Customer Interviews

What it is

Interviews logged, then summed up. Your mentee plans questions, logs each interview, then reads a summary of the answers.

When to send it

Send it before they build. It helps most while the problem itself is still unproven.

• A new ideabefore the first build
• Mixed signalspeople like it, nobody buys
• A new kind of customerbefore selling to them

Filling it in

Plan, talk, then read the summary. Write your questions, log each interview right after it, then read the summary.

1. Write what you want to learnThen your questions: ask about the past, do not pitch.
2. Log each interview right after itFill in at least who and how big the problem is.
3. Read the summaryThen write what you learned and what changes.

Reading the answers

Count commitments, not compliments. How many agreed to a next step says more than how many liked it.

• Interviewshow many were logged
• Have a big problemthe share who said big
• Agreed to a next stepanother meeting, a trial or payment

Questions to ask

Ask about the answers. People who ask follow-up questions are liked more (Huang and others, 2017).

• Which answer surprised you most?then: what would it change?
• Where did people only say nice things?then: what had they actually done?
• Who should you talk to next?then: how will you reach them?

Why it works

Asking about what people did, not what they think of your idea, gives answers you can act on. A step towards a trial or a payment tells you more than praise.

Sources

• Fitzpatrick (2013). The Mom Test. Practice guide.

How a tool works on Mentornity

1. 1The mentor picks a tool from the library and sends it with a short message.
2. 2The mentee fills it in step by step; the answers are saved as they go.
3. 3Both see the answers, comment on any part and agree the next steps.
4. 4Only the two of them see the answers, not the program admins.

Guides for both sides

• Customer Interviews for MentorsFor mentors and coaches: when to send Customer Interviews, how to read the summary, which questions to ask and how to agree the next interviews.
• Customer Interviews for MenteesFor mentees and founders: what Customer Interviews is, how to plan and log your interviews, where to find it and what your mentor does with it.

More tools: Venture

• Assumption Map20 min

  List what must be true for your idea to work. Rate each assumption, then plan a test for the riskiest one.

• Pre-mortem15 min

  Imagine your plan has failed a year from now and list why. Rate each reason, then plan for the worst three.

• Session Brief10 min

  Before the session, write where you are and the one question you want answered. The time goes to that question.

• Experiment Card15 min

  Turn one belief into a small test. Set the bar for success before you run it.

• Pitch Rehearsal20 min

  Plan your slides with a time for each, then rehearse against the clock. Each run is kept so you can see the change.

• Unit Economics15 min

  Enter four numbers and see what one customer is worth, and how long it takes to earn back what you spent to win them.

• Cash Runway10 min

  Enter your cash, costs and growth. See how many months the money lasts and whether revenue catches up in time.

• Monthly Update10 min

  Once a month: last month’s goals, one key number, a win, a difficulty, and what you need. Sent every month, it shows the trend.

All tools →