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@NYUEntrepreneur
Talking to Humans:
The Art of Customer Discovery
Frank Rimalovski
Executive Director, NYU Entrepreneurial Institute
Instructor, NSF I-Corps
November 17, 2015
4
2B. Story

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Customer Development
Test assumptions
about customer
needs/problem
& develop MVPs
Seek validation
that people are
interested in
your product/
solution
Begins to build
demand &
improve
efficiency of
customer
acquisition
Drive growth
aggressively
& execute
business model

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Why are we here?
Share ideas, tips, tricks and
secrets on how to best do
customer discovery

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@NYUEntrepreneur
“You can’t just
ask customers
what they
want and then
try to give that
to them.”

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@NYUEntrepreneur
“New ideas come
from watching
something,
talk(ing) to people,
experimenting,
asking questions
and getting out of
the office!”

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@NYUEntrepreneur
The Business Model Canvas
Revenue Streams
Channels
Customer SegmentsValue PropositionsKey ActivitiesKey Partners
Key Resources
Cost Structure
Customer Relationships
Designed by: Date: Version:Designed for:
What are the most important costs inherent in our business model?
Which Key Resources are most expensive?
Which Key Activities are most expensive?
is your business more
Cost Driven (leanest cost structure, low price value proposition, maximum automation, extensive outsourcing)
Value Driven (focused on value creation, premium value proposition)
sample characteristics
Fixed Costs (salaries, rents, utilities)
Variable costs
Economies of scale
Economies of scope
Through which Channels do our Customer Segments
want to be reached?
How are we reaching them now?
How are our Channels integrated?
Which ones work best?
Which ones are most cost-efficient?
How are we integrating them with customer routines?
channel phases
1. Awareness
How do we raise awareness about our company’s products and services?
2. Evaluation
How do we help customers evaluate our organization’s Value Proposition?
3. Purchase
How do we allow customers to purchase specific products and services?
4. Delivery
How do we deliver a Value Proposition to customers?
5. After sales
How do we provide post-purchase customer support?
For what value are our customers really willing to pay?
For what do they currently pay?
How are they currently paying?
How would they prefer to pay?
How much does each Revenue Stream contribute to overall revenues?
For whom are we creating value?
Who are our most important customers?
Mass Market
Niche Market
Segmented
Diversified
Multi-sided Platform
What type of relationship does each of our Customer
Segments expect us to establish and maintain with them?
Which ones have we established?
How are they integrated with the rest of our business model?
How costly are they?
examples
Personal assistance
Dedicated Personal Assistance
Self-Service
Automated Services
Communities
Co-creation
What Key Activities do our Value Propositions require?
Our Distribution Channels?
Customer Relationships?
Revenue streams?
categories
Production
Problem Solving
Platform/Network
What Key Resources do our Value Propositions require?
Our Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships?
Revenue Streams?
types of resources
Physical
Intellectual (brand patents, copyrights, data)
Human
Financial
Who are our Key Partners?
Who are our key suppliers?
Which Key Resources are we acquiring from partners?
Which Key Activities do partners perform?
motivations for partnerships
Optimization and economy
Reduction of risk and uncertainty
Acquisition of particular resources and activities
What value do we deliver to the customer?
Which one of our customer’s problems are we helping to solve?
What bundles of products and services are we
offering to each Customer Segment?
Which customer needs are we satisfying?
characteristics
Newness
Performance
Customization
“Getting the Job Done”
Design
Brand/Status
Price
Cost Reduction
Risk Reduction
Accessibility
Convenience/Usability
types
Asset sale
Usage fee
Subscription Fees
Lending/Renting/Leasing
Licensing
Brokerage fees
Advertising
fixed pricing
List Price
Product feature dependent
Customer segment
dependent
Volume dependent
dynamic pricing
Negotiation (bargaining)
Yield Management
Real-time-Market
Hypotheses & the BMC
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis
Hypothesis

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@NYUEntrepreneur
More than half
of your assumptions
are wrong!
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Your job is not to validate
your product…
Your job is not to validate
your product…
It’s to validate the
problem and how best to
solve it?

