Step-by-Step Instructions

Click worksheet to print it out

Congratulations! At this point you have done at least 5 interviews and worked out a few of the initial kinks. This exercise will help you make sure you're on the right track.

Problems it Solves

• Are you doing it right?

There is nothing more frustrating than putting in a bunch of time and effort and then realizing you've been doing something incorrectly the entire time.

Here, we are going to check in after just 5 interviews to make sure that you are on the right path - validating a problem that truly exists. If you're not, you'll course correct now before continuing onward.

• Validate faster

By doing a quick checkpoint here before moving forward, you are going to ensure you are moving forward in the most efficient way possible so you can reach your Victory faster.

This checkpoint is also going to make sure you know exactly what you're doing next, so that your energy is going in the right place.

Review

Previously, you set out your interview timeline. By now, you've connected with at least 5 of these customers from one of those channels, and used the interviewing techniques in the previous chapters to understand their problems.

Now, take out your 5 Interview Checkpoint worksheet.

Step 1

Write in the Early Adopter Description in the line provided.

Step 2

Write in the channel that got you the interviews you were able to complete.

Step 3

For each interview, write in the name of the person you interviewed.

Next, write in the problem they described and the action they are currently taking to solve it. You may do this for up to 3 problems for each person you interviewed.

In my example, I interviewed James. James mentioned two problems:

• No one to hold him accountable for doing the work he knew he needed to do
• Overwhelmed by the amount of validation he needed to do, which made it unclear where he should start

Notice, James has only tried to solve one of these problems: he's tried to solve the "Overwhelmed, not sure where to start" problem, but not the "accountability" problem.

The same holds true for the rest of my interviews. You'll notice most people have multiple problems associated with starting a Lean Startup, but not all of these problems are ones they are "paying" to solve.

Remember: The people "paying" to solve a problem, your true Early Adopters, are the key to your product's success.

Step 4

Fill in your definition of Victory from the very first exercise. As always, this will remind you where you're headed so you can make the best decision possible going forward.

Step 5

Now it's time to fill in your Next Step. To do this, you're going to take a look at the grid you just completed and ask yourself some questions.

Question #1: Were you able to complete the 5 interviews on schedule (more or less)?

If your answer is NO, assuming you were truly working at trying to get the interviews, your next step is to pick a new channel. This is exactly why we outlined a backup plan - your next channel is already chosen. Go ahead and hit them up for your 5 interviews.

If your answer is NO because you got distracted by some other component of your business or your life got in the way, it's time to regain your FOCUS. This process is called the FOCUS Framework because it works when you are focused on one step at a time.

To declare your victory, you have to stay FOCUS'd.

If your answer is YES, fantastic job! Move on to the next question.

Question #2: Are the customers trying to solve the problems they identify?

To answer this question, take a look at your 5 Interview Checkpoint chart. Cross out any problems that don't have accompanying actions.

You are only interested in problems that people are trying to solve.

You are now left with a list of problems people are trying to solve. If you don't have any problems left, your answer to this question is NO. Your next step is to go to your second channel, or find a new segment.

How do you know which?

If this is your first iteration of interviewing, try a different channel. Check in with yourself to see if you may have led your customers too much during the interview. It is rare to interview 5 people and not find any problems they are trying to solve. If the customer has truly led the interview, they are likely to bring up problems in which they are actively engaged.

If you've interviewed a few different channels, it may be time to switch to a new Early Adopter segment. It could be that the segment you've chosen does not have problems related to your hypothesis.

If you have problems left on your worksheet that people are actively trying to solve, your answer is YES. Move on to the next question.

Question #3: Is there a pattern in the problems people are trying to solve?

You know you have a problem pattern when at least 3/5 of your interviewees are mentioning the same type of problem. When you've found your Early Adopter segment, you'll start to see an eerie similarity in the problems they are trying to solve.

If you aren't seeing a pattern, your segment is not niched enough.

If you've got at least 3/5, you get to answer YES. If you've got anything less that this, go ahead and answer NO for this question.

