I'm glad this works for this product.

However, I'd argue it is generally not applicable. Say you launch a free application (perhaps monetized by a supporting PRO version, in-app purchases, or ads) that gets a few thousand downloads per day. As a CEO, you can't spend your precious time replying to those (99% trivial) questions.

You may do it for a few months, or a percentage of the user questions, to gain insight into your customers. But, as a rule, I'd rather outsource it.

At some point, you will need to hand over the customer service job to someone else, but when you do, it should be someone amazing. In her case, probably a very caring mother. Someone who can fully relate to her customers, because they would be (or are) a BabyList customer themselves.

When I stopped doing all my own customer service at CD Baby, I found someone even more patient, playful, and charming than me. It sets a high bar, so that if you grow to needing an entire team of customer service people - (I had 28 full-time customer service people in the end) - then you and your first one or two really set the expectations for how caring, helpful, and charming they should be.

Definitely don't just outsource to a cheap provider or cheap person. Whoever is actively communicating with your customers should be the best of the best.

Yes, the CEO will not be able to handle the bandwidth. But Zappos, the company, has made a billion dollar business out of it.

The last thing I would really want to do is outsource customer service, esp. in the early years of business.

I wrote a small piece on What Your Startup can Gain by Delivering Great Customer Service: http://www.happyfox.com/blog/what-your-startup-can-gain-by-d...

As a passionate founder, you would have the right tools and people that will keep you customer service going.

+1 for founders to be part of customer service irrespective of the size of business.

I really like the idea of pretending that all customers are Mick Jagger and think that it is fantastic, although I now have an image of a pregnant Mick Jagger in my head and I don't like that at all. It is all bulbous and wrinkly, like some grotesque anime demon. I may not sleep well tonight.