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Customer Discovery
u Apply the scientific method to
business model development
Modify
hypothesis
Observe
phenomena
Formulate
hypothesis
Test
hypothesis
via rigorous
experiments
Establish
theory
based on
repeated
validation of
results
PIVOT!

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Create Valid Hypotheses
u Hypotheses must be falsifiable
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“Our product will spread
through word of mouth.”

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Create Valid Hypotheses
u Hypotheses must be falsifiable
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“our viral coefficient over the
next 12 months will be >0.5”

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Create Valid Hypotheses
u Hypotheses must be falsifiable
u Be specific (quantifiable)
u You must avoid validation
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“people want to buy my
product”

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Create Valid Hypotheses
u Hypotheses must be falsifiable
u Be specific (quantifiable)
u You must avoid validation
u Inverse hypothesis cannot be
ridiculous
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“people want to save money”

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Talk to Humans!
u GOTB: The #1
lesson of this talk
u In person is best
u You must gain
insight into your
customer & market
u You are doing pattern recognition…
Must have sufficient data points to see
2B. Story

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Who do you want to learn from?3A. Who Do You Want To Learn From (Inked)
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Who Cares?

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Meet People You Don’t Know
u People you know will be nice and tell
you what you want to hear
u Those interviews are possibly harmful
u People you don’t know have no
relationship to protect…Only they will
tell you the truth

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@NYUEntrepreneur

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@NYUEntrepreneur
What do you want to learn?4D. What Do You Want To Learn
19

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@NYUEntrepreneur
What do you want to learn?
20
The Business Model Canvas
Revenue Streams
Channels
Customer SegmentsValue PropositionsKey ActivitiesKey Partners
Key Resources
Cost Structure
Customer Relationships
Designed by: Date: Version:Designed for:
designed by: Strategyzer AG
The makers of Business Model Generation and Strategyzer
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
strategyzer.com
What are the most important costs inherent in our business model?
Which Key Resources are most expensive?
Which Key Activities are most expensive?
is your business more
Cost Driven (leanest cost structure, low price value proposition, maximum automation, extensive outsourcing)
Value Driven (focused on value creation, premium value proposition)
sample characteristics
Fixed Costs (salaries, rents, utilities)
Variable costs
Economies of scale
Economies of scope
Through which Channels do our Customer Segments
want to be reached?
How are we reaching them now?
How are our Channels integrated?
Which ones work best?
Which ones are most cost-efficient?
How are we integrating them with customer routines?
channel phases
1. Awareness
How do we raise awareness about our company’s products and services?
2. Evaluation
How do we help customers evaluate our organization’s Value Proposition?
3. Purchase
How do we allow customers to purchase specific products and services?
4. Delivery
How do we deliver a Value Proposition to customers?
5. After sales
How do we provide post-purchase customer support?
For what value are our customers really willing to pay?
For what do they currently pay?
How are they currently paying?
How would they prefer to pay?
How much does each Revenue Stream contribute to overall revenues?
For whom are we creating value?
Who are our most important customers?
Mass Market
Niche Market
Segmented
Diversified
Multi-sided Platform
What type of relationship does each of our Customer
Segments expect us to establish and maintain with them?
Which ones have we established?
How are they integrated with the rest of our business model?
How costly are they?
examples
Personal assistance
Dedicated Personal Assistance
Self-Service
Automated Services
Communities
Co-creation
What Key Activities do our Value Propositions require?
Our Distribution Channels?
Customer Relationships?
Revenue streams?
categories
Production
Problem Solving
Platform/Network
What Key Resources do our Value Propositions require?
Our Distribution Channels? Customer Relationships?
Revenue Streams?
types of resources
Physical
Intellectual (brand patents, copyrights, data)
Human
Financial
Who are our Key Partners?
Who are our key suppliers?
Which Key Resources are we acquiring from partners?
Which Key Activities do partners perform?
motivations for partnerships
Optimization and economy
Reduction of risk and uncertainty
Acquisition of particular resources and activities
What value do we deliver to the customer?
Which one of our customer’s problems are we helping to solve?
What bundles of products and services are we
offering to each Customer Segment?
Which customer needs are we satisfying?
characteristics
Newness
Performance
Customization
“Getting the Job Done”
Design
Brand/Status
Price
Cost Reduction
Risk Reduction
Accessibility
Convenience/Usability
types
Asset sale
Usage fee
Subscription Fees
Lending/Renting/Leasing
Licensing
Brokerage fees
Advertising
fixed pricing
List Price
Product feature dependent
Customer segment
dependent
Volume dependent
dynamic pricing
Negotiation (bargaining)
Yield Management
Real-time-Market

21.
@NYUEntrepreneur
Don’t Assume
You Understand
the Problem!

