How To Talk To Users | Startup School

Y Combinator
1 Dec 202217:31

Summary

TLDRIn this insightful talk, Gustav from Y Combinator, a former Airbnb founder, shares valuable strategies for startups on engaging with users and future customers. He emphasizes the importance of maintaining open communication with users throughout a company's lifecycle to ensure product relevance and customer satisfaction. Gustav outlines practical steps for identifying and interviewing potential users, crafting the right questions to ask, and transforming insights into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). He also cautions against common pitfalls such as focusing on features rather than problems and provides actionable advice on validating the value of a solution and keeping users involved in the development process.

Takeaways

  • πŸ—£οΈ Communication is Key: The best founders maintain dialogue with their users throughout the company's lifecycle to stay grounded and receive honest feedback.
  • 🀝 Building Relationships: Founders like Brian Chesky of Airbnb build personal connections with their users to gain deep insights into their needs and feedback.
  • πŸ”Ž Finding the Right Users: It's crucial to identify and engage with the right users, including those outside of personal networks, to ensure diverse and honest perspectives.
  • πŸ“’ Outreach Methods: Utilizing platforms like LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack, or Discord, and attending in-person events are effective ways to reach potential users for feedback.
  • πŸ€” Understanding Problems: The focus should be on understanding users' problems rather than immediately jumping to solution discussions or introducing one's own ideas.
  • πŸ“ Conducting Interviews: Effective user interviews involve building rapport, asking open-ended questions, and actively listening without biasing the conversation with one's own ideas.
  • 🚫 Avoiding Pitfalls: Certain questions should be avoided in interviews, such as yes/no questions, feature-focused inquiries, and multiple questions at once that may confuse the respondent.
  • πŸ“Š Analyzing Feedback: After gathering user insights, it's important to organize and analyze the data to identify common problems and form hypotheses for solutions.
  • πŸ’‘ Creating an MVP: Use the collected information to develop a Minimal Viable Product (MVP) that addresses the core problems identified during user interviews.
  • πŸ’Ό Valuable Problems: Determining if a problem is valuable involves checking if people are willing to pay for solutions, if they are satisfied with existing solutions, and how easy it is to sell to the target audience.
  • πŸ”„ Iterative Feedback: Keeping users involved in the development process by showing them prototypes and MVPs, and incorporating their feedback into the product development.

Q & A

  • What is Gustav's role at Y Combinator?

    -Gustav works at Y Combinator as a group partner, a position he has held since 2017.

  • What was Gustav's involvement with Airbnb before joining Y Combinator?

    -Before joining Y Combinator, Gustav was a practitioner at Airbnb and a Y Combinator founder in 2007.

  • What are the key points Gustav plans to cover in his talk?

    -Gustav plans to cover why the best founders talk to users throughout the company's lifetime, how to find and communicate with users, what questions to ask and avoid, and how to turn conclusions into an MVP.

  • Why do most people have a wrong idea about how new startups form?

    -Most people believe that ideas for new products come from spontaneous moments of inspiration, rather than through a process of engaging with and learning from users and customers.

  • What is the significance of the photo of Brian Chesky and Amal with Airbnb?

    -The photo signifies the importance of two-way conversations with real customers, as Amal was the very first guest on Airbnb and spent a weekend with Brian in San Francisco.

  • How did Brian Chesky's experiment of living in 50 different Airbnbs benefit Airbnb?

    -The experiment allowed Brian to gather honest feedback on Airbnb's product directly from 50 different hosts, which was instrumental in shaping the company.

  • Why is it important for founders to build personal connections with their users?

    -Building personal connections allows founders to receive direct and honest feedback from their users, which is crucial for understanding user needs and improving the product.

  • What are some common platforms YC founders use to find their early users?

    -Some common platforms include LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack, Discord communities, and sometimes in-person events.

  • What is Gustav's approach to understanding if the problem he's addressing is real?

    -Gustav plans to interview potential customers to learn about their problems and motivations around carbon emissions, and then use this information to understand what an MVP might look like.

  • How does Gustav suggest conducting interviews with potential customers?

