The Mom Test ne parle pas tant que \u00e7a de daronnes mais \u00e7a reste quand m\u00eame un excellent ouvrage pour remettre quelques pendules \u00e0 l\u2019heure concernant les entretiens exploratoires. C\u2019est un bouquin d\u2019une grosse centaine de page qui se lira facilement en une soir\u00e9e ou deux.
\n\n\nIn addition to ensuring that you aren\u2019t asking trivialities, you also need to search out the world-rocking scary questions you\u2019ve been unintentionally shrinking from. The best way to find them is with thought experiments. Imagine that the company has failed and ask why that happened. Then imagine it as a huge success and ask what had to be true to get there. Find ways to learn about those critical pieces.
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\n\nLearning that your beliefs are wrong is frustrating, but it\u2019s progress. It\u2019s bringing you ever closer to the truth of a real problem and a good market. The worst thing you can do is ignore the bad news while searching for some tiny grain of validation to celebrate. You want the truth, not a gold star.
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\n\nCommitment can be cash, but doesn\u2019t have to be. Think of it in terms of currency\u2014what are they giving up for you? A compliment costs them nothing, so it\u2019s worth nothing and carries no data. The major currencies are time, reputation risk, and cash.
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\n\nThe framing format I like has five key elements. You\u2019re an entrepreneur trying to solve horrible problem X, usher in wonderful vision Y, or fix stagnant industry Z. Don\u2019t mention your idea. Frame expectations by mentioning what stage you\u2019re at and, if it\u2019s true, that you don\u2019t have anything to sell. Show weakness and give them a chance to help by mentioning the specific problem that you\u2019re looking for answers on. This will also clarify that you\u2019re not a time waster. Put them on a pedestal by showing how much they, in particular, can help. Explicitly ask for help. Or, in shorter form: Vision / Framing / Weakness / Pedestal / Ask
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\n\nThis isn\u2019t about having a thousand meetings. It\u2019s about quickly learning what you need, and then getting back to building your business. The overall process of learning is never finished, but in most cases you should be able to answer almost any individual question about your business or your customers (and then move onto new ones) within a week.
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\n\nGetting specific about your ideal customers allows you to filter out all the noise which comes from everyone else. In our case, we eventually noticed unusually strong signals from creative agencies who wanted to be edgy. We ignored everyone who wasn\u2019t them, cut a bunch of features and were finally able to get a sense of what was working and what wasn\u2019t.
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\n\nTalking to customers is a tool, not an obligation. If it\u2019s not going to help or you don\u2019t want to do it for whatever reason, just skip it. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ve been on the receiving end of a half-assed survey sent out by some new startup to tick the box marked \u201clearn from customers\u201d on their startup todo list. There are better ways to waste your time. Without figuring out what actually matters to your company and how to deal with it effectively, you\u2019re just going through the motions.
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