[fearless]

Isn't the one job of a startup CEO to keep customers happy? Pandering to VCs to the detriment of customers seems like a surefire can't miss recipe for failure. Compare the biggest exits with the biggest disasters and you'll find that's the main thing that differentiates them.

[bkeroack]

VCs pay the bills and call the shots. In a not-yet-profitable startup, customers do neither by definition.

[michaelochurch]

Customers increase your revenues and your costs. If you're making a play that's long-term by necessity and will be running at a loss for a while, then customer acquisition actually speeds up your burn.

On the other hand, VCs determine: whether your company can raise money, whether your competitors get funding, what your acquisition/exit options are, and what kind of job you personally will get after leaving the company (one way or another).

Also, VCs are a small set of people who all know each other and in which one voice can end not just your job or company but your career. Customers are a large set of people where one might get pissed off and write a bad Yelp review.