Entrepreneurship and StartupsEntrepreneurial Mindset

• Explanation: The “Mom Test” is a set of rules for crafting questions and conducting conversations such that even your mother cannot lie to you (out of kindness or a desire to not hurt your feelings). This boils down to asking questions about their actual lives and specific details instead of hypothetical situations or opinions.

• Concrete Example: Instead of asking, “Do you think this app is a good idea?” you should ask, “How do you currently solve this problem?” This forces the person to talk about their actual experiences and needs.

• Action: When talking to potential customers, always frame your questions to prompt stories about the past or present instead of speculative future behaviors or abstract opinions.

• Explanation: People often lie to you unintentionally because they want to be nice. Family and friends are particularly prone to giving you educated guesses or biased feedback. Even strangers can sometimes want to give you supportive answers rather than honest criticism.

• Concrete Example: Imagine you’re developing a fitness app. A common bad-question-example might be, “Would you use an app that helps track workouts?” A better approach would be asking, “How do you currently track your workouts, if at all?”

• Action: Focus on specifics and behaviors that indicate real pain points and needs. Always try to understand what the person actually did rather than what they think or say they would do.

• Explanation: People tend to make up scenarios and answer based on an ideal version of themselves. However, their actual behavior gives more reliable data.

• Concrete Example: Suppose you’re interested in building a recipe app. Avoid questions like, “Would you like an app that provides new recipes?” Instead, ask, “Can you tell me about the last time you looked up a recipe? How did you do it?”

• Action: Frame your questions to uncover concrete actions and challenges people have faced. Their behavior will guide you towards more accurate customer insights.

• Explanation: Compliments can mislead you into believing there’s more demand or interest in your idea than there actually is. They are comfort questions that make you feel good but are ultimately useless.

• Concrete Example: When you present your business idea, you might hear, “That sounds great!” Instead of probing further, many entrepreneurs might take this as validation. However, a more effective approach is to dig deeper: “Can you walk me through what you currently do and how you would replace it with our solution?”

• Action: Whenever someone says something positive about your idea, respond by asking for specifics, past behaviors, or details about how they currently solve the problem.

• Explanation: Formal settings can intimidate people or make them feel they need to give you the ‘right’ answer. Informal, casual conversations open people up to being more honest and sharing real truths.

• Concrete Example: Imagine trying to validate a business idea for a meal prep service. Instead of a formal interview, you might casually ask a friend over coffee, “How do you usually handle cooking during the week?”

• Action: When organizing customer conversations, aim for a relaxed environment where people feel comfortable sharing genuine experiences and insights.

• Explanation: Pitches often lead you to try and sell an idea rather than learning about the customer’s real needs. Valuable discussions come from understanding, not selling.

• Concrete Example: Instead of presenting a detailed pitch about a new eco-friendly toothbrush, ask, “What considerations go into choosing your current toothbrush? Have you looked into eco-friendly options before?”

• Action: Focus on understanding customers’ problems and needs before pitching your solution. Let the problem guide you in shaping the features and functionalities of your offering.

• Explanation: Not every customer will convert, and much can be learned from these failures. Analyzing why someone didn’t buy provides critical insights into potential weaknesses or oversights in your product or concept.

• Concrete Example: If potential clients reject your software subscription service, follow up by asking, “What was most important to you that we didn’t offer?” or “What could have made this more useful for you?”

• Action: Create a follow-up routine where you speak to people who didn’t convert, understanding their reasons and iteratively improving your product based on their feedback.

• Explanation: Customer discovery isn’t a one-time task. It’s an ongoing process that needs deliberate effort and consistency to gather useful data.

• Concrete Example: Entrepreneurs who set specific goals like “talk to five customers each week” are more likely to gather comprehensive insights than those who handle customer interviews ad hoc.

• Action: Schedule regular customer interviews and set tangible goals for how many people you will speak with each week or month. Constantly refine your questions based on the feedback you receive.

• Explanation: Negative feedback can be valuable as it highlights areas needing improvement. It should be welcomed and probed for better understanding.

• Concrete Example: If someone criticizes an aspect of your prototype, don’t get defensive. Ask, “Can you tell me more about why this didn’t work for you?” or “How would you improve it?”

• Action: Develop a mindset that appreciates critical feedback as a lever for growth. Train yourself to ask follow-up questions to dig deeper into any critiques given.

• Explanation: Instead of vague generalizations, entrepreneurs should strive to quantify feedback. Numbers, frequencies, and specifics provide clearer guidance.

• Concrete Example: After learning that users are interested in a new feature, don’t just note that. Instead, record data like “25 out of 30 users interviewed said they would pay for Feature X.”

• Action: For every customer conversation, track specific metrics like how many people expressed a certain need or issue. Use this data to prioritize product features or alterations.

• Explanation: Understanding the emotional context behind a problem is key to crafting a solution that truly resonates with users.

• Concrete Example: When looking into a stress management app, don’t only ask about stressors. Ask questions like, “How does it feel when you are most stressed? What efforts have failed to help you in the past?”

• Action: Incorporate questions that aim to uncover emotional responses and the broader context of the problem. This will help in designing solutions that better fit the user’s emotional needs.

Entrepreneurship and StartupsEntrepreneurial Mindset