You in all probability already know the recommendation: “Don’t construct till you speak to prospects.” And but right here you’re, with a Notion doc filled with concepts, a half-built MVP, and a quiet worry that you simply’re nonetheless guessing. Buyer interviews sound easy, however most founders both keep away from them or run them so poorly that they get false confidence as an alternative of readability. The onerous half isn’t reserving calls. It’s asking the suitable questions, to the suitable individuals, in a method that results in actual selections.
To place this information collectively, we reviewed founder talks, YC Library recommendation, and documented early-stage practices from corporations like Airbnb, Intercom, Superhuman, and Dropbox. We cross-checked what founders stated about buyer interviews with what they really did and the outcomes that adopted, then translated these patterns right into a course of you possibly can realistically run this week as a resource-constrained founder. We leaned closely on sensible interview frameworks utilized by early groups that validated demand earlier than scaling product and development .
On this article, you’ll learn to use buyer interviews to validate a enterprise concept earlier than you overinvest in constructing. Not concept. A repeatable system that turns conversations into proof.
Why buyer interviews are the quickest solution to validate an concept
On the pre-seed and seed stage, your greatest dangers are usually not competitors or execution. They’re constructing one thing no person urgently wants and mistaking politeness for demand. Buyer interviews compress studying. A robust interview replaces weeks of guesswork with direct perception into how individuals behave, what they pay for immediately, and what really frustrates them sufficient to alter.
Good interviews reply three validation questions:
Do individuals expertise this downside usually?
Is the issue painful sufficient to justify switching or paying?
Are you speaking to somebody with the authority to purchase or resolve?
In the event you can reply these with proof from actual conversations, you’re now not guessing. You’re validating.
Step 1: Resolve what you want to validate proper now
Earlier than you speak to a single buyer, write down the choice you want to make within the subsequent 14 days. One choice solely.
Examples:
Which buyer section ought to we deal with first?
Is that this downside value fixing earlier than function X?
Is that this a “good to have” or a “should repair now” problem?
Founders usually run interviews with out a choice in thoughts, then stroll away with “fascinating insights” that don’t change something. Intercom’s early workforce prevented this by mapping interviews on to product selections. Des Traynor has described how a whole bunch of early conversations had been explicitly tied to roadmap selections, not summary studying. For you, the interpretation is straightforward: one interview block equals one choice.
In the event you can’t phrase the choice clearly, your interviews will drift.
Step 2: Outline a slender, particular buyer section
“Startup founders” will not be a section. Neither is “small companies.” Specificity is what makes interviews helpful.
A robust section definition contains:
A transparent function or job title
A context or atmosphere
A constraint that shapes habits
For instance:
“US-based Shopify retailer house owners doing 200–1,000 orders per thirty days who deal with achievement in-house.”
This stage of readability issues as a result of it enables you to examine solutions throughout interviews. Superhuman’s early validation famously targeted on a slender group of high-intensity e mail customers and measured how disenchanted they might be if the product disappeared. That labored as a result of the section was tight. Whenever you interview everybody, patterns disappear.
Write one major section and one specific exclusion section. It is best to know who you aren’t speaking to.
Step 3: Recruit individuals with the issue, not simply curiosity
Validation interviews fail most actually because founders speak to the improper individuals. You need individuals who have skilled the issue not too long ago and have some authority to behave.
Purpose for 10 to fifteen interviews per section. Velocity issues greater than perfection. Your objective is to get the primary 10 calls booked inside 72 hours.
Three dependable channels:
Heat introductions out of your community, with a particular ask.
Focused outbound messages to individuals who clearly match the section.
In-product or neighborhood intercepts, providing a brief name and a small incentive.
Stripe’s founders personally onboarded and spoke with early customers as a result of proximity accelerated fact. You don’t have to fly wherever, however you do want recency. If the particular person hasn’t felt the issue within the final 30 days, their solutions can be imprecise.
Step 4: Write an interview script that avoids main
The objective of a validation interview is to not pitch your concept. It’s to grasp actual habits. Which means anchoring questions previously, not hypotheticals.
A easy construction that works persistently is the Previous, Current, Future arc.
Previous:
“Inform me concerning the final time this occurred.”
“Stroll me by means of precisely what you probably did, step-by-step.”
Current:
“How are you dealing with this immediately?”
“What instruments or workarounds are you utilizing?”
Future:
“If this downside disappeared tomorrow, what would that change?”
