talking to humans: success starts with understanding your customers

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Talking to Humans:

The Art of Customer DiscoveryFrank Rimalovski

Executive Director, NYU Entrepreneurial Institute

Instructor, NSF I-Corps

November 17, 20154

2B. Story

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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

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Why are we here?Share ideas, tips, tricks and

secrets on how to best do

customer discovery

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“You can’t just

ask customers

what they want

and then try to

give that to

them.”

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“New ideas come

from watching

something, talk(ing)

to people,

experimenting,

asking questions

and getting out of

the office!”

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Hypotheses & the BMC

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

HypothesisHypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

Hypothesis

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More than half

of your assumptions

are wrong!

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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?

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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!

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Create Valid Hypotheses

Hypotheses must be falsifiable

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“Our product will spread

through word of mouth.”

“our viral coefficient over the

next 12 months will be >0.5”

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Create Valid Hypotheses

Hypotheses must be falsifiable

Be specific (quantifiable)

You must avoid validation

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“people want to buy my

product”

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Create Valid Hypotheses

Hypotheses must be falsifiable

Be specific (quantifiable)

You must avoid validation

Inverse hypothesis cannot be

ridiculous

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“people want to save money”

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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

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2B. Story

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Who do you want to learn from?

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3A. Who Do You Want To Learn From (Inked)

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Who Cares?

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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

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What do you want to learn?

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4D. What Do You Want To Learn

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What do you want to learn?

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Don’t Assume You Understand the Problem!

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Don’t Assume You Understand the Problem!

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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)

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Finding Interview Subjects

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5A. How Do You Find Your Interview Sub jec ts (Inked)

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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

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Ensuring Effective Interviews

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6B. How To Ensure An Effec tive Session (Dra ft)

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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

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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

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“It's grueling

listening to

customer

feedback. And if

it isn't, you're

probably

doing it

wrong."

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Exercise

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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

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Discuss:

Observations,

challenges &

questions

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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

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Making Sense of What You Learn

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7B. How Do You Make Sense Of What You Learn (Dra ft)

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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

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What’s an insight?(the a-ha’s along your journey)

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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

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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

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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

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Customer Discovery Resources

bit.ly/llpcdvstalkingtohumans.com

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Questions?

fbr4@nyu.edu

@rimalovski

entrepreneur.nyu.edu

16 Washington Place, NYC

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