Ibrahim Faza discusses the importance of customer interviews in the lean startup process, emphasizing the need to validate hypotheses about customer problems and expectations. The document outlines steps for conducting effective interviews, including preparation, asking open-ended questions, and actively listening without bias. Key takeaways include understanding customer pain points, pursuing insights over validation, and engaging with potential customers in various settings.

1. Customer Interview
Lean Startup Machine - Amman
12-14 March 2015
Ibrahim Faza

2. About Me
Ibrahim Faza @ifaza1
Entrepreneur, Investor & startup adviser
Cofounded companies in Mobile payment,
Apps, Social news and IT fields.
Founding team of two telecom startups.
Founding Seed fund manager @ KAUST
Mentor, coach & judge.
Telecom Engineer

3. Turn your idea into experiment
Step 1
Define Your
Hypothesis
Step 2
Plan Your
Experiment
Step 3
Run Your
Experiment
Define
your
customer
problem
solu1on
Hypothesis
What
are
your
core
assump1ons,
riskiest
assump1on,
success
criteria
&
experiment
type
1.Explora1on
-­‐>
Understand
problem
2.Pitch
-­‐>
Measure
demands
3.Concierge
-­‐>
Deliver
customer
expecta8on
Step 4
What did You
Learn?
Pivot
or
Persevere

4. Why to interview customers?
• Start
with
interviews
in
case
of
high
uncertainty
• Help
finding
insights
about:
• Customers
pain.
and
how
big?
(Are
you
#1,
#2
or
#50?)
• Know
your
customer
deeply
• Validate
assump8ons
/
remove
bias

5. What’s the point?
It’s
Not
• About
pitching
or
selling
• Surveys
or
Focus
groups
• Conversa8ons
with
your
colleagues
and
friends
It’s
all
about
• Learning,
and
Tes1ng
your
hypotheses
Must
be
conducted
by
founders,
Can’t
be
outsourced

6. Preparation
Have
a
purpose
and
a
plan
–
Know
who
you
are
mee8ng
and
why
–
Have
a
list
of
ques8ons
–
Prac8ce
your
Interview

7. Find Your Customers
Where
to
find
your
customers
–
Get
out
from
your
comfort
zone
–
Start
in
the
middle
–
Go
aRer
players
#'s
2-­‐4
who
want
to
be
#1
–
B2B
/
B2C
–
Random
people
in
your
customer
segment
–
Use
contact
list,
linkedin,
Social
media
–
Strangers
in
Streets,
Malls,
Coffeeshops
…

8. Doing Customer interviews
Be
transparent
and
authen1c
-­‐ Pick
an
informal
place
-­‐ Get
Comfortable
and
set
a
relaxed
tone
-­‐ Let
them
know
you
are
here
for
learning,
not
selling
-­‐ Come
prepared
to
listen
&
learn
-­‐ Be
open
to
insights
-­‐ Take
notes
/
Record

9. Not Doing in interviews
Don’t
follow
your
biases
-­‐ Selling
is
not
allow
-­‐ Don’t
talk,
Listen
-­‐ Don’t
influence,
Encourage
-­‐ Don’t
look
for
valida8on
of
your
biases,
be
open-­‐minded
-­‐ Don’t
talk
about
your
solu8on
Don’t
show
slides,
Don’t
show
a
demo,
Don’t
pitch!

10. Death by Demo
Death
by
Demo
(Video)
hbps://vimeo.com/76390080
Understanding
the
Problem
(Video)
hbps://vimeo.com/76173388

11. Ask Right Questions
•
Ask
open-­‐ended
ques1ons:
you
do
not
want
yes/no
answers.
Ask:
What?
Why?
Why
not?
Not:
Is?
Are?
Would?
•
Ask
about
the
past,
present
Not
the
future
•
Ask
behavioural
ques8ons
first.
What
do
they
do?
What
are
their
problems?
How
do
they
currently
address
them?
•
Finish
with:
What
did
I
forget
to
ask?
Who
else
should
I
speak
with?
Can
you
make
an
introduc8on?

12. 3-Way Interview
1. What
is
your
biggest
problem
[in
the
related
area]/?
(Context)
2. Tell
me
about
last
8me
you
dealt
with
this
problem
(Story)
3. What
is
your
ideal
solu8on
for
it?
(Solu1on)

13. Back inside the Building
Validate
/
invalidate
you
hypothesis
• Customer
pain
• Know
your
customer
deeply
• Understand
their
day
• Uncover
how
customers
think
and
behave
• Know
their
interests
and
interac8ons
• Communicate
your
learning
with
the
team
• Look
for
insights
and
unexpected
surprises
• Find
paberns

14. Finding Patterns
Finding Patterns (Video)
https://vimeo.com/87301903

15. Q & A

16. Thanks