Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble, emphasizes the importance of talking to users when starting a company. Founders should engage directly with users and extract information from them at different stages. Successful companies have founders who communicate with users, including CEOs, engineers, and developers. Founders should develop user communication skills to avoid relying on others. To successfully build a company, two essential tasks are coding/building the product and talking to users. The video provides tactical advice on planning a user interview strategy and offers questions and strategies for conducting interviews. The importance of asking open-ended questions, understanding the user's life and context, and prioritizing listening over talking are highlighted. The video also discusses five great questions to ask during early customer interviews, focusing on understanding the customer's problem, impact, current solutions, desired outcome, and decision-making process. Talking to users is beneficial at all stages of a company. Three critical phases where talking to users is important are the idea stage, prototype stage, and iteration stage after launching. Tips and frameworks are provided for each phase. The Superhuman Product-Market Fit Engine is introduced as a system to guide startups towards achieving product-market fit in the launched stage. Founders are advised to include contact information in the signup flow, prioritize user-requested features, and focus on specific feedback during user interviews. Overall, talking to users is crucial for understanding their needs and improving products.
Introduction
- Eric Migicovsky, founder of Pebble, emphasizes the importance of talking to users when starting a company.
- Understanding and communicating with users is crucial for building a successful business.
Best founders maintain a direct connection to users
The best founders maintain a direct connection to users throughout their company's lifespan. They understand the importance of extracting information from users at different stages. Successful companies have founders who engage directly with users, including CEOs, engineers, and developers. Founders should develop user communication skills to avoid relying on others.
- Founders should engage directly with users
- Extracting information from users is important at different stages
- Successful companies have founders who communicate with users
- CEOs, engineers, and developers should participate in user communication
- Founders should develop user communication skills to avoid relying on others.
Write code and talk to users
To successfully build a company, two essential tasks are coding/building the product and talking to users. This video provides tactical advice on planning a user interview strategy and offers questions and strategies for conducting interviews.
The Mom Test book - Three common errors when conducting user interviews
- Relying on friends and family for feedback
- Failing to ask the right questions
- Seeking validation rather than honest feedback
1. Talk about their life, not your idea
- The focus of a user interview should be on the user's life, not on pitching your own idea.
- The goal is to gather information to improve the product, marketing, or positioning.
- Avoid selling the product during the interview.
2. Talk specifics, not hypotheticals
- Focus on specific experiences and situations that users have already encountered
- Understand the user's life and the context that led them to their problem
- Gather valuable information to make informed decisions about your product or company
- Avoid discussing hypotheticals or potential features
- Extract information about the user's motivations and the path that led them to their problem
3. Listen, don’t talk
- Prioritize listening over talking in user interviews
- Actively listen and take notes to gather valuable information about users' experiences and preferences
- Use a data-driven approach to bring concrete facts and insights back to the team
Five great questions that everyone can ask during their early customer interviews
- The video discusses five great questions to ask during early customer interviews, with the first question focusing on understanding the customer's problem.
Key points:
- The importance of asking open-ended questions to encourage customers to share their problems and challenges.
- The significance of actively listening to customers' responses and asking follow-up questions to gain deeper insights.
- The second question revolves around understanding the impact of the problem on the customer's life or business.
- The third question focuses on exploring the customer's current solutions or alternatives they have tried.
- The fourth question delves into understanding the customer's desired outcome or goal.
- The final question centers around understanding the customer's decision-making process and criteria.
1. What is the hardest part about [doing this thing]?
- The hardest part about creating a successful startup is identifying and solving a problem that real users face and actively want to solve in their lives.
- Engage in open-ended conversations with potential users.
- Ask specific questions about their pain points and current methods of addressing them.
- Understand the specific challenges users face.
- Develop solutions that are truly valuable and impactful.
2. When is the last time you encountered this problem?
- Understanding the context in which users encounter a problem is crucial for developing a product that meets their needs.
- Asking when the user last encountered the problem can provide valuable information about the circumstances.
- This includes details about who they were working with, the task they were working on, and the specific problem they faced.
