The document outlines a workshop on customer discovery in the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community (IC) led by experts such as Steve Blank and Tom Byers. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the specific beneficiaries and their needs through iterative validation of the mission model canvas and suggests methods for effective engagement and interviewing within the DoD/IC context. The document also addresses challenges such as classified information and provides tips for conducting market research and developing a minimal viable product (MVP) to maximize learning.

1. Customer Discovery in the DOD/IC
Workshop
Steve Blank, Tom Byers, Pete Newell, Joe Felter
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License

2. Agenda
• Customer Discovery in the DOD/IC tips
• Role Playing

3. Customer Discovery in the DOD/IC

4. Goal is to Validate Mission Model
Canvas Components
• Test each of mission model canvas components
• Most require multiple iterations
• Most are recursive and are dependent on others
• Several are multi-sided

5. Beneficiaries
Service
Agency
Activity
Combatant Command
Employed Unit
Research Lab
Defense Prime
Capability Developer
Requirement Writer
Acquisition Program Mgr
User
???
Who Are We Talking To?
Where Do They Fit?

6. Beneficiaries
Service
Agency
Activity
Combatant Command
Employed Unit
Research Lab
Defense Prime
Capability Developer
Requirement Writer
Acquisition Program mgr
User
???
Who Are We Talking To?
Where Do They Fit?
Which of these
is not a beneficiary?

7. Beneficiaries
Service
Agency
Activity
Combatant Command
Employed Unit
Research Lab
Defense Prime
Capability Developer
Requirement Writer
Acquisition Program Mgr
User
???
Which of These is not a Beneficiary?
• If you focus on orgs, or acquisition
programs, you lose focus on the real
problem to be solved and often don’t
recognize it until after a program reaches
Full Operating Capability (FOC) ...
• You end up with Acquisition Wins and
Mission Fails
• You need to focus on the specific people
inside those orgs and programs

8. Discovery Starts with Understanding
the Beneficiaries
Understand the
archetype
Understand day-in-
the-life
Names of Job
Functions/Titles
Names of
Organizations
Deeper
Understanding

9. What’s Their Relationship?
If You Can’t Draw It
You Don’t Understand it!

10. Diagram Deployment/Funding
If You Can’t Draw It
You Don’t Understand it!
Also need diagrams for:
• Deployment
• Funding
See the DOD Workshop
slides for the basic diagrams

11. Discovery is Not
Just Questions and MVPs
Deep understanding happens when you
“become the beneficiary”

12. First Pass of What to Ask (1)
The Problem
- What is the problem?
- Who else has this problem?
- What happens if this problem isn’t solved?
- What’s the timeframe needed to solve it?

13. What Do I Say?
in the DOD
• Remember you are 1st testing the problem
• Members of the DOD will not respond to ”cold calls”
“Hi, I got your name from Captain xx (your sponsor.) (Or if the
person you’re calling knows them, your mentor, liaison, teaching
team, etc.) who said you’re the smartest person in this unit.
I’m from Stanford and were working on trying to understand
xyz problem and building a solution. I’d like 10 minutes of
your time to understand this problem space.
I’m not selling anything but happy to share with you what
we’ve learned about x.”

14. What Do I Say?
in the Intel Community
• Members of the Intel Community will not:
– respond to ”cold calls”
– provide names and phone numbers of people without advance
permission
• Your sponsor is your gatekeeper

15. First Pass of What to Ask (2)
The Solution
- How do you solve the problem today?
- Is some portion of the problem being solved?
- How painful is the current solution?
- Has anyone else tried to solve the problem?
- What do you envision the solution to look like?

16. First Pass of What to Ask (3)
The Solution
- Constraints on the solution? (Physical, dollars, etc.)
• Performance necessary?
• Standards that are required?
• Other systems to be integrated with? APIs available?
- Are there any known legal, policy, oversight, or
compliance (LPOC) issues involved?
- What’s the closest off-the-shelf solution?
- If it exists, why can’t you use it?

17. First Pass of What to Ask (4)
in the DOD
The Context
- Who are you?
- What authorities do you have?
- What are you supposed to do (mission),
- What are you not supposed to do or not allowed to do
(constraints)?
- How are you funded?
- Color of money & special authorities
- What types of contracts do you have/use (if applicable)?
- What other beneficiaries do you work with?
- Understand the Program of Record
- Understand the Program Readiness Level

18. First Pass of What to Ask (5)
in the Intel Community
The Context
- Who are you?
- What authorities do you have?
- What are you supposed to do (mission)
- What are you not supposed to do or not allowed to do
(constraints)?
- How are you funded?
- Color of money & special authorities
- What types of contracts do you have/use (if applicable)?
- What other beneficiaries do you work with?
- Understand the Program of Record
- Understand the Program Readiness Level
Typically off-the-record for new vendors
Typically off-the-record for new vendors
Typically won’t answer

19. What Don’t I Say?
Discovery in the DOD/IC has a few special problems
• Some problems are classified
• Some of the data is classified
– ”Can you give me the ISIS data set” probably won’t go over well
• Therefore your questions have to be indirect
– ”Is this the only application you will be using?”
– “Is there a commercial analog for what you do?”
– ”Is there any commercial software that you use?”
• Do your open-source homework first to try to understand
as much of the problem as you can

20. How Do Students Do DOD/IC
Market Research?
• You’ll be surprised what an open-source search will
reveal about most DOD/IC customer problems
– Signal Magazine, cyber technologies, homeland security, C4ISR
– Proceedings naval matters
– C4ISR: Journal of Net-Centric Warfare
– Aviation Week – aircraft, spacecraft
– Jane's Defense Weekly, Intelligence Review
– Secrecy News – FAS blog
– Small Wars Journal blog
– Center for Defense Information blog
– War on the Rocks blog
– The Intercept *
– Snowden Papers *
– Etc.
* gov’t employees and contractors can not access classified information even if it is in the public domain

21. The Minimal Viable Product
The MVP:
• is not a smaller version of the product
– It’s not a prototype
• it is designed to maximize learning
– It’s used to test each part of the Mission Model Canvas
• The MVP may differ each week depending on what
you’re testing

22. Dry Run Customer Discovery Interviews
• Test it with your team members
• Start with a script
• Then try it without
• Take notes of each discovery interview and capture
them in your team blog

23. Your Turn
Customer Discovery Role Play