Services scale with headcount. Products scale without it.
A service charges for time. A product charges for something that was made once. Services earn money immediately; products earn later but compound. Many companies blur the line and suffer for it.
| Service | Product |
|---|---|
| Human delivery | Self-delivery |
| Revenue ~ headcount | Revenue ~ users |
| Bespoke | Standardised |
| Cash early | Cash later |
Calling yourself a product company while doing bespoke service delivery for every customer. The roadmap becomes the customer list.