---
id: "quote-feature-requests"
type: "quote"
source_timestamps: ["§ They Pursue Markets That Are Too Broad"]
tags: ["product-management", "focus"]
related: ["concept-agency-anti-pattern"]
speaker: "Anonymous Canadian Founder"
speakers: ["Anonymous Canadian Founder"]
sources: ["commercial"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-commercial"
originDay: 5
articleStem: "hbr-ext-21-founders-new-sales-playbook"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/06/startup-founders-need-a-new-sales-playbook"
sourceTitle: "Startup Founders Need a New Sales Playbook"
---
# The Danger of Unfiltered Feature Requests

> "Every single request ends up making it into the product without processing to see how I can make this something that benefits everybody."

**Speaker:** An anonymous Canadian founder.

**Context:** Illustrates the trap of building custom features for individual prospects rather than scalable products — the core mechanism of [[concept-agency-anti-pattern]]. The countermeasure is to [[action-narrow-icp]].