Talking to Humans: Success Starts with Understanding your Customers
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Frank Rimalovski, New York University, @rimalovski While most entrepreneurs understand that “getting out of the building” is a core tenet of the Lean Startup, many still struggle to effectively conduct the kinds of interviews and experiments that will lead to the insights they seek (and need). In this hands on workshop, you’ll be guided through the process of securing, conducting and synthesizing early customer discovery interviews.
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Talking to Humans: Success Starts with Understanding your Customers
- 1. @NYUEntrepreneur Talking to Humans: The Art of Customer Discovery Frank Rimalovski Executive Director, NYU Entrepreneurial Institute Instructor, NSF I-Corps November 17, 2015 4
- 2. @NYUEntrepreneur Customer Development Test assumptions about customer needs/problem & develop MVPs Seek validation that people are interested in your product/ solution Begins to build demand & improve efficiency of customer acquisition Drive growth aggressively & execute business model
- 3. @NYUEntrepreneur Why are we here? Share ideas, tips, tricks and secrets on how to best do customer discovery
- 4. @NYUEntrepreneur “You can’t just ask customers what they want and then try to give that to them.”
- 5. @NYUEntrepreneur “New ideas come from watching something, talk(ing) to people, experimenting, asking questions and getting out of the office!”
- 6. @NYUEntrepreneur Hypotheses & the BMC Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis Hypothesis
- 7. @NYUEntrepreneur More than half of your assumptions are wrong! 7
- 8. @NYUEntrepreneur Your job is not to validate your product… Your job is not to validate your product… It’s to validate the problem and how best to solve it?
- 9. @NYUEntrepreneur Customer Discovery Apply the scientific method to business model development Modify hypothesis Observe phenomena Formulate hypothesis Test hypothesis via rigorous experiments Establish theory based on repeated validation of results PIVOT!
- 10. @NYUEntrepreneur Create Valid Hypotheses Hypotheses must be falsifiable 10 “Our product will spread through word of mouth.” “our viral coefficient over the next 12 months will be >0.5”
- 11. @NYUEntrepreneur Create Valid Hypotheses Hypotheses must be falsifiable Be specific (quantifiable) You must avoid validation 11 “people want to buy my product”
- 12. @NYUEntrepreneur Create Valid Hypotheses Hypotheses must be falsifiable Be specific (quantifiable) You must avoid validation Inverse hypothesis cannot be ridiculous 12 “people want to save money”
- 13. @NYUEntrepreneur Talk to Humans! GOTB: The #1 lesson of this talk In person is best You must gain insight into your customer & market You are doing pattern recognition… Must have sufficient data points to see 2B. Story
- 14. @NYUEntrepreneur Who do you want to learn from?3A. Who Do You Want To Learn From (Inked) 14
- 16. @NYUEntrepreneur 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 truth
- 17. @NYUEntrepreneur
- 18. @NYUEntrepreneur What do you want to learn?4D. What Do You Want To Learn 18
- 19. @NYUEntrepreneur What do you want to learn? 19
- 20. @NYUEntrepreneur Don’t Assume You Understand the Problem!
- 21. @NYUEntrepreneur Don’t Assume You Understand the Problem!
- 22. @NYUEntrepreneur What do you want to learn? Do not sell! No demos! No presos! You are there to learn! Get stories, not speculation Ask open-ended questions Learn about their problems and how they solve them today Ask why? Then why? They why again! Create a guide (not a script) 22
- 23. @NYUEntrepreneur Finding Interview Subjects5A. How Do You Find Your Interview Subjects (Inked) 23
- 24. @NYUEntrepreneur Finding Interview Subjects At least one degree of separation Learn to love LinkedIn Make referrals happen Get creative…recruiting hacks Fish where the fish are… …In the wild Promise to be brief Enterprise customers are people too! Play the student/researcher card 24
- 25. @NYUEntrepreneur Ensuring Effective Interviews6B. How To Ensure An Effective Session (Draft) 25
- 26. @NYUEntrepreneur Ensuring Effective Interviews Beware of confirmation bias Do it in person, one at a time Get subjects to tell a story Look for solution hacks Understand their priorities Follow your nose & drill down Listen and STFU! Have someone take notes 26
- 27. @NYUEntrepreneur Pro Tips Practice, practice, practice NO email, focus groups or surveys Don’t start with your dream customer Being an entrepreneur means being aggressive & persistent Flatter subjects Be transparent Follow up/stay in touch 27
- 28. @NYUEntrepreneur28 “It's grueling listening to customer feedback. And if it isn't, you're probably doing it wrong."
- 30. @NYUEntrepreneur Your Last >$100 Purchase 1. Write description of item on top of page 2. Find a partner next to you & swap pages 3. Create interview guide: ~5 questions Explain what you bought and why? What was the process from desire to acquisition? What other options/alternatives did you consider? How did you decide to buy it? Who/what did you consult? How did you decide where to buy it? 4. 5 minute interview…take notes 5. Switch
- 32. @NYUEntrepreneur Documenting Interviews Assign someone to take notes Write down key a-ha’s as they happen Note questions that worked & use them again! Take pictures or videos! Capture key insights
- 33. @NYUEntrepreneur Making Sense of What You Learn7B. How Do You Make Sense Of What You Learn (Draft) 33
- 34. @NYUEntrepreneur Gaining Insight Facts are interesting…Insights are your goal Be honest…Don’t be too quick to validate or too slow to disprove your hypothesis Find the hidden motivations Ask why? And why? Then why again? Don’t fear picking the wrong market Depth of understanding always leads to insight
- 35. @NYUEntrepreneur What’s an insight? (the a-ha’s along your journey)
- 36. @NYUEntrepreneur in•sight |ˈinˌsīt| noun the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing something you’re so excited about you tell strangers on the train
- 37. @NYUEntrepreneur Learning Is Paramount The knowledge you gain in customer discovery is critical to the success or failure of your business >Half of your assumptions are wrong You must not try to validate what you already think or want to be true
- 38. @NYUEntrepreneur Pro Tips v2 Focus on actual behavior, not speculative or abstract feelings If they’ve made an MVP…ask to see it! Listen, don’t talk Parrot back or misrepresent to confirm Ask for introductions Write up your notes ASAP Avoid premature conclusions