This presentation is a boiled down version of a workshop i do with startups. The goal of the workshop is to start with customer interviews and improve or pivot the startup's product. It is based on the method of customer development by steve blank but focuses mainly on how to do interviews the right way.

1. @andreasklinger
Actionable
Customer Development
for Startups
Workshop Outline

2. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
@andreasklinger
“Startup Founder”, “Product Guy”
“Done lots of customer interviews”

3. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
What we will cover
- Basics of Customer Development
- Dos and Don’ts of Customer Interviews
- Custdev Process for Teams
This is a short version of a 5h product development workshop i usually run with startups.
@andreasklinger
“Startup Founder”, “Product Guy”
“Done lots of customer interviews”

4. @andreasklinger
Part I:
Customer Development Basics

5. Startups have ideas.
Build it.
Customers don’t buy it.
The startup dies.
Promote it.
@andreasklinger

6. traction
time
We want this.
@andreasklinger

7. traction
time
We get this.
@andreasklinger

8. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
The Biggest Risk of a Startup?

9. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
The Biggest Risk of a Startup?
Time/Money? No You will learn a lot + huge network gain.

10. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
Wasting your talent & opportunity by building the wrong thing
close to the right thing.
The Biggest Risk of a Startup?

11. Market
Your
Solution
Customer
Job/Problem
Willing to pay
To miss your opportunity. By focusing on the wrong thing.
@andreasklinger

12. Market
Customer
Job/Problem
Willing to pay
competitor
competitor
competitor
competitor
Your
Solution
Other
Market
Customer
Job/Problem
Willing to pay
Or by looking at the wrong customer.
@andreasklinger

13. “Startups don’t fail because they lack a product;
they fail because they lack customers and a
profitable business model” Steve Blank
And it might have been where you didn’t look.
@andreasklinger

14. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
Customer Development - Startups have stages.

15. #emminvest – @andreasklinger
Customer Development - Startups have stages.

16. Discovery
traction
time
Validation Efficiency Scale
Let’s simplify this
@andreasklinger

17. Discovery
traction
time
Validation Efficiency Scale
Product/Market Fit
Find a product
the market wants.
@andreasklinger

18. Discovery
traction
time
Validation Efficiency Scale
Product/Market Fit
Find a product
the market wants.
Scale a company
around that product
@andreasklinger

19. Discovery
traction
time
Validation Efficiency Scale
Product/Market Fit
Find a product
the market wants.
Scale a company
around that product
We will focus on this part
@andreasklinger

20. Discovery Validation
Here be
dragons
Try again. “Pivot”
@andreasklinger

21. Learn Confirm
Try again. “Pivot”
@andreasklinger

22. Learn Confirm
Find a problem worth solving.
Find a potential solution.
Validate that this solution works.
Validate a business model.
@andreasklinger

23. “The hard part is finding the
problem to solve.”
Kevin Systrom
http://ecorner.stanford.edu/authorMaterialInfo.html?mid=2738
@andreasklinger

24. When i say problems i mean Jobs to be Done
Watch: http://bit.ly/cc-jtbd
“Job to Be Done”
Products are bought because
they solve a “job to be done”.
Therefore not every
“problem” is “negative”.
@andreasklinger

25. Question
- I am generation digital
- I never read paper newspapers
- I would never buy a tabloid
Still: I take a metro newspaper in
the London subway and read it
begin to end while traveling.
Why?
@andreasklinger

26. Question
- I am generation digital
- I never read paper newspapers
- I would never buy a tabloid
Still: I take a metro newspaper in
the London subway and read it
begin to end while traveling.
Why?
No reception. Travel of 20 minutes.

27. Customers have a “Job to be done” in mind before
they see your product.
@andreasklinger

28. Customers have a “Job to be done” in mind before
they see your product.
@andreasklinger
Understanding that job enables
product niching.

