Customer 0 : Eating our own dogfood
We're our most active users and how it helps us be better..
At Airbook, we take “eating our own dog food” seriously. In fact, the whole idea for Airbook started with the problems that Vishal and I faced personally while leading data teams at SaaS startups.
We were in the trenches, trying to pull data from multiple sources, build insights that spanned those sources, and present those insights in a way that made sense to leadership.
We’d put together nice-looking dashboards, but they were always one step behind the data because of how clunky the tools were.
It felt like the Wild West—a bunch of scattered tools and manual processes just to get some basic numbers together.
Every time, we had to jump between different platforms, reformat data, redo the same work over and over again.
It was messy. It was frustrating. Not only for us, but also for the one’s waiting for insights to be able to make decisions.
And it was slowing down the decisions that needed to be made to drive growth.
The Problem We Built Airbook to Solve
That’s where the idea for Airbook came from. We knew there had to be a better way, so we set out to build it.
The initial vision was simple: create a tool that pulls data from multiple sources, builds insights seamlessly across those sources with or without code, and presents everything in clear, customizable dashboards. And making this whole experience less scary and more collaborative, easy to build insights together and confidently.
Airbook was designed to be the tool we wished we’d had back when we were leading data teams.
Our Own Customer Zero
Now, we’re using Airbook ourselves. And honestly, that’s one of the coolest parts of the journey—because we’re solving the exact problems we struggled with before.
As our own Customer Zero, we track everything inside Airbook.
We track:
Marketing metrics: Keeping an eye on how our campaigns perform and where we get the most traction.
Funnel conversions: Knowing exactly where our users drop off or convert helps us optimize our onboarding.
Product usage and activation: Seeing how users engage with Airbook helps us tweak features and improve the overall experience.
By using Airbook internally, we stay on top of our metrics without the hassle of bouncing between platforms.
We’re able to make data-driven decisions faster and more efficiently.
Finding Areas to Improve
Of course, using Airbook day in and day out also helps us spot areas where we can improve the product.
Because we’re living the same experience as our customers, we’re quick to find points of frustration—whether it’s a bug in the dashboard, a feature that doesn’t quite work the way we want it to, or a missing integration.
We meet regularly as a team to discuss these pain points and figure out how to make the product better, not just for us, but for every user out there.
Every frustration we solve for ourselves is one less frustration for our customers.
It Starts with the Founder
As startup founders, we’re not just building products—we’re shaping the culture of how those products are used, both inside and outside the company.
And if you want your team to deeply believe in the value of what you’re creating, it has to start at the very top.
When founders and leadership actively use the product, it sets a powerful example for the entire company.
It shows that you’re not just selling something—you believe in it. You’re eating your own dog food because you know firsthand that it solves real problems.
Here’s how to foster a culture where everyone from the top down is using, testing, and improving your product.
Create a Product-First Culture
To get the whole company involved, you need to make using the product part of the company’s DNA.
This culture doesn’t just happen overnight—it needs to be intentionally cultivated.
Here are some ways to create that environment:
Integrate the Product into Everyday Tasks: Make sure that your product is part of your team’s daily workflow. Whether it’s tracking sales, monitoring marketing campaigns, or using internal collaboration features—whatever the core functionality is, make it essential for your team.
Make it Fun: Encourage a culture of experimentation. Let your team play with the product, discover new features, and try things out. You might be surprised at the creative ways people find to use it. Reward teams or individuals who come up with innovative use-cases or suggestions for improvement.
Encourage Feedback Loops: Using your product internally is a great way to identify bugs, pain points, and opportunities for improvement. Set up a feedback loop where every team member can report on their experiences and suggest changes. Make sure this feedback is heard and acted on.
Transparency: Be open about the product’s strengths and weaknesses. Create spaces where team members can discuss what’s working and what isn’t. Celebrate successes but also embrace the struggles openly. By being transparent, you empower the team to feel like they’re part of the solution.
Build Cross-Functional Engagement
When you get multiple teams across the company using the product, you see it from all angles. Sales might use it differently than marketing. The engineering team might have a completely different perspective than customer success.
That cross-functional engagement gives your team invaluable insights into how well the product serves various needs.
Leadership can encourage this by facilitating interdepartmental collaborations.
For example, have your engineers sit in on a customer demo to see how sales uses the product.
Or let your marketing team play around with new features in beta mode, giving early feedback before it’s released.
When everyone has a vested interest in making the product better, it drives a deeper connection to the company’s mission.
Testing to Tweaking, all the time!
Using your product internally gives you a continuous source of feedback.
And that means you’re always testing, tweaking, and improving.
This cycle of constant iteration becomes part of your company’s daily rhythm.
It’s not just about finding bugs—it’s about anticipating where the product can improve before customers even notice.