Simplify the Complex:
Innovation is a Process
- Introduction
- Innovation is a Process
- Overview of Early Product Management
- Customer Segmentation
- Customer Discovery & Validation
- Observation
- Interviews
- Screening
- Recruiting
- What to ask? (Interview Script)
- How to Analyze Feedback
- About the Homework
About this Session
In order to set a solid foundation and simplify our journey in the future, we need to build a sound strategy off of well-executed customer research. In our first session, we review the actual benchmarks product-market fit benchmarks for pre-seed startups. Then we use a cheeky example (The Taco Crawl) to highlight the stages of early product-management.
With this strong foundational understanding, we then jump into Customer Segmentation and our first hypotheses regarding our early-vangelist. With those hypotheses, we learn the step-by-step plan to leverage observation and interviews, to start learning what we need to define the Most Valuable Problem.
Two Week To-Do’s
Schedule 20 Interviews
- Use the Defining the Early-Vangelist (Google Worksheet)
- Start by created 2-3 hypothetical customer segments that fit the Early-Vangelist description
- Using those descriptions, craft a social post to request interviews and an email template for the same (See slides)
- Get them scheduled – at least 10 before the next session
- While you are waiting for the interview dates to come…
Execute at least 10 interviews
- Use the Big Book of Interview Questions to create your interview script
- Execute at least 10 before next session 2/25
- Code your findings in the Industry & Customer Research Tracking spreadsheet
Observe: Identify 3-5 Facebook, Reddit, or other group forums where your target hangs out
- Ask your own question posing as your target, and/or answer your targets’ questions
- Record Insights
Review your Individual Assessment
- Find your assessment on Google Drive, it’s a Google Doc
- Inside you’ll find Lindsay’s writing in red
- Use the comments feature to correspond with her
Inner Circle Facebook Post Prompt
Post your introduction with an #ask to help find people to interview.
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”Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex…It takes a touch of genius and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction."
Albert Einstein