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Paul OrlandoVenture Partner & Adjunct Professor @porlando
The Minimum Viable Product,Customer Discovery Interviews
& Why Few Know What They Are
What causes the most difficulty for early-stage companies?
…How can we solve this?
The MVP
“The minimum viable product is that version of a new product which allows a team to collect the maximum amount of validated learning about customers with the least effort.” -- Eric Ries
What They Say…
The MVP
“Our MVP is the crappy version of what we’re going to build later.”
-- most new companies talking about MVPs
What We Hear…
The MVP
“blah blah blah get validated learning blah blah blah use least effort blah blah
and have testable hypotheses.” -- me
New Translation…
Solve Problems
Satisfy Needs
Fuel Addictions
Ideal Customers
1. They have a problem2. Are aware of having a problem3. Have been actively searching for a solution4. Have hacked together a solution5. Have or can acquire a budget
MVP technique What it is
In-person Interviews
Talk to people to learn about them and their problems
Landing Page / Adwords
Use a product description to test actions from lots of people
Mockup / Wireframe
Paper or digital non-functioning iterations to test reactions
“Parasite” Ride on top of an existing network to speed up data collection
Concierge People do work of a not yet built system
Video Show what it’s like to use it
Prototype Actually build a basic version
MVP technique What can go wrong
In-person Interviews
Delays, Bad interviewers, Wrong interviewees, Can’t find interviewees
Landing Page / Adwords
Don’t know what to measure, distribution
Mockup / Wireframe
Disbelief, No data collection, Becomes design and feature focused
“Parasite” Disbelief
Concierge Can’t actually build it
Video Cost distribution
Prototype Time, cost, can’t build it
All Can’t get enough people (or the right people) involved
The Siren Song of the Startup Survey
Would you like to take a survey so I can feel like I’m learning something?
Startup Weekend Surveys Gone Wrong
We built a website and mobile app to let you find free fruits and vegetables near you as well as share yours with others. Would you use it?
How much would you be willing to pay for a consumer product that creates a stable “sand free” zone at the beach?
Startup Weekend Surveys Gone Wrong
Startup Weekend Surveys Gone Wrong
How to Interview - test
How much would you pay for this?
How to Interview – is this a good question?
How much would you pay for this?
How to Interview – is this a good question?
How much would you pay for this?
No hypothetical q
uestions
The Mom Test.*
Talk about their life, not your idea.Ask about specifics in the past.Future-tense opinions are lies. You gain nothing by convincing them.
* Thanks to Salim Virani and Rob Fitzpatrick
How to Interview – Sample questions
Why do you do that? Tell me more about that.When does that happen? In what situations does this happen?
How to Interview – Sample questions
Who else is affected by this? Tell me about the last time you dealt with this.
How to Interview – Sample questions
If you had a magic wand, what would you do or change?
How to Interview – Sample questions
What else should I have asked? Other people have to told me that...
I actually have a [thing] available now. You can [download / buy] it here.
How to Interview
Know what you want to learn.
No hypothetical questions.
Testing action is better than asking a question.
Take notes.
Then what?
The forgotten hypotheses...