    -Gustav suggests conducting interviews over video calls, phone calls, or in person, building rapport with the interviewee, not introducing one's idea until the end or not at all, and focusing on listening and asking open-ended follow-up questions.

  • What are some specific questions Gustav recommends asking during customer interviews?

    -Some recommended questions include asking how they currently perform a specific task, what the hardest part about it is, how often they perform the task, why it's important for their company, and what they currently do to solve the problem.

  • What are some questions Gustav advises against asking during customer interviews?

    -Gustav advises against asking if they would use the product, which features would make the product better, yes or no questions, how a better product would look to them, and asking two questions at the same time.

  • What is the danger Gustav mentions when focusing on features instead of problems during interviews?

    -The danger is that users generally have good problems but bad solutions, and they may not have the incentive to say no to additional features, which can lead to an overcomplicated product that doesn't address the core problems.

  • What steps should be taken after conducting user interviews?

    -After conducting interviews, one should organize the notes, bucket them into different problem areas, write down conclusions and hypotheses, create an MVP, and test it with the same users.

  • How can founders determine if the problem they're solving is valuable?

    -Founders can determine if the problem is valuable by checking if people are paying for solutions in the space, if they have existing solutions they are happy with, and by evaluating how easy it is to sell to the target audience.

  • What is Gustav's advice on involving users in the product development process?

    -Gustav suggests creating a Slack instance or WhatsApp group for customers, showing them the product as it progresses, and keeping them involved by reacting quickly to their feedback.

Outlines

00:00

πŸ—£οΈ Engaging with Users for Startup Success

Gustav, a group partner at Y Combinator, discusses the importance of founders maintaining a dialogue with users throughout a company's lifecycle. He emphasizes that great founders learn directly from their users and highlights the story of Airbnb's CEO, Brian Chesky, who lived in 50 Airbnbs to gather honest feedback. Gustav advises against the common misconception that ideas for new products come from isolated brainstorming sessions and stresses the value of keeping users engaged for continuous learning and improvement.

05:02

πŸ”Ž Finding and Interviewing Potential Customers

The speaker outlines a strategy for identifying and interviewing potential customers to understand their needs and motivations. He suggests reaching out to founders, CEOs, and individuals with relevant job titles on LinkedIn for insights. The speaker provides examples of outreach messages and emphasizes the importance of building rapport and trust during interviews. Crucially, he advises against introducing one's own ideas too early in the conversation to prevent bias, focusing instead on listening and asking open-ended follow-up questions to elicit detailed responses.

10:02

❌ Avoiding Common Interview Pitfalls

This section warns against certain questions that can derail the interview process, such as asking leading questions about product features or yes/no questions that don't provide depth. The speaker explains that users often propose solutions that may not be practical or efficient, so it's vital to focus on understanding their problems rather than their proposed solutions. He also cautions against asking multiple questions at once, which can confuse both the interviewer and interviewee, and stresses the importance of deeply understanding the problems before jumping to solutions.

15:03

πŸ“ˆ Translating User Insights into an MVP

The speaker discusses how to take the insights gathered from user interviews and use them to formulate a hypothesis for a solution, which can then be developed into a Minimum Viable Product (MVP). He suggests organizing notes from interviews, identifying common problems, and creating a hypothesis based on these findings. The speaker also provides tips on determining if the problem is valuable, such as checking if people are already paying for solutions or if they are using alternative methods like Excel. Finally, he recommends keeping users involved in the development process, using tools like Slack or WhatsApp groups, and iterating on the MVP based on their feedback.

πŸš€ Keeping Users Involved and Iterating on MVP

In the concluding section, the speaker stresses the importance of maintaining user involvement throughout the development of a product. He suggests showing users early prototypes and observing their interactions without guidance to gain authentic feedback. The speaker also recommends having users verbalize their thoughts during these interactions to gain deeper insights. By keeping users engaged and iterating based on their feedback, a startup can build trust and ensure that the product meets the users' needs effectively.

