Beat-the-Odds Boot CampWebinar #2
January 23, 2017Join the audio
Toll Free: 1-888-464-1607 Attendee access code: 2420938
Hosted by:Ruth Shuman, SBIR/STTR Program Director
Edmund Pendleton and Mike Abbott, NSF I-Corps
Quick Review
Why are we here?
Our Goal
Improve Odds
Create More Winners
Shift the Curve
Shift the Curve
Course Resources
How do we build a startup?
What’s a startup?
A temporary organization
designed to search
for a repeatable and scalable
business model
Planning comes
before the plan
Business Model Canvas
Business Model generation is anever-ending processes…
…but for Bootcamp,focus on the customer!
More startups fail from a
lack of customers
than from product / tech failure
More startups fail from a
lack of customers
than from product / tech failure
Customer Segments
Who are your most important customers?
What are their archetypes?
What job do they want you to get done for them?
Why do we group intoCustomer Segments?
Different Customer Segments often have…
Different Business Models
Different Customer Segments often have…
Different Business Models
Defining Customers*
The definition of “customer” is often quite complex…
Most of you have complex customer and stakeholder
ecosystems.
Where do you start?
Find the people!Customer Segment #1
• Beneficiary (?)• End User• Decision Maker• Payer• Influencer• Recommender• Saboteur
Customer Types
Customer Segment #1
• Beneficiary (?)• End User• Decision Maker• Payer• Influencer• Recommender• Saboteur
Identify Key Roles in Purchase Decision
And Finally
Describe the Archetype (prototypical example)
for the End User, Decision Maker, and Payer.
Depending on the Customer Segment, these roles may be
filled by…
the same person, different individuals, or even a group of
people (committee, board, etc.)
Reads Attends
Watches
Example Archetype – End User
Describe or show a
typical purchase decision
Example Purchase Decision
…typically have distinct End Users, Decision Makers, Payers, and others.
Business to Business
One Caveat
A strategic partner or acquirer of your company?
…not yet!
Value Propositions
…describe the benefits your customers derive from your
products or services.
…describe the benefits your customers derive from your
products or services.
Value Propositions
What customer problemsare you helping to solve ?
What customer needs are you satisfying?
Product Benefits=
Value Propositions
General Guidelines
Specifics Matter
Quantify Benefit
Rank Order
What will you do?
Customer Discovery
…is the process used to
search for and validate a
repeatable and scalable
business model.
30+ Interviews
Search for…Problem-Solution Fit
Problem-Solution Fit Product-Market Fit Business-Model Fit
Search for…Product-Market Fit
Problem-Solution Fit Product-Market Fit Business-Model Fit
Search for…Business Model Fit
Problem-Solution Fit Product-Market Fit Business-Model Fit
Best Practices for Customer Discovery
Customer Discovery Best PracticesLean Startup and Design Thinking
“You’re really think you need to teach us how to talk to people?”
The Art of Listening to Your Customers
Pre-Planning Customer Discovery
Pre-Planning Pt. 1 (4:55) Pre-Planning Pt. 2 (3:25) Pre-Planning Pt. 3 (1:29)
Customer Discovery InterviewsInterviews Pt. 1 (5:40) Interviews Pt. 2 (3:49)Asking the Right Question (2:37)
Outside the BuildingDeath by Demo 1 (2:18) Death by Demo 2 (1:45) Assuming You Know what the customer wants (1:56)Understanding the Customer Problem (the wrong way) or Death by PowerPoint (1:42)Understanding the Problem (the right way) (3:22) Customers Lie (2:37)The Distracted Customer (3:12)Engaging the Customer (3:37) Customer Empathy (2:25) The User, the Buyer & the Saboteur (2:24)Multi-Person Interview (2:03)B-to-B to C (2:15)Existing vs. New Markets (5:29)Public Interviews (2:11)
Back in the Building
Extracting Insight from Data (2:59)Getting the MVP Right (3:34)Pay Attention to Outliers (2:16) The “Other 85%” (2:32)
Customer Interviewsthe most difficult part of the process!
Customer Interviewsthe most difficult part of the process!
conversations
#1 –Don’t talk about your technology!!!
#2 – The interviewing process must be deliberate!
#3 – A survey is NOT an interview!
FOUR PARTS TO THE PROCESS
Focus first on people you think fill these roles: End User, Decision Maker, Payer
Focus on people you don’t already know! They have no relationship to protect. (*people you know are good for meeting other people)
Customer Discovery – Planning an InterviewWHO SHOULD I INTERVIEW?
Customer Discovery – Planning an InterviewHOW TO FIND THE PEOPLE
Find people working at your customer companiesFind people that used to work at customer companies
Find people that work for your competitorsDo NOT interview the CEO first!
Have a purpose
Know what you think you can learn from this person beforeyou get there.
Make guesses about what your customer will say.
Customer Discovery – Planning an InterviewWHAT ELSE SHOULD I PREPARE?
QUICK introduction (look for warm introductions).Establish credibility. (NSF, researcher, use first names)
Appeal to EGO “I know you’re an expert - I want to learn from you.”Seek help. You are researchers, not salesmen!
Handle “What are you doing / Why are you calling.” Diffuse “We need and NDA.”
Seal the deal: 10-15 minutes, get on the schedule, thank them.Be ready to “roll into the interview” if you get stonewalled.
Customer Discovery – Landing an Interview
Plan in this order: Face to Face, Skype, Phone
Plan in this order: Face to Face, Skype, Phone
Customer Discovery – Conducting an InterviewWHERE SHOULD I INTERVIEW?
Plan in this order: Face to Face, Skype, PhoneTry to access to their facility whenever possible.
Plan in this order: Face to Face, Skype, PhoneTry to access to their facility whenever possible.
Take two people whenever possible –assign roles!
Customer Discovery – Conducting an InterviewWHERE SHOULD I INTERVIEW?
Plan in this order: Face to Face, Skype, PhoneTry to access to their facility whenever possible.
Take two people whenever possible –assign roles!Talk to one person at a time.
Plan in this order: Face to Face, Skype, PhoneTry to access to their facility whenever possible.
Take two people whenever possible –assign roles!Talk to one person at a time.
AVOID LISTENING TO GROUP THINK!
Conducting customer interviews
Get excited to hear what you don’t want to hear!
Focus on first-hand accounts, not on speculative or abstract thoughts from secondary sources. Ask for
introductions to first hand accounts!
Asking the right questions
Always ask open-ended questions.Never ask multiple choice questions.Target the who, what, why, and how.
Follow the 5 whys!Avoid is, are, would, do you think, and should.
ALWAYS FINISH WITH…“What did I forget to ask?”
“Is there anyone else you think I should meet?”
Turn data into information through pattern recognition!This means STATISTICS!!!
100 interviews over 5 segments, each with two VPs results in only 10 data points! This is not statistically relevant!
Make sure you spend as much time interpreting the data as you are collecting it!
Interpretation of data – the CORE of Customer Discovery
SAMPLE QUESTIONS – start broad, then focus*tailor these generalized questions to your specific scenario
What are the top three problems customers are trying to solve?
What are they currently doing to solve them?
If your customer could wave a magic wand and fix one thing or generate one outcome, what would it be?
What would it take for your customer to change their behavior and adopt a new technology, process, or solution? Who else would have to be involved to make
it happen?
Q&A
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