This presentation is a boiled down version of a workshop i do with startups.
The goal of the workshop is to start with customer interviews and improve or pivot the startup's product.
It is based on the method of customer development by steve blank but focuses mainly on how to do interviews the right way.
3. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
What we will cover
- Basics of Customer Development
- Dos and Don’ts of Customer Interviews
- Custdev Process for Teams
This is a short version of a 5h product development workshop i usually run with startups.
@andreasklinger
“Startup Founder”, “Product Guy”
“Done lots of customer interviews”
10. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
Wasting your talent & opportunity by building the wrong thing
close to the right thing.
The Biggest Risk of a Startup?
13. “Startups don’t fail because they lack a product;
they fail because they lack customers and a
profitable business model” Steve Blank
And it might have been where you didn’t look.
@andreasklinger
22. Learn Confirm
Find a problem worth solving.
Find a potential solution.
Validate that this solution works.
Validate a business model.
@andreasklinger
23. “The hard part is finding the
problem to solve.”
Kevin Systrom
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2738
@andreasklinger
24. When i say problems i mean Jobs to be Done
Watch: http://bit.ly/cc-jtbd
“Job to Be Done”
Products are bought because
they solve a “job to be done”.
Therefore not every
“problem” is “negative”.
@andreasklinger
25. Question
- I am generation digital
- I never read paper newspapers
- I would never buy a tabloid
Still: I take a metro newspaper in
the London subway and read it
begin to end while traveling.
Why?
@andreasklinger
26. Question
- I am generation digital
- I never read paper newspapers
- I would never buy a tabloid
Still: I take a metro newspaper in
the London subway and read it
begin to end while traveling.
Why?
No reception. Travel of 20 minutes.
27. Customers have a “Job to be done” in mind before
they see your product.
@andreasklinger
28. Customers have a “Job to be done” in mind before
they see your product.
@andreasklinger
Understanding that job enables
product niching.
29. Learn Confirm
Find a problem worth solving.
Find a potential solution.
Validate that this solution works.
Validate a business model.
@andreasklinger
30. Validating
Problem
Validating
Solution
We do this in two steps.
Do they care?
Do they need it?
Do they have budget for it?
Who really is “they”?
Does our solution solve their
problem?
Do they understand our solution?
Would they pay for it?
@andreasklinger
31. How to know what customers want?
“Just go and ask them.”
@andreasklinger
32. “If i had asked my customers
what they wanted, they would
have said 'a faster horse'”
Henry Ford
Henry Ford asked wrong.
@andreasklinger
34. The hardest things in customer interviews:
Knowing who is your customer.
Ask them the right way.
Understand their feedback.
Iterate or Kill your idea.
@andreasklinger
36. …from Europe’s #1 Custdev
Expert @robfitz.
Watch Rob’s talk: http://bit.ly/rf-custdev
I only took the liberty to make them worse by
adding clutter and changing his face to mine.
THE FOLLOWING SLIDES
ARE ALL STOLEN.
D
ISC
LA
IM
ER
@andreasklinger
58. Good questions:
- Did or Do - NEVER Would
- Don’t assume preset (e.g. problems)
- Don’t ask for opinions but let them speak
about real examples/experiences.
59. The Perfect Question
“The Mother Test” - (c) @robfitz
Ask in a way that your mother could tell you that
your product is useless. Without her knowing.
70. ❝
❞
Jeremy
We are spending
500$ per month
on this :(
Awesome feedback!
Proofs it is a problem, they
kind of solved it, and shows
their budget availability.
71. Opinions are worthless.
We look for:
- facts about their life/work
- and commitments
- “Think VS Do”
@andreasklinger
76. Validate Problem
Define Assumptions about their Problem
Define Assumptions about current solutions
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Split in different customer segments if needed
77. Validate Problem
#emminvest – @andreasklinger
Create Topic Maps
Group your assumptions to Topics.
Define non-leading Questions:
Eg. “people want to connect with
fashion labels”
How do you ask that?
“Do you want to connect” is leading.
“Which fashion brands do you know?”
“Why do you like them?”
“Oh that’s interesting. How did you find
out about that?”
“Ah via facebook?...” etc.
78. Action.
Get in groups and create topic maps,
customer segments and
non leading questions
@andreasklinger
79. Validate Problem The Interviews
Don’t be awkward:
- “We are looking for Expert Feedback” or
“Doing a Survey”
- not: “We do Customer Development”
- Ask open questions.
- Let them speak.
- Let them be the expert. (Ask naive)
- In person. No skype, no online surveys,
no phone, no email.
Don’t do more interviews if feedback
repeats. (No new learnings)
@andreasklinger
80. Validate Problem The Interviews
Second person takes notes
- No laptop
- Use IndexCards or Postits.
- Write down exact customer phrase
- Use Visual indicators ---------------->
Ask for further intros.
Ask “Is there anything you think i should
have asked”.
@andreasklinger
82. Action.
Test run interviews.
Group into people who like ice-cream.
And people who want to build a unique
ice-cream startup idea.
@andreasklinger
83. Validate Problem Review
Review in the team
- Use exact wording by customer
- Understand their answers in their
context
- Don’t try to be correct with your
assumptions
- See what you learned.
@andreasklinger
84. Source: Custdev.com#emminvest – @andreasklinger
Validate Problem Review
- Write down new learnings (or new
assumptions)
- See which old assumptions turned out
to be wrong or right.
- Adapt your solution.
85. Source: Custdev.com
Validate Solution
- Come back to interviewees
- Focus first on their current solution.
- Discuss flaws of their current solution.
- Show mockups, screens, interactive demos.
- Get improvement feedback.
- Get them to commit.
- Or iterate.
If it solves a problem you don’t need to sell (much)
@andreasklinger
86. If you were wrong. Be happy.
Several of the biggest startup successes started out wrong.
You still have money, team and energy to iterate or pivot.
87. Summary
- Know what you want to learn.
- Narrow your customer segment
- Formulate your assumptions.
- Define biggest questions (topic map).
- Ask non leading, open questions.
- Ask about experience not opinions.
- Understand their feedback in their context.
- Filter “Nice Human Behaviour” and Opinions.
- Adapt with your learnings. Iterate your product.
TL;DR: Use custdev to doublecheck your assumptions and product.
Never bias in customer interviews.
@andreasklinger
88. Read on
Highly recommended:
Rob Fitzpatrick’s Collection of best Custdev Videos - @robfitz
http://www.hackertalks.io
@andreasklinger
89. Tweet & share
@andreasklinger
If you like this presentation, please tweet about it:
“Actionable Customer Development for Startups” - A workshop by @andreasklinger -
slides: http://www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger/actionable-customer-development