22.
@NYUEntrepreneur
Don’t Assume You
Understand the Problem!

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@NYUEntrepreneur
What do you want to learn?
u Do not sell! No demos! No presos!
u You are there to learn!
u Get stories, not speculation
u Ask open-ended questions
u Learn about their problems and how they
solve them today
u Ask why? Then why? They why again!
u Create a guide (not a script)
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Finding Interview Subjects5A. How Do You Find Your Interview Subjects (Inked)
24

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Finding Interview Subjects
u At least one degree of separation
u Learn to love LinkedIn
u Make referrals happen
u Get creative…recruiting hacks
u Fish where the fish are…
u …In the wild
u Promise to be brief
u Enterprise customers are people too!
u Play the student/researcher card
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Ensuring Effective Interviews6B. How To Ensure An Effective Session (Draft)
26

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Ensuring Effective Interviews
u Beware of confirmation bias
u Do it in person, one at a time
u Get subjects to tell a story
u Look for solution hacks
u Understand their priorities
u Follow your nose & drill down
u Listen and STFU!
u Have someone take notes
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Pro Tips
u Practice, practice, practice
u NO email, focus groups or surveys
u Don’t start with your dream customer
u Being an entrepreneur means being
aggressive & persistent
u Flatter subjects
u Be transparent
u Follow up/stay in touch
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@NYUEntrepreneur29
“It's grueling
listening to
customer
feedback. And
if it isn't, you're
probably
doing it
wrong."

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Exercise
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Your Last >$100 Purchase
1. Write description of item on top of page
2. Find a partner next to you & swap pages
3. Create interview guide: ~5 questions
u Explain what you bought and why?
u What was the process from desire to acquisition?
u What other options/alternatives did you consider?
u How did you decide to buy it? Who/what did you consult?
u How did you decide where to buy it?
4. 5 minute interview…take notes
5. Switch

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Discuss: Observations,
challenges & questions
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Documenting Interviews
u Assign someone to take notes
u Write down key a-ha’s as they happen
u Note questions that worked & use
them again!
u Take pictures or videos!
u Capture key insights

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Making Sense of What You Learn7B. How Do You Make Sense Of What You Learn
(Draft)
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@NYUEntrepreneur
Gaining Insight
u Facts are interesting…Insights are your goal
u Be honest…Don’t be too quick to validate or
too slow to disprove your hypothesis
u Find the hidden motivations
u Ask why? And why? Then why again?
u Don’t fear picking the wrong market
u Depth of understanding always leads to
insight

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@NYUEntrepreneur
What’s an insight?
(the a-ha’s along your journey)

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@NYUEntrepreneur
in•sight |ˈinˌsīt|
noun
the capacity to gain an
accurate and deep intuitive
understanding of a person
or thing

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@NYUEntrepreneur
in•sight |ˈinˌsīt|
noun
something you’re so excited
about you tell strangers on
the train

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Learning Is Paramount
u The knowledge you gain in customer
discovery is critical to the success or
failure of your business
u >Half of your assumptions are wrong
u You must not try to validate what you
already think or want to be true

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Pro Tips v2
u Focus on actual behavior, not
speculative or abstract feelings
u If they’ve made an MVP…ask to see it!
u Listen, don’t talk
u Parrot back or misrepresent to confirm
u Ask for introductions
u Write up your notes ASAP
u Avoid premature conclusions

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Customer Discovery Resources
TALKING
TO HUMANS
Success starts with understanding
your customers
GIFF CONSTABLE
Pre-release edition
with Frank Rimalovski
and illustrations by Tom Fishburne
bit.ly/llpcdvstalkingtohumans.com

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@NYUEntrepreneur
Questions?
entrepreneur@nyu.edu
@rimalovski
entrepreneur.nyu.edu
16 Washington Place, NYC
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