Mindmap

Keywords

πŸ’‘Y Combinator

Y Combinator, often abbreviated as YC, is a well-known startup accelerator that provides seed funding and resources to early-stage startups. In the video, Gustav mentions working as a group partner at Y Combinator, emphasizing the role of the organization in supporting and advising new companies. This keyword is central to understanding the context in which the speaker operates and the types of advice he can offer.

πŸ’‘Airbnb

Airbnb is a global online marketplace for arranging or offering lodging, primarily homestays, and tourism experiences. Gustav refers to his past experience at Airbnb and mentions Brian Chesky, Airbnb's co-founder and CEO, as an example of a founder who engages directly with customers. This keyword highlights the importance of understanding customer needs and the role of direct interaction in product development.

πŸ’‘Founders

The term 'founders' refers to the individuals who establish a company or initiative. In the context of the video, it is used to discuss the best practices of startup founders, such as talking to users and learning from them throughout the company's lifecycle. This keyword is integral to the video's theme, as it focuses on the actions and responsibilities of those who start and grow businesses.

πŸ’‘Users

Users are the individuals who use a product or service. The video emphasizes the importance of engaging with users to gather feedback and insights, which can inform product development. Gustav discusses how founders should talk to users to understand their needs and motivations, which is crucial for creating a successful product.

πŸ’‘MVP (Minimum Viable Product)

An MVP is a version of a product with just enough features to satisfy early customers and provide feedback for future product development. Gustav discusses how to turn conclusions from user interviews into an MVP, which is a key step in the startup process. This keyword is central to the video's message about validating ideas and understanding user needs through a basic product offering.

πŸ’‘Customer Feedback

Customer feedback refers to the opinions and suggestions provided by users of a product or service. In the video, Gustav stresses the importance of obtaining honest feedback from customers to improve the product. This keyword is closely tied to the video's theme, as it discusses how founders can use feedback to shape their products and services.

πŸ’‘LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a professional networking platform often used for business connections, recruitment, and finding industry experts. Gustav mentions using LinkedIn to reach out to potential customers for interviews, illustrating how the platform can be leveraged to connect with individuals who can provide valuable insights for a startup.

πŸ’‘Outreach Messages

Outreach messages are communications sent to potential customers, partners, or other stakeholders to initiate contact or collaboration. In the script, Gustav provides examples of crafting outreach messages on LinkedIn, which are essential for establishing connections and gathering information from potential users.

πŸ’‘Interviews

Interviews in this context refer to conversations with potential customers to gather information about their needs and problems. Gustav discusses how to conduct these interviews effectively, emphasizing the importance of active listening and asking open-ended questions to understand user problems deeply.

πŸ’‘Behavior

Behavior in the video refers to the actions and habits of users in relation to the problem or task at hand. Gustav advises understanding user behavior to inform product development, as it is crucial to observe what users do, not just what they say, when they interact with a product or service.

πŸ’‘Product Development

Product development is the process of creating a new product or improving an existing one. The video focuses on the initial stages of product development, where understanding user needs and gathering feedback are critical. Gustav provides insights into how founders can use user interviews to inform and guide their product development process.

Highlights

Gustav, a Y Combinator group partner since 2017, shares insights on engaging with users and future customers throughout a company's lifecycle.

The misconception that startup ideas come from isolated epiphanies is debunked, emphasizing the importance of user interaction from inception.

Brian Chesky, Airbnb's co-founder, exemplifies the value of direct customer engagement, having spent time as a host to gather firsthand feedback.

The importance of identifying the right users to learn from is underscored, as they are the primary stakeholders who will provide candid feedback.

Gustav recounts Brian Chesky's experiment of living in 50 Airbnbs to deeply understand host motivations and gather honest product feedback.

The early adoption of personal connections with users by Airbnb's founders, setting a precedent for customer engagement in the startup world.

The common mistake of hiding behind anonymous emails is highlighted, urging founders to build genuine connections with their users.

Strategies for finding early users are discussed, including leveraging LinkedIn, Reddit, Slack, Discord, and in-person events.

A mock startup scenario is introduced to illustrate the process of identifying and interviewing potential customers to validate a business hypothesis.

