Comment by sebastiennight
Comment by sebastiennight 5 days ago
I was going to mention The Mom Test when I saw the title of your Ask HN, so I'll dive a bit deeper because it's IMHO the most important book I read when starting my current startup[0] and it's what took us to first sale before the MVP was even available.
> before investing in your idea, talk to potential customers to see if anyone wants it or not.
I would reframe this a bit, otherwise someone not familiar with the book will take from your quote the exact opposite lesson from the one taught in The Mom Test. I believe the main lesson from the book is:
- Don't talk to people about your ideas
- Ask people about their actual use cases and frustrations
- Figure out where they're struggling, investing effort and money. Let them talk
- Don't ask people about your idea and don't ask them if they want it or not. You're only trying to validate the problem.
Questions to ask:
What's the hardest thing about [doing this thing]?
Tell me about the last time you encountered that problem...
Why was that hard?
What, if anything, have you done to try to solve the problem?
What don't you love about the solutions you've tried?
[0]: https://www.onetake.ai (an autonomous AI video editor for SMBs)
>don't ask them if they want it or not
After reading the book my understanding was to not even ask this question. See if they have already tried to solve the problem by looking for another app or going to excruciating lengths to solve it another way. If yes, then they will probably buy your product.