On my worksheet, I've circled the problems that show a pattern. For example, Ondrej and Ramphis are both taking action to solve their "accountability" problems. But this is only 2/5, so it's not quite enough to declare a pattern. There's a hint that there may be something there, but I don't quite have it yet.

Since I am answering NO, I need to narrow my focus. My next step is to focus in on one customer and find more people like him to interview. There is no point in doing a bunch more interviews if I'm not seeing a pattern. This shift in my focus will make all the difference as I start thinking about how I might go about solving my customers' problems.

If you do see a pattern and answer YES to this question, move ahead.

Question #4: Is this a problem that you want to solve?

Will solving the problem that has emerged help you to achieve your victory? If the answer is NO, it is clear that you need to find a new segment that is going to help you get your victory. Go back to your SCALE exercise and identify the next best segment for you to solve problems for.

If it turns out that the answer is YES, that you can achieve your victory by solving their problem, fantastic! You're on the right track. Your next step is to do 5 more interviews to make sure that the pattern holds.

Just to review, if you've been able to:

• Interview 5 people
• Identify problems they are actively trying to solve
• See a consistent pattern among these problems and
• Find a problem that you want to solve and will help you declare your victory...

...that's fantastic! Keep doing what you're doing and interview at least 5 more people.

If you haven't, no worries - your backup plan is called out above. A small course correction now will help you find your path to Victory sooner.

Let's look at my example. What is my next step?

In my case, I was able to interview 5 people and found some problems they were actively trying to solve. However, I was not able to find a clear pattern in the problems they were trying to solve.

Something interesting has arisen in my analysis though, there are two problems that have arisen that at least two of my interviewees are taking action to solve: "accountability" (which we talked about above) and a different problem "not sure where to start."

Looking at the actions James and Ramphis are taking to solve this problem, I may be able to pivot my channel and find more people like them! In fact, my secondary interview channel calls for me to explicitly reach out to people who have participated in a Lean Startup Machine, just like James.

So in my case, my next step is to pivot my channel.

By moving my focus from interviewing my blog readers to people who have attended a Lean Startup Machine, I'm narrowing my attention towards customers who are "paying" to solve their problem.

Now, I could have also pivoted towards founders who are hiring personal coaches, but since LSM attendees were already in my list of channels to pursue, I'll be going there first.

From this experiment I've learned my blog readers' problems span a fairly wide range. Instead of scheduling more interviews with them, I'm going to double down on finding interviews with Lean Startup Machine attendees.

Remember, you've been operating strictly from hypotheses so far; now is the time to change them as you collect real data.

Repeat

If during your interview checkpoint you've learned it's time to course correct, remember you can go back to any of the previous exercises to revise your plan forward:

1. Idea Generation: if you've completely ruled out solving any problems for this group of customers, you can choose any of the other customer segments you were excited to serve.
2. SCALE: If you're still excited about these customers but need a slightly different segment of them, SCALE will point you to your backup Early Adopters.
3. Channel Storming & Costing: If you want to target the same Early Adopters, but want to narrow or alter your focus slightly, the Channel Storming and Costing exercises will point you in the right direction.

Remember, these may feel like steps backward, but they're not; they're steps in the right direction.

Course correcting now, as opposed to after you've launched, means you're doing real validation.

The FOCUS Framework is designed so that you can circle back and repeat previous steps. This is exactly why we have this process: to catch our incorrect hypotheses early so we don't get too far down the line with a product that won't pay off.

The only way you can fail...is to stop trying.

What's Next

At this point you have two possible next steps:

1. Pivot to a new channel or segment
2. Continue on and interview 5 more people to make sure your patterns hold

This exercise should have solved a number of problems for you. You now know:

• Are you interviewing the right people, and in the right way? During this exercise you've identified if you are on the right interviewing path.
• How to get validation faster. By checking in after just 5 interviews, you're able to course correct much faster than if you waited. These quick turnarounds are key to efficient and successful customer development. You can be confident that you are not wasting any time.

Keep interviewing until you're you've found a pattern of Early Adopters "paying" to solve a problem that will lead to your victory. Once you've achieved that, you are ready to move on to the next book!

In the next, and final, exercise of this first book, you will determine exactly what that looks like.