customer interview @lean startup machine-amman
TRANSCRIPT
Customer Interview
Lean Startup Machine - Amman12-14 March 2015
Ibrahim Faza
About MeIbrahim 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
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
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
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
PreparationHave a purpose and a plan
– Know who you are mee8ng and why
– Have a list of ques8ons
– Prac8ce your Interview
Find Your CustomersWhere 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 …
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
Not Doing in interviewsDon’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!
Death by Demo
Death by Demo (Video) hbps://vimeo.com/76390080
Understanding the Problem (Video) hbps://vimeo.com/76173388
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?
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)
Back inside the BuildingValidate / 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
Q & A
Thanks