best practices for customer discovery

I-Corps @ Arlington

Best Practices for Customer Discovery

Wednesday, January 23, 13

WHY ARE WE HERE?

The goal of this session is to share ideas, tips, tricks and secrets on how to best do

customer discovery


CREATE VALID HYPOTHESIS

Apply the scientific method to customer discovery

Hypotheses must be falsifiableBe specific. No “ands” or commas

You must avoid validation“people want to buy my product” == badThe inverse hypothesis cannot be ridiculous


DESIGN A TEST

Is your hypothesis true or false?

All tests start with: get out of the building and talk to peopleDo not try to be statistically validDo not stop once you have an answer


TALK TO 100 PEOPLE

You must gain insight into your market.

You are doing pattern recognition Must have sufficient data points to see them

100 works. It is proven


MEET PEOPLE YOU DON’T KNOW

People you know will be nice and tell you what you want to hear. Those interviews are

possibly harmful

People you don’t know have no relationship to protect. Only they will tell you

the truthWednesday, January 23, 13

GET INTERVIEWS EFFICIENTLY

Don’t waste time. Focus on archetypes

Have a purpose. Know why you are meeting.

Be transparent. Tell them you are researchers, not selling, learning about the

market, part of I-Corps. Ask for their helpWednesday, January 23, 13

GET OUT OF THE BUILDING

This is the number one lesson of I-Corps. And the hardest thing for researchers to learn.

In person meetings are always best.Phone calls are a terrible substitute.Surveys are garbage.

GOFB!Wednesday, January 23, 13

INTERVIEW PROPERLY

Do not sell! Don’t show a demo. Don’t do a technical presentation

You are there to learn. Ask about how they do

their job. Ask about their problemsIt’s about them, not you.

Look for the unexpected. The surprisesWednesday, January 23, 13

ASK THE RIGHT QUESTIONS

Always ask open-ended questionsDon’t ask multiple choice questions.Ask questions starting with: who, what, why, howNot: is, are, would, do you think, should ...

ask why? then why? then why? again

finish withwhat did I forget to ask? who else should I talk to?


WHAT ABOUT IP?

Never sign an NDANever ask people to sign an NDA

If you are describing your technology in detail you are doing it wrong

Focus on the what and not the how


GAINING INSIGHT

Facts are interesting

Insights are your goalBe honest. Don’t be too quick to validate and too slow to disprove your hypothesis.

Don’t just scratch the surface, dive deepdon’t fear picking the wrong market

Find the hidden motivations.

Depth of understanding always leads to insight


PIVOT

You do not face a business model until you have a compelling

Customer-Value FitIf you cannot find one, you will have to pivotMake new hypotheses and test

Do not rush thru the processYou do not have to finish with the technology you started with


LEARNING IS PARAMOUNT

The knowledge you gain in customer discovery is critical to the success or failure of your business

Your current assumptions are probably

wrong

You must not try to validate what you already think or want to be true


best practices for customer discovery

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