The significance of video calls or in-person interviews over written surveys for gaining deeper insights into customer problems and motivations.

Advice on conducting interviews without introducing one's own ideas to prevent bias, focusing on listening and asking open-ended follow-up questions.

Examples of outreach messages for conducting user interviews, demonstrating how to approach both known contacts and strangers on LinkedIn.

The pitfalls of asking leading questions during interviews, such as focusing on features rather than problems, and the importance of avoiding yes/no questions.

The process of translating interview notes into hypotheses for an MVP, emphasizing the need for accuracy and the avoidance of over-intellectualization.

Tips for determining if a problem is valuable, including assessing if people are paying for solutions, the ease of selling to the target audience, and competition with existing solutions.

The strategy of involving early interviewees in the product development process through platforms like Slack or WhatsApp to maintain engagement and gather ongoing feedback.

The final summary encapsulates the importance of continuous user engagement, the right way to conduct interviews, and the steps to transform insights into an MVP.

Transcripts

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foreign

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[Music]

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my name is Gustav and I work here at y

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combinator as a group partner I've been

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here since 2017. before YC I was a

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practically to Airbnb and actually a YC

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founder back in 2007. today I'm going to

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talk about how to talk to your users and

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your future customers here's what I plan

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to cover today why the best Founders

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talk to the users throughout the

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lifetime of the company two how to find

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your users and how to talk to them three

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what questions to ask them and what not

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to ask them and four how to turn your

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conclusions into an MVP most people in

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the world have the idea on how new

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startups to form completely wrong they

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think ideas of new products is something

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the financials come up with on a lazy

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Sunday or a late night coding session

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you probably know it doesn't work this

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way this scene as you can see here here

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is a scene from The Social Network movie

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it's a great movie but they got a lot of

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things wrong on how Facebook actually

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got started this is Brian chesky Brian

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is the co-founder and CEO of Airbnb on

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the left side of the photo is Amal Amal

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was the very first guest on Airbnb they

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actually spent a weekend together in San

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Francisco when they'd be kind of watched

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you notice the difference between this

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photo and the previous photo well this

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photo actually is a real photo it

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includes a two-way conversation with a

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real customer great Founders talk to

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Future customers before they even have a

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product in fact the very best Founders

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in the world learn directly from their

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users throughout the life of their

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company but that's again if you have

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correctly identified who your users are

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you should learn from them throughout

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the lifetime of your company why you

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might ask

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users and customers will keep you honest

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they are the only stakeholders actually

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paying you anything if anyone will tell

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you the truth it will be them so my talk

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today is about how to do this well so

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let's talk about another m b story in

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2010 um and I remember this uh myself

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Brian chesky the CEO of Airbnb he'll

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decide to launch an experiment he was

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going to give up his apartment and live

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in 50 different airbnbs over the next

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couple of months you might ask yourself

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why would anyone do that so much hassle

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most people read the articles about this

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experiment because he did announce it

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they missed a point

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um I personally remember this being kind

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of crazy by doing this Brian will

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literally get a chance to talk to every

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one of these 50 hosts each single day on

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this trip and one incredible source of

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honest feedback on your product without

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the Airbnb hosts MB would not exist

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exist today what Brian Joe and Nate did

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so early is deeply understand the

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motivations

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um and the feedback from their hosts

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still today Brian and Joe gets calls

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from hosts on their personal cell phone

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numbers I remember them telling me that

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that on their first day of adworks at

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Airbnb

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why do they do that well it's the number

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that they put on the website and share

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with all of their hosts early on they

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weren't hiding behind Anonymous email

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they wanted to hear from the customers

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at the time this seemed almost radical

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most Founders would spend their time in

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front of the computers trying to find

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scalable growth channels like Google ads

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unfortunately most Founders still don't

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build personal connections with their

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users today behind behind info at emails

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or don't do not reply emails you don't

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believe me you should just do a search

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in your email for do not reply at and

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see how many people don't want to talk

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to their customers so let's start by

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trying to figure out who I should talk

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to it's always easy to interview people

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that you know or people who are on your

