talking to humans: success starts with understanding your customers
TRANSCRIPT
@NYUEntrepreneur
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
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Hypothesis
Hypothesis
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Hypothesis
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Hypothesis
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HypothesisHypothesis
Hypothesis
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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?
@rimalovski
entrepreneur.nyu.edu
16 Washington Place, NYC
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