29. Learn Confirm
Find a problem worth solving.
Find a potential solution.
Validate that this solution works.
Validate a business model.
@andreasklinger

30. Validating
Problem
Validating
Solution
We do this in two steps.
Do they care?
Do they need it?
Do they have budget for it?
Who really is “they”?
Does our solution solve their
problem?
Do they understand our solution?
Would they pay for it?
@andreasklinger

31. How to know what customers want?
“Just go and ask them.”
@andreasklinger

32. “If i had asked my customers
what they wanted, they would
have said 'a faster horse'”
Henry Ford
Henry Ford asked wrong.
@andreasklinger

33. @andreasklinger
Part II:
Customer Interviews

34. The hardest things in customer interviews:
Knowing who is your customer.
Ask them the right way.
Understand their feedback.
Iterate or Kill your idea.
@andreasklinger

35. Good or bad questions?
@andreasklinger

36. …from Europe’s #1 Custdev
Expert @robfitz.
Watch Rob’s talk: http://bit.ly/rf-custdev
I only took the liberty to make them worse by
adding clutter and changing his face to mine.
THE FOLLOWING SLIDES
ARE ALL STOLEN.
D
ISC
LA
IM
ER
@andreasklinger

37. ❝
❞
Us
Do you have a
problem with X?

38. ❝
❞
Us
Do you have a
problem with X?

39. “You are young and got an oscar. Are you
worried about peaking your career too soon?”
“Uuh. Well now I am!” - Jennifer Lawrence
@andreasklinger

40. ❝
❞
Us
Tell me about X.

41. ❝
❞
Us
Tell me about X.

42. ❝
❞
Us
Do you think it’s a
good idea?

43. ❝
❞
Us
Do you think it’s a
good idea?

44. ❝
❞
Us
Would you buy a
product which
solved this problem?

45. ❝
❞
Us
Would you buy a
product which
solved this problem?

46. ❝
❞
Us
How do you
currently deal with
this problem?

47. ❝
❞
Us
How do you
currently deal with
this problem?

48. ❝
❞
Us
Talk me through
the last time you
had this problem

49. ❝
❞
Us
Talk me through
the last time you
had this problem

50. ❝
❞
Us
How much would
you pay for this?

51. ❝
❞
Us
How much would
you pay for this?

52. ❝
❞
Us
How much money
does this problem
cost you?

53. ❝
❞
Us
How much money
does this problem
cost you?

54. ❝
❞
Us
Is there a budget
for it?

55. ❝
❞
Us
Is there a budget
for it?

56. ❝
❞
Us
Who else should I
talk to?

57. ❝
❞
Us
Who else should I
talk to?

58. Good questions:
- Did or Do - NEVER Would
- Don’t assume preset (e.g. problems)
- Don’t ask for opinions but let them speak
about real examples/experiences.

59. The Perfect Question
“The Mother Test” - (c) @robfitz
Ask in a way that your mother could tell you that
your product is useless. Without her knowing.

60. So we had a meeting
Understanding Feedback

61. ❝
❞
Claudia
Sounds great. I
love it!

62. ❝
❞
Claudia
Sounds great. I
love it!
Only validates she is human.

63. ❝
❞
Jeremy
Brilliant -- let me
know when it
launches!

64. ❝
❞
Jeremy
Brilliant -- let me
know when it
launches!
Compliment
+ Stalling tactic
They don’t care

65. ❝
❞
Jeremy
There are a couple
people I can intro you
to, when you’re ready.

66. ❝
❞
Jeremy
There are a couple
people I can intro you
to, when you’re ready.
WHY NOT NOW?

67. ❝
❞
Claudia
I would definitely
buy that!

68. ❝
❞
Claudia
I would definitely
buy that!
DANGEROUS!
PEOPLE CANNOT PREDICT
THEIR OWN BEHAVIOUR.

69. ❝
❞
Jeremy
We are spending
500$ per month
on this :(

70. ❝
❞
Jeremy
We are spending
500$ per month
on this :(
Awesome feedback!
Proofs it is a problem, they
kind of solved it, and shows
their budget availability.