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network they're simply the most likely

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to respond but perhaps can be less

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honest in their answers to not offend

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you don't be afraid of reaching out to

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them and don't be afraid of rejection

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the second group here is co-workers or

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former co-workers they can be a really

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great source they might know the topic

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really well and if you're building

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software for startups you can easily and

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easily navigate yourself to someone

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who's a potential User it's also very

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common that the early users you speak to

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are outside of your personal circuits or

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your co-workers circles when asking YC

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Founders how they found their early

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users some of the most common answers

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were LinkedIn red forms slack or Discord

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communities and sometimes in-person

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events so to illustrate this process

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um a little better I'm going to start a

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new mock startup this is not a real

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company I'm just making it up but I'm

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going to go through the process as I

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would have if this was a real company

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and first I want to understand if the

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problem is real my hypothesis that I

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have here or kind of like the idea space

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that we sometimes call as NYC is that

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companies want to reduce their carbon

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emissions but for whatever reasons don't

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do that so my plan is very simple I want

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to first interview some potential

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customers to learn about the problems

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and motivations around carbon emissions

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and three try to understand what an MVP

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will look like MVP is a minimal viable

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product to do this research I plan to

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start by reaching out to Founders CEOs

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CFOs at startups or bigger companies I'm

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also going to be shocked to people on

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LinkedIn that have titles like

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carbon or climate or sustainability

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basically Wars that gives me hint that

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they might be relevant people to talk to

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so what am I looking to learn well first

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I'm trying to understand do the company

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that they work for care about their

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carbon emissions and two why do they

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care and why do they not care if they

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don't care and three who in that company

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might be the one who cares the most

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about this uh and why all right so so

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here are two examples of Outreach

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messages so the first one is a LinkedIn

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message to a CFO who I used to work with

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at Airbnb the message will go something

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like this first I introduce myself I

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mentioned something about our time at

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Airbnb then I say I'm starting a new

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project briefly describe it but not too

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much in detail and I just asked for 20

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minute phone call or video call that's

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it and here's another example of a

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message to someone I don't know it's

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also on LinkedIn to the same group that

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I mentioned earlier it's similar but

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geared towards people I don't know so

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the message will and the tone will be a

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little bit different all right so once I

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get on the phone or once again on the

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video call let's talk about uh how to

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actually interview potential customers

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so first you want to make sure that

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these interviews are over video calls

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phone calls or in person you can learn a

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lot more from a five minute video

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interview than 500 or 5 000 sugar

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responses

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secondly you want to build some Report

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with interviewee they're going to give

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you answers to questions that maybe no

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one have asked them before so you need

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to make sure that they can trust you and

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feel comfortable in this situation next

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uh the most important thing here the

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most most important thing here is to not

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introduce your idea until maybe at the

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end of the call or maybe not at all

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doing this too early can bias them in

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their answers your role here in this

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interview is to listen not to talk

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there are some great techniques to get

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people to open up and talk about their

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problems and one good one is to ask

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follow-up questions that are open-ended

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for example tell me about that if you're

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not recording the interview you should

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at least take notes as much as you can

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you need to translate the recordings to

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notes anyway so you might as well take

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notes in the in the actual interview I'm

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going to play an example video here on

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uh how a potential customer for my

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carbon emission company and how that

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conversation will go like Hi how are you

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um it's been a long time since we worked

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together Airbnb

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yeah great to see you

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so I don't know if I told her this but

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I'm thinking about starting another

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company and I have a couple questions I

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wanted to ask you about this era that

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I'm interested in uh does your company

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montevue Inc do you care about your

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carbon emissions

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we do actually care and we use a

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consultant who creates these PDF reports

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once a year

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interesting uh what do you do with a

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report

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I mean right now I don't think we really

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take much action on it unfortunately

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well why not

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it's just really hard to know what to do

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with the information

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um the information is really dense and

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um uses words we don't really understand

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tell me more about that

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well we hired this consultant

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um they asked us to fill out this word

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doc with information but most of the

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data that goes into it uh seems

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inaccurate and I just feel like we need

