Customers & Research

What's the difference between a customer saying they'll pay and actually pulling out a card, and how do I test the real one early?

A starting point

Verbal commitment is close to worthless because saying yes costs nothing, so people say it to be nice. The truth shows up when you ask for something that costs them: a pre-order, a deposit, a signed LOI, or time on their calendar next Tuesday. As a starting point, design every discovery chat to end with a small real ask so you learn who is bluffing before you build.

Go deeper

Hand-picked from around the web, each with a note on why it earns your time.

3 resources 3 link-checked Watch Read

Watch

▶️ Video

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it When you are new to a space, your instinct is to explain your idea and hope people nod, which teaches you nothing. This YC talk is a concrete guide to running discovery interviews the right way: extract data from the person instead of pitching, and use a small set of questions that work in any industry, including one you are still learning. It pairs well with The Mom Test as the applied version you can watch before your next call.

How to Talk to Users

On Y Combinator (Startup School) by Eric Migicovsky ~25 min

The interview is to extract data, not to sell: stop talking about your idea and let them talk about their problem.
Skip hypothetical questions (would you use this) and ask what they have actually done to solve the problem today.
A handful of questions works across any industry, so you can start interviewing before you are an expert in the space.

Watch on YouTube youtube.com →

Read

✍️ Essay

✓ Link checked Free Beginner

Why we picked it Amy Hoy names the exact trap in this question: the person who swears they would pay "if only you added X" is, as she puts it, the most seductive of lies. She teaches you to weigh what people do over what they say, which is the whole point of separating a compliment from a commitment. It is short, blunt, and reads like advice from someone who has actually sold things.

Vaccinate Yourself Against Crappy Customer Feedback

From Stacking the Bricks by Amy Hoy

"I'd pay if only..." is usually flattery or a bargaining move, not a real buying signal, so do not build your roadmap around it.
Quiet, paying customers tell you more than loud enthusiasts who never open their wallet.
Filter feedback by whether the person has skin in the game, not by how excited they sound.

Open stackingthebricks.com →

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it For B2B founders, a signed letter of intent is the cheapest way to turn "this sounds useful" into a costly commitment before you write any code. This piece lays out the LOI as one rung on a commitment ladder (say, LOI, contract, payment) and is honest that an LOI is a signal, not a guarantee. It gives you concrete language and structure rather than just theory.

Product Experiment: Letter of Intent, What it is, How it Works, Examples

From Learning Loop by Learning Loop

An LOI asks a prospect to put their name and intent on paper, which costs them more than polite enthusiasm and filters out empty interest.
Treat it as one step on a ladder toward an actual paid contract, not proof on its own.
In B2B you need fewer but deeper signals: ten companies willing to sign beats a hundred landing-page clicks.

Open learningloop.io →

People also ask

How do I talk to customers without them just telling me what I want to hear? Stop pitching and start interrogating their past. Ask about what they actually did last time the problem hit, what it cost them, and what they trie... Beginner 3 resources → What questions should I actually ask in a customer interview? Ask about the past and the concrete, not the future and the hypothetical. 'Walk me through the last time you dealt with X', 'what's the hardest par... Beginner 3 resources → How many customer interviews do I need before I trust the signal? There's no magic number, you're done when you can predict roughly the next answer before they say it. In practice that's usually 15-30 conversation... Intermediate 2 resources → Where do I find people to interview when I have zero audience? Start with the person you already know who has the problem, then ask each interviewee for two intros. Go where the customer already hangs out, nich... Beginner 2 resources → How do I run customer discovery as an Indian founder building for Indian users? The frameworks are global but the field is local: Indian buyers often say 'yes, nice' to your face and never pay, so watch what they do, not what t... Intermediate 2 resources → How do I show a prototype to users without biasing their reaction? Hand it over, give them a goal, and shut up. Don't narrate or explain, watch where they get stuck, what they ignore, and what they say out loud. Th... Intermediate 2 resources →