1. People Will Lie to You
TL;DR > Never ask "Would you use this?" Always ask "How do you solve this problem today?"
If you ask a polite stranger if they like your idea, they will say yes. They don't want to hurt your feelings. In the startup world, polite lies cost you months of engineering time and thousands of dollars.
0%
Predictive Power
Asking a customer to predict their future behavior (e.g., "Will you buy this next year?") has a 0% statistical correlation with their actual future actions.
2. The Rules of Engagement
To get honest answers, follow the principles popularized by Rob Fitzpatrick in *The Mom Test*: 1. Talk about their life, not your idea. 2. Ask about specifics in the past, not generics or opinions about the future. 3. Talk less and listen more.
Good vs. Bad Interview Questions
Which questions yield actual validation data?
3. Finding the Questions
If they haven't actively searched for a solution or spent money trying to fix the problem, the pain isn't acute enough to build a business around.
Need a script? We've compiled the ultimate list in 50 Customer Interview Questions for Startup Founders.