Article

How To Do Customer Interviews

Joe Miller

Published on: January 10th, 2012

This post was previously on the Pathfinder Software site. Pathfinder Software changed its name to Orthogonal in 2016. Read more.

Orthogonal CEO Bernhard Kappe and Broker Savant’s Todd Wyder talk on how to do problem and solution interviews at the Chicago Lean Startup Circle.

Too many entrepreneurs follow the “Field of Dreams” approach to product development. As entrepreneurs, we hear a little voice in our head, and it says “if you build it, they will come”.

Maybe the voice is right. Maybe it is wrong. Either way interviewing your potential customers will give you significant insight into developing your product or service if you ask the right questions. The difference between asking questions, and asking the right questions is huge. Asking the right questions can make all the difference. You can build tthe most innovative, technically sound product imaginable, but unless you validate that the product is something that consumers want all your effort is pointless.

Watch this video to avoid the critical mistakes that most first timers make, and get the most out of your interviews.

Customer interviews are a critical step in the lean startup methodology. Get them right, and you’re on the way to increase the chances of the success of your new venture. Get them wrong, and you’re likely to wander in the wilderness until you run out of time and money.