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 ā @andreasklinger
What we will cover
- Basics of Customer Development
- Dos and Donāts of Customer Interviews
- Custdev Process for Teams
This is a short version of a 5h product development workshop i usually run with startups.
@andreasklinger
āStartup Founderā, āProduct Guyā
āDone lots of customer interviewsā
13. āStartups donāt fail because they lack a product;
they fail because they lack customers and a
proļ¬table business modelā Steve Blank
And it might have been where you didnāt look.
@andreasklinger
22. Learn Conļ¬rm
Find a problem worth solving.
Find a potential solution.
Validate that this solution works.
Validate a business model.
@andreasklinger
23. āThe hard part is ļ¬nding the
problem to solve.ā
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
āJob to Be Doneā
Products are bought because
they solve a ājob to be doneā.
Therefore not every
āproblemā is ānegativeā.
@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 āJob to be doneā in mind before
they see your product.
@andreasklinger
28. Customers have a āJob to be doneā in mind before
they see your product.
@andreasklinger
Understanding that job enables
product niching.
29. Learn Conļ¬rm
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 ātheyā?
Does our solution solve their
problem?
Do they understand our solution?
Would they pay for it?
@andreasklinger
31. How to know what customers want?
āJust go and ask them.ā
@andreasklinger
32. āIf i had asked my customers
what they wanted, they would
have said 'a faster horse'ā
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. ā¦from Europeās #1 Custdev
Expert @robļ¬tz.
Watch Robās 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
39. āYou are young and got an oscar. Are you
worried about peaking your career too soon?ā
āUuh. Well now I am!ā - Jennifer Lawrence
@andreasklinger
58. Good questions:
- Did or Do - NEVER Would
- Donāt assume preset (e.g. problems)
- Donāt ask for opinions but let them speak
about real examples/experiences.
59. The Perfect Question
āThe Mother Testā - (c) @robļ¬tz
Ask in a way that your mother could tell you that
your product is useless. Without her knowing.
70. ā
ā
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
- āThink VS Doā
@andreasklinger
76. Validate Problem
Deļ¬ne Assumptions about their Problem
Deļ¬ne Assumptions about current solutions
@andreasklinger
Split in different customer segments if needed
77. Validate Problem
#emminvest ā @andreasklinger
Create Topic Maps
Group your assumptions to Topics.
Deļ¬ne non-leading Questions:
Eg. āpeople want to connect with
fashion labelsā
How do you ask that?
āDo you want to connectā is leading.
āWhich fashion brands do you know?ā
āWhy do you like them?ā
āOh thatās interesting. How did you ļ¬nd
out about that?ā
āAh via facebook?...ā etc.
78. Action.
Get in groups and create topic maps,
customer segments and
non leading questions
@andreasklinger
79. Validate Problem The Interviews
Donāt be awkward:
- āWe are looking for Expert Feedbackā or
āDoing a Surveyā
- not: āWe do Customer Developmentā
- Ask open questions.
- Let them speak.
- Let them be the expert. (Ask naive)
- In person. No skype, no online surveys,
no phone, no email.
Donāt 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 āIs there anything you think i should
have askedā.
@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
- Donāt try to be correct with your
assumptions
- See what you learned.
@andreasklinger
84. Source: Custdev.com#emminvest ā @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 ļ¬rst on their current solution.
- Discuss ļ¬aws of their current solution.
- Show mockups, screens, interactive demos.
- Get improvement feedback.
- Get them to commit.
- Or iterate.
If it solves a problem you donāt 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.
- Deļ¬ne biggest questions (topic map).
- Ask non leading, open questions.
- Ask about experience not opinions.
- Understand their feedback in their context.
- Filter āNice Human Behaviourā 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 Fitzpatrickās Collection of best Custdev Videos - @robļ¬tz
http://www.hackertalks.io
@andreasklinger
89. Tweet & share
@andreasklinger
If you like this presentation, please tweet about it:
āActionable Customer Development for Startupsā - A workshop by @andreasklinger -
slides: http://www.slideshare.net/andreasklinger/actionable-customer-development