10/31/2024
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐๐ฟ๐ ๐ด๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ?
It's easy to get caught up in the hype of validating ideas with customers. But the real test isn't what they say; it's what they do.
Early-stage startups make the mistake of mistaking customer talk for customer action.
They get excited about positive feedback, only to find out later that ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐น๐ผ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ฏ๐ผ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ผ๐น ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ฎ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐บ.
๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ'๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ต ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ต:
- ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฝ. Anyone can tell you they'd love a new product or service.
- ๐๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐๐. It's the ultimate validation, the proof that you've built something people actually want and are willing to pay for.
๐ฆ๐ผ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐?
1. ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ๐๐, ๐๐ฒ๐๐. Don't just ask for opinions, ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐. Observe their behavior, measure their engagement, and see how they actually interact with your product.
2. ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐ธ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ป๐ ๐๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฑ๐. Pay attention to ๐ป๐ผ๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐น ๐ฐ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ป๐ฎ๐ป๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐. These often reveal the true needs and pain points that your customers are reluctant to express directly.
3. ๐๐ผ๐ป'๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฑ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐พ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐. ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฎ๐๐๐๐บ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐๐ต๐ ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ผ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐ป๐. This is where you'll uncover the real challenges and opportunities.
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฟ, ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ณ๐๐น ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐น, ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ถ๐'๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฝ๐๐๐๐น๐ฒ.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐น ๐บ๐ฎ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ณ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐๐ผ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ถ๐๐ต ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป ๐๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐๐.
๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฏ๐ถ๐ด๐ด๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฎ๐น๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฐ๐๐๐๐ผ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐๐ฎ๐น๐ธ ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป? ๐๐ฒ๐'๐ ๐น๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ป ๐ณ๐ฟ๐ผ๐บ ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ผ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
(๐๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐'๐บ ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐ฐ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐. ๐ง๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐ต๐ผ๐ ๐๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐บ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ถ๐ป๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐๐ฝ ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐๐๐๐ฒ๐บ.)