Customer Development in the Trenches

Giff ConstableCo-Founder & CEO, Aprizi

July 23, 2010

Who am I?

Startups• Trilogy• Envive• Ithority*, acq by Opus360• Electric Sheep Company• Aprizi*

*co-founder

I blog here giffconstable.com

The Context

The first rule of lean startup

There are no rules

Idea Validation• Is it stupid?• Surveys, discussions• Market and competitive research

Customer Development• Cast a wide net• Paper mockups• 1 on 1 meetings

Our Alpha(do they give a damn)

(say vs do)

Open Beta(high velocity learning)

(in-person and phone best)(don’t make snap decisions)

(don’t optimize for the wrong things)

The first rule of lean startup

But here is some advice*

*worth the paper it is printed on, maybe

Doing a Customer Interview

1. Work to their schedule2. Get psyched to hear things you don’t want to hear3. Disarm “politeness” training4. Start with behavior, not feedback5. Ask open ended questions6. Listen, don’t talk7. Encourage but don’t influence8. Follow your nose and drill down9. Parrot back to confirm10. Thank them11. Ask for introductions12. Write up your notes as quickly as possible

Learning Comes in Waves

Strip Out Everything But the Core Value

Proposition

vs

Pre-PM Fit, It’s All About People

Questions?

giff.constable@gmail.comhttp://giffconstable.comhttp://www.aprizi.com

Contact Info