Eric Migicovsky - How to Talk to Users

Summary

Eric Richard Kazuki, a YC partner and founder of Pebble, emphasizes the importance of maintaining direct user connections in startups. He advises founders to personally engage with users to gather valuable feedback and improve their products. Kazuki highlights key strategies for effective user interviews, including avoiding pitches, focusing on users' real experiences, and asking insightful questions. He outlines the significance of user interactions at different stages of a startup's journey and provides practical tips for extracting useful information. The talk underscores the critical role of user feedback in achieving product-market fit and overall startup success.

Takeaways

• 🗣️ Maintaining a direct connection with users is crucial for founders throughout the company's lifespan to extract valuable information.
• 🚫 Avoid outsourcing user engagement to other team members; founders should be actively involved in talking to customers.
• 🎬 The movie 'Office Space' illustrates the mistake of having a go-between for engineers and users, emphasizing the importance of direct communication.
• 📚 The book 'The Mom Test' highlights common errors in user interviews, such as focusing on pitching ideas instead of extracting information.
• 🤔 Ask open-ended questions during user interviews to understand the specifics of the user's experiences and pain points.
• 🙅‍♂️ Avoid hypothetical questions in user interviews; focus on the user's past experiences and concrete details.
• 👂 Listen more and talk less during user interviews to gather as much information as possible.
• ❓ Key questions to ask in early customer interviews include understanding the hardest part of the problem, the last time the problem was encountered, and why it was hard.
• 🔄 Use customer feedback to iterate towards product-market fit, ensuring that the product is something people actively want and use.
• 📈 Utilize quantitative measures, like the percentage of users who would be 'very disappointed' without the product, to gauge product-market fit.
• 🚀 User interviews are beneficial at all stages of a company's growth, from the idea phase to achieving and maintaining product-market fit.

Q & A

Why is maintaining a direct connection to users critical for founders?

Maintaining a direct connection to users is critical for founders because it allows them to extract valuable information at all different stages of running their company, which is essential for product improvement, marketing, and positioning.

What is the common misconception about talking to users in a company?

The common misconception is that roles like CEO or CTO can outsource user engagement to other people in the company, such as salespeople or heads of product. However, the best companies are those where founders themselves maintain a direct connection to their users.

What are the two core activities that YC teachings emphasize as essential for a startup's success?

The two core activities emphasized by YC teachings are coding or building the product, and talking to users.

What is the primary goal of a user interview?

The primary goal of a user interview is to extract information from the interviewee that will help improve the product, marketing, or positioning, rather than to sell them on using the product.

Why should engineers or developers not be the go-between for users and the company?

Engineers or developers should not be the go-between because it's important for the founders and core members of the company to develop the skills for talking to users directly, ensuring a deeper understanding and connection to their needs and experiences.

What are some of the common mistakes made during user interviews?

Common mistakes include talking about the idea or product too much, discussing hypotheticals instead of specifics, and talking too much instead of listening and extracting information.

What are the five great questions suggested for early customer interviews?

The five great questions are: 1) What is the hardest part about doing the thing you're trying to solve? 2) Tell me about the last time you encountered this problem. 3) Why was this hard? 4) What if anything have you done to try to solve this problem? 5) What don't you love about the solutions you've already tried?

Why is it important to ask about the last time a user encountered a problem?

Asking about the last time a user encountered a problem helps extract context and real-life examples of past problems that potential users have had, allowing you to understand whether your solution would have helped in that specific circumstance.

What is the significance of understanding why a past problem was hard for a user?

Understanding why a past problem was hard helps identify the exact problem you may begin to solve and also informs your marketing or sales copy, as it provides insights into the value or benefits of your solution.

Why should startups focus on problems that people face regularly or that are painful enough to warrant solving?

Startups should focus on such problems because they are more likely to be perceived as valuable by users, who actively want to solve them in their lives, increasing the likelihood of product adoption and success.

What are the three critical phases of an early-stage company where talking to users is extremely beneficial?

The three critical phases are: the idea stage before any product development, the prototype stage before getting the product in the hands of paying customers, and the stage after launching when iterating towards product-market fit.

What is a simple yet effective strategy for finding the first users for a startup?

One effective strategy is to start with oneself, then talk to friends and co-workers, and get warm introductions. Another approach is to show up in person at relevant industry events or directly to potential customers' places of business.

How can startups identify their best first customers during user interviews?

Startups can identify their best first customers by asking questions that provide numerical answers about the cost of the problem, the frequency of encountering the problem, and the budget for solving the problem.

What is a practical tip for conducting user interviews effectively?

A practical tip is to take detailed notes, keep the conversation casual, respect the other person's time, and start with a small number of interviews to refine the process.

How can startups use customer feedback to guide their journey towards product-market fit?

Startups can use customer feedback by asking critical questions like how customers would feel if they could no longer use the product, and using the responses to make data-driven decisions about feature development and iteration.

What is a simple hack to gather more direct contact information from users?

A simple hack is to ask for the user's phone number during signup, which can be used for direct communication and gaining a deeper understanding of specific issues or feedback.

Why is it important to discard certain types of data collected during user interviews?

It's important to discard bad data like compliments and hypotheticals because they are not specific and do not provide actionable information for improving the product or understanding user needs.