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another expert to figure out what to do

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with the data

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got it got it

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um but why is it important for your

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company at all to track carbon emission

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well our

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um and I think there's some regulations

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coming up too

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you notice here how I never introduced a

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product or a solution I only ask

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questions to learn about the problem

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that Amy's having I don't even say what

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I'm going to build

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that's how you want to do it here are

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some very specific questions that you

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can use in your interviews one tell me

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how you do X today by X of course I'm

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referring to a specific problem a task

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or goal that you are trying to solve two

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what is the hardest thing you are doing

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about x three why is it hard four how

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often do you have to do x five why is it

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important for your company to do X make

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sure you dive deep into this question

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like understanding that motivation is

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going to be critical here and six what

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do you do to solve this problem for

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yourself today it's really important to

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understand what they're doing

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now if you can watch them do this that's

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even better if they can screen share

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during the video call or show you their

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laptop as you're doing the interview and

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show you how they actually get the PDF

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report what they do with it

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um how it looks like

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that's the ideal State you want to

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deeply understand their behavior not

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just what they're saying but what

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they're doing because changing the

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behavior will be hard you can also ask

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follow-up questions and please learn how

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to make use of these ones it's very hard

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to get someone to say everything in just

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one answer to one question get

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comfortable with asking questions like

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what do you mean by that or can you tell

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me more about that or why is that

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important to you here are some questions

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that you should not ask like there are

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ways you can kind of derail this

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interview will you use our product

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they're probably going to say yes but

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they're not going to mean anything to

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you the answer

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two which features would make product X

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better

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remember their job is to tell you about

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the problem your job is to think about

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what features to solve that problem so

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asking them about your job isn't really

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going to help you yes and no questions

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it's not really that helpful for you you

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want them to explain and give you as

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many concrete and real examples as

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possible so just simply asking yes no

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questions is not ideal here and four

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um how would would a better product X

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look like to you how would a better

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Carbon emission counting software look

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like to you uh many of the people aren't

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product developers they're not software

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Engineers they're not designers they're

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not product managers this is not their

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job their job is to do a different job

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and you are the one trying to understand

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what is the challenging part about their

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job

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and finally

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um asking two questions at the same time

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that's going to confuse them it's going

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to confuse your answers so this is when

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you're eager to get um get answers it's

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very easy to do this this thing but try

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to avoid it but I want to highlight one

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of the things I mentioned here there's

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one big danger during interviews and

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that is to focus on features instead of

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problems

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it's very natural for you to do that

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your bra your brain is thinking through

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all the ways you're going to solve this

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problem

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but really what you're here for during

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this interview is to deeply understand

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the problems not actually come up with

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Solutions that's for for us for a

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separate event so users generally have

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good problems but also generally bad

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Solutions so I'll give you two specific

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examples so early days of Gmail users

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were asking

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um Paul Buchheit the founder of Gmail to

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view both the Inbox and the actual email

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that they were reading on the same

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screen now why would they ask for that

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well the reason was simply that Gmail is

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too slow and people did not want to wait

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to load each of the emails in the inbox

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they want to see everything at the same

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time similarly in early Airbnb a lot of

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guests want to have the phone numbers of

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the host so they can call them we're

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like why do you need that it just turned

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out that they didn't fully trust the

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platform like we had not displayed

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enough trust in Airbnb so they needed to

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feel comfortable uh with getting to know

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the host before it actually

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um making the booking secondly

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um users don't

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have incentive to say no to really any

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additional features if you ask for this

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feature or this feature this feature

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they'll probably say yes to everything

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right you however are in charge of the

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projectations and you have a lot more

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incentives than they have to figure out

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which are the most important of the

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features so let's talk about next steps

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so you've done your um five or ten of

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these user interviews you've written

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down your notes let's let's talk about

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what you do then one you want to make

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sure you have notes from all each of the

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interviews you can use sticky notes or

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some similar software to organize these

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learnings you can bucket them in

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different buckets that kind of describes

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different problems and see which one is

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actually the thing that matters the most

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and then you want to write down your

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conclusions what are you learning from