71. Opinions are worthless.
We look for:
- facts about their life/work
- and commitments
- “Think VS Do”
@andreasklinger

72. @andreasklinger
Part III:
Process of Customer Interviews

73. First:
Know what you want to learn (riskiest assumptions)
@andreasklinger
Process:
Find customers > Validate Problem > Validate Solution > Learn & Iterate

74. Finding Customers
Define customer segments
- as focused as possible
- as few as possible
Find 5-10 customers in each segment.

75. Finding Customers
Experts Advisors Advocates Prospects Customers
Your relationship with them changes over time:

76. Validate Problem
Define Assumptions about their Problem
Define Assumptions about current solutions
@andreasklinger
Split in different customer segments if needed

77. Validate Problem
#emminvest – @andreasklinger
Create Topic Maps
Group your assumptions to Topics.
Define non-leading Questions:
Eg. “people want to connect with
fashion labels”
How do you ask that?
“Do you want to connect” is leading.
“Which fashion brands do you know?”
“Why do you like them?”
“Oh that’s interesting. How did you find
out about that?”
“Ah via facebook?...” etc.

78. Action.
Get in groups and create topic maps,
customer segments and
non leading questions
@andreasklinger

79. Validate Problem The Interviews
Don’t be awkward:
- “We are looking for Expert Feedback” or
“Doing a Survey”
- not: “We do Customer Development”
- Ask open questions.
- Let them speak.
- Let them be the expert. (Ask naive)
- In person. No skype, no online surveys,
no phone, no email.
Don’t do more interviews if feedback
repeats. (No new learnings)
@andreasklinger

80. Validate Problem The Interviews
Second person takes notes
- No laptop
- Use IndexCards or Postits.
- Write down exact customer phrase
- Use Visual indicators ---------------->
Ask for further intros.
Ask “Is there anything you think i should
have asked”.
@andreasklinger

81. NEVER DELEGATE
INTERVIEWS
- Interviews should be done by
the product-deciders.
- Especially if they hate sales.
(they need to learn it)
@andreasklinger

82. Action.
Test run interviews.
Group into people who like ice-cream.
And people who want to build a unique
ice-cream startup idea.
@andreasklinger

83. Validate Problem Review
Review in the team
- Use exact wording by customer
- Understand their answers in their
context
- Don’t try to be correct with your
assumptions
- See what you learned.
@andreasklinger

84. Source: Custdev.com#emminvest – @andreasklinger
Validate Problem Review
- Write down new learnings (or new
assumptions)
- See which old assumptions turned out
to be wrong or right.
- Adapt your solution.

85. Source: Custdev.com
Validate Solution
- Come back to interviewees
- Focus first on their current solution.
- Discuss flaws of their current solution.
- Show mockups, screens, interactive demos.
- Get improvement feedback.
- Get them to commit.
- Or iterate.
If it solves a problem you don’t need to sell (much)
@andreasklinger

86. If you were wrong. Be happy.
Several of the biggest startup successes started out wrong.
You still have money, team and energy to iterate or pivot.

87. Summary
- Know what you want to learn.
- Narrow your customer segment
- Formulate your assumptions.
- Define biggest questions (topic map).
- Ask non leading, open questions.
- Ask about experience not opinions.
- Understand their feedback in their context.
- Filter “Nice Human Behaviour” and Opinions.
- Adapt with your learnings. Iterate your product.
TL;DR: Use custdev to doublecheck your assumptions and product.
Never bias in customer interviews.
@andreasklinger

88. Read on
Highly recommended:
Rob Fitzpatrick’s Collection of best Custdev Videos - @robfitz
http://www.hackertalks.io
@andreasklinger

89. Tweet & share
@andreasklinger
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“Actionable Customer Development for Startups” - A workshop by @andreasklinger -
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90. Thank you :)
@andreasklinger
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