The Startup Owner's Manual

CHAPTER 5Customer Discovery, Phase Two: “Get Out of the Building” to Test the Problem: “Do People Care?”

PHASE 2 GETS THE TEAM “OUT OF THE BUILDING” to test the problem and to answer three key questions:

• Do we really understand the customer’s problem?
• Do enough people really care enough about the problem for this to become a huge business?
• And will they care enough to tell their friends?

The next section, Phase 3, will test to see whether the product offers a compelling solution to customers who have said there’s a problem. When the “problem” and “solution” questions are answered with a resounding “yes,” product/market fit is achieved and it’s time to move on to customer validation.

This problem phase is markedly different for web/mobile startups, where product development time is far shorter and feedback comes far faster. Problem discovery is conducted with the development of a low-fidelity MVP website or mobile app (as discussed on page 200). Sometimes as simple as a PowerPoint diagram or a single web page, this early MVP helps gather immediate feedback about the problem. Later, the solution is tested with a hi-fidelity MVP.

This phase includes five key steps:

• designing experiments for customer tests
• preparing for customer contacts and engagement
• testing customers understanding ...