“What would you count on to pay to make that occur, and what would you exchange?”
Ban questions like “Would you employ this?” or “Do you want this concept?” Airbnb realized this the onerous method. Development didn’t change after they requested for opinions. It modified after they dug into itemizing high quality, which led Brian Chesky and Joe Gebbia to personally {photograph} New York listings and double native income inside a month. The lesson is to interrogate actuality, not preferences.
Step 5: Run the interview like a researcher, not a salesman
A 30-minute interview is sufficient if you happen to construction it properly.
First 3 minutes: Set the body. Make it clear you aren’t promoting something and that honesty issues.
Subsequent 15 to twenty minutes: Go deep on one particular incident. Ask for particulars, timestamps, instruments, and folks concerned.
Ultimate 5 to 7 minutes: Quantify impression. Time misplaced, cash spent, alternatives delayed, frustration brought on.
It is best to speak lower than 20 p.c of the time. Dropbox’s early insights got here from watching what individuals really did with file sharing, not what they claimed they might do. When somebody generalizes, pull them again to a concrete instance.
Step 6: Seize interviews in a constant format
Your reminiscence is unreliable. Validation requires comparability.
Use a easy spreadsheet or doc with the identical fields for each interview:
Section and function
Set off occasion
Present resolution and workarounds
Frequency of the issue
Time or cash price
Actual phrases the shopper used
A fast ache rating from 1 to five
Summarize the decision the identical day. Patterns solely emerge when knowledge is structured.
Step 7: Search for patterns, not anecdotes
One passionate interview doesn’t validate a enterprise. Validation comes from repetition.
After 10 to fifteen interviews, cluster your notes by:
Set off
Stakes
Constraints
Present options
Workarounds
Shopping for course of
Whenever you see the identical set off and workaround present up repeatedly, you’re an actual job to be accomplished. Intercom’s early product floor got here from counting recurring help and communication jobs throughout a whole bunch of conversations. You don’t want a whole bunch, however you do want sufficient to see frequency.
Step 8: Translate interviews into alternative sizing
Validation improves whenever you add mild math.
For every cluster, estimate:
How usually the issue happens per thirty days
How lengthy it takes to take care of
Who feels the ache most
What’s already being paid to handle it
Even tough numbers assist you prioritize. An issue that prices two hours daily is extra priceless than one which prices an hour as soon as 1 / 4. Asking about willingness to pay needs to be calm and concrete, not hypothetical.
Step 9: Validate habits with a small experiment
Interviews validate issues. Experiments validate options.
Inside seven days of ending your interview block, run a easy take a look at:
Manually carry out the job for a number of customers and cost for it.
Create a light-weight prototype and measure completion.
Run a concierge or Wizard of Oz circulate.
Paul Graham’s recommendation to do issues that don’t scale applies right here since you’re validating habits change, not constructing infrastructure. The experiment ought to mirror the language and priorities you heard in interviews.
Step 10: Shut the loop and compound studying
Validation is wasted if it lives solely in your head.
Write a brief inner memo summarizing:
The section
The core downside
Proof from interviews
What you determined
What you’ll take a look at subsequent
Over time, these insights ought to feed your product messaging, pricing pages, and content material. Utilizing buyer language persistently is how early-stage groups align product, gross sales, and advertising round actuality as an alternative of assumptions.
Frequent errors that kill validation
Promoting as an alternative of listening
Speaking to individuals with out shopping for energy
Counting on hypotheticals
Stopping after “fascinating” insights
Constructing earlier than patterns are clear
Each one in all these errors creates false confidence.
Do that week
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Write one choice you want to make within the subsequent 14 days.
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Outline one slender buyer section and one exclusion section.
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Draft a ten–12 query interview script targeted on previous habits.
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Guide at the very least 10 interviews inside 72 hours.
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Run 5 interviews and summarize them the identical day.
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Rating ache depth and frequency for every name.
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Cluster notes and determine the highest repeated downside.
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Design one easy experiment to check habits.
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Run the experiment inside seven days.
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Write a one-page abstract of what you realized and what adjustments.
Ultimate ideas
Buyer interviews are uncomfortable as a result of they take away phantasm. They pressure you to confront whether or not your concept stands as much as actuality. The founders who transfer quickest are usually not those with the most effective instincts. They’re those who exchange instincts with proof early. Begin with ten conversations, one clear choice, and one small experiment. That’s how validation really occurs.
