world. Airbnb tested out its product on the 2008 Democratic National Convention, and even Tinder did its initial pilot project by focusing on college [25] students at the University of Southern California. The customer is a group or segment of people with a common need or pain. Your primary customer’s pain point must be severe, because there is a lot of risk involved in trying to change how people do something in a familiar way to an unfamiliar one in an uncontested market space. Examples of customer segments are international college students in Los Angeles who have a hard time making friends with native students, aspiring musicians in big cities who want practice gigs, or busy suburban moms who can’t manage their kids’ schedules. These segments can be identified by a combination of demographic and psychographic attributes, but what is most essential is that they describe in 10 words or fewer a set of people on whom you can zero-in. So, let’s go back to the computer-generated value proposition and imagine the most obvious primary customer. Who the hell needs to plan a wedding on a budget? Hmmm... As Figure 3-3 demonstrates, maybe a bride-to-be? Yes, let’s go with it! Figure 3-3. Mock-up of typical first page of a pitch deck