3. Why was this hard?
- Students often face difficulties when working on shared projects
- Understanding the specific challenges they encounter is crucial
- Identifying the exact problem to be solved is important for effective marketing
- Customers are more interested in the "why" behind a product
- Addressing their specific needs and problems can inform marketing and sales copy
4. What, if anything, have you done to solve this problem?
Understanding whether customers are actively seeking solutions to a problem is crucial before attempting to solve it. To determine this, ask potential customers about their previous attempts to solve the problem and the tools they have used. This helps assess competition and the potential market. Additionally, identify what customers dislike or find lacking in current solutions.
5. What don’t you love about the solution you already tried?
Understanding the problems users have with existing solutions is crucial for developing a better solution. Users may not be good at identifying the next features they want, so focusing on their specific problems is important. This information helps differentiate the new solution from existing ones in the market. Talking to users is beneficial at all stages of a company.
- Importance of understanding user problems with existing solutions
- Users may not be good at identifying desired features
- Focusing on specific problems helps develop a better solution
- Differentiating the new solution from existing ones in the market
- Talking to users is beneficial at all stages of a company
Three critical phases to a early-stage company – Talking to users is extremely beneficial
- Talking to users is extremely beneficial for early-stage companies
- Three critical phases where talking to users is important: the idea stage, the prototype stage, and the iteration stage after launching
- Specific tips to guide the journey in each phase
1.1. Idea stage - Find first users with problem
To find first users for your idea:
- Test your user interview strategy on yourself and walk through a situation where you've encountered the problem.
- Talk to friends and coworkers for warm introductions.
- Conduct unbiased and detailed customer or user interviews instead of pitching your idea.
- Show up in person to specific target customer bases.
- Attend industry events to interact with potential customers.
1.2. Idea stage – Tips
In the idea stage, gathering information from users is crucial. Here are some tips to make the most of user interviews:
- Bring a friend or co-founder to help take notes or record the conversation.
- Capture as much information as possible and keep the conversation casual.
- Start with a few user interviews to improve the process.
- Be mindful of the other person's time and aim for a ten to fifteen minute initial chat.
2.1. Prototype stage - Identify your best first customer
Testing your prototype with users is important to gather feedback and identify your best first customer. Choosing the wrong first customer can limit growth and prevent payment. A framework has been created to assist in this process.
- Testing prototypes with users is crucial for gathering feedback and finding the best first customer.
- Selecting the wrong first customer can hinder growth and payment.
- A framework exists to aid in the identification of the best first customer.
2.2. Prototype stage – Framework to identify your best first customer
During the prototype stage, it is important to identify the best first customers. To do this, ask customers three key questions:
- How much does this problem cost them today? This helps determine the potential revenue or expenses associated with solving the problem.
- How frequently do they encounter this problem? Problems that occur more frequently are more ideal as customers feel the pain regularly and are more open to a solution.
- How large is their budget for solving this problem? It is crucial to ensure that customers have the authority and resources to solve the problem.
In the prototype stage, a framework can be used to identify the best first customer. This involves creating a spreadsheet to gather information from user surveys and using a simple stack rank to prioritize the best answers. This framework helps in finding the most suitable customers for the product.
3.1. Launched stage – Superhuman Product-Market Fit Engine
The Superhuman Product-Market Fit Engine is a real-time quantitative system that guides startups towards achieving product-market fit in the launched stage. By asking users a critical question on a weekly basis, the system measures the percentage of users who would be "very disappointed" if they could no longer use the product. If 40% or more of the user base reports this, the product has achieved product-market fit and will experience exponential growth. The system helps determine if product features are benefiting or detracting from product-market fit.
3.2 Launched stage – Tips
Tips for founders during the launched stage:
- Include contact information in the signup flow to talk directly to users
- Avoid designing by committee and prioritize user-requested features
- Discard irrelevant data during user interviews and focus on specific feedback
conclusion
In conclusion, Eric Migicovsky emphasizes the importance of talking to users and offers to answer any questions.
- Talking to users is crucial for understanding their needs and improving products.
- Eric Migicovsky is open to answering any questions from users.
- User feedback is valuable for product development and innovation.