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all of this you want to use all of this

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information to create a hypothesis or

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what the solution to this problem might

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be don't over intellectualize this

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process really you just want to start

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assigning MVP as fast as you can but you

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want to make sure you have accurate

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information when you decide the MEP and

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then you'll want to test it with the

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same users it's also important to know

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if the problem you're solving is

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actually valuable what I mean by this is

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that people will value the solution to

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the problem enough to pay for it or the

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problem itself solving the problem is

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valuable so here's some good tips to

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determine if it is one are people paying

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money for other Solutions in the space

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today are the people that make the PDF

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reports for carbon emissions accounting

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are they getting paid well if they are

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getting paid that's a good sign that

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this is probably a valuable thing do

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people already have solutions to this

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problem they are very happy with even

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though it might appear Basics to you for

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example like Excel or Google

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spreadsheets is actually competitors to

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many many many hundreds of startups

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actually quite a formidable one to move

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someone off Excel a Google spreadsheet

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you need to make the experience of your

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solution dramatically better they're not

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going to pay you hundreds of dollars a

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month for something they can almost as

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easily do in Google spreadsheet or Excel

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and three you want to evaluate how easy

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it is to sell to this audience and this

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is one thing that I like to do a lot

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with the companies I work with for

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example selling to Plumbers or

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contractors is notoriously difficult

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compared to selling to startups the

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first two groups just don't change their

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tools or the software very often versus

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startups are open to trying new things

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all the time so if you are solving a

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problem is valuable you still have to

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think about whether it's going to be

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easy to sell this particular audience

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once you have an MVP prototype you can

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start by showing it to users even if

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it's just a design prototype in Envision

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or something like that you can just

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click through we used to do this at MB

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all the time we would go downstairs in

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our in our office and we would find some

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people that were waiting for an

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interview or waiting for getting a

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coffee or something and we just show

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them the latest version of the app this

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would be a Envision prototype on our

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phone it would be Spike hand them our

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phone and and show it to them this is

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stuff that we haven't even built yet the

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key thing but if you're doing this

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tactic is to not tell them what to do do

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not tell them what to do just watch them

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play around with it you can tell them a

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specific goal like try to make a book in

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Airbnb or try to do a search with dates

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and even b or something like that but do

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not tell them exactly how to solve each

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screen remember if this was a real

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product you wouldn't you wouldn't be

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standing there next to them to give them

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advice another good trick when you're

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doing this either when you're listening

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or having them or recording them is to

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have them speak their mind while they're

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doing it have them describe exactly what

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they're thinking on each of the steps

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maybe the words that they're reading

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maybe that will give you hints of what

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words that they understand and which

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words they don't understand or maybe

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what specific screen means or what

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purpose is and after you've done a bunch

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of these interviews and then maybe MVP

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protest sessions it's a great idea to

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keep these interviewees involved

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throughout the process

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one common idea that a lot of wasting

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companies are using is to create a slack

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instance or a WhatsApp group for with

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their customers now you want to make

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them feel special right you want to make

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them feel like they have exclusive

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active access to the Future world

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changing product so think about how

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you're wording or or how you communicate

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this WhatsApp group that you adding them

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to it's a great idea to keep showing

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them your product as they are

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progressing like kind of give them this

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exclusive feeling that I'm the first one

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to see this product assets progressing

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and also as you are

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reacting to things that they're saying

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you can ship a new a new screen with a

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new version of the product

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um and that builds trust with it with

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them they now know that you react to

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their feedback very fast finally some of

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them will love connecting with other

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people doing the same thing as they are

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they don't get to do this very often and

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um you are the one enabling that if you

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do all these steps you will collect the

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right information

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um from your future users you will keep

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them involved and transfer the

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information uh and that allow you to

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transfer the information into your first

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prototype and MVP so to summarize here's

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what I covered today why the best

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Founders talk to their users throughout

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the lifetime of the company

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how to find your users and how to talk

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to them

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what questions to ask them and what not

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to ask them and finally how to turn some

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of those conclusions into an MVP thank

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you everyone

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[Music]

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