone, but 11million bucks helped one of the web's formative companies take off - and that was a customer "investment".
The person(s) who signed that cheque probably had done dozens like it before and dozens like it afterwards - whoever they were, and like hundreds of other senior corporate radicals across the globe, they take the one thing scelortic huge companies have plenty of (money) and push it back to nimble innovative companies. Its an investment in all but name. And it pays everyone dividends when it works.
seriously - if you want investment from your customers, find the big names in your email list.
Many a startup has bootstrapped off one or two customer "investments" - Marc Andressen famously walked a cheque for 11 million USD round the early Netscape offices.
I believe he regretted taking the money be ause it made them beholden to features that customer wanted - but try telling the difference between that and a equity investment