📖 Book
✓ Link checked
Paid
Beginner
Why we picked it
The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past behaviour, not your idea, so you can't be lied to. If a founder reads one thing before talking to a single customer, it's this.
From
momtestbook.com
by Rob Fitzpatrick
~130 pages
- Talk about their life, not your idea.
- Ask about specifics in the past, not opinions about the future.
- 'That's so cool, I'd totally buy it' is a compliment, not data, dig for commitment and evidence.
Open
momtestbook.com →
✍️ Essay
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Free
Beginner
Why we picked it
The definitive essay on where good ideas come from: notice problems you personally have, don't force it. Use it as the lens for judging whether your idea is a real problem or a solution in search of one.
From
paulgraham.com
by Paul Graham
~20 min read
- Live in the future and build what's missing.
- The best ideas look like bad ideas at first (schleps and hard-to-explain).
- Start with problems you have, in a domain you actually know.
Open
paulgraham.com →
📄 Article
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Freemium
Beginner
Why we picked it
Todd Jackson studied how dozens of now-large companies validated their very first idea. The pattern that repeats: deliver the outcome by hand, talk to real users, and watch for genuine emotion. A polite 'that's cool' is a no. Strong reactions are the signal you want.
From
Lenny's Newsletter
by Todd Jackson
~15 min read
- Manual delivery beats a survey for early signal.
- Look for strong emotion, not politeness.
- Great ideas usually start from a problem you have lived.
Open
lennysnewsletter.com →
📄 Article
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Freemium
Intermediate
Why we picked it
If you are selling to companies rather than consumers, this is the specific playbook. Four concrete ways founders got signal before building, from doing the job by hand for one customer to interviewing dozens of potential users first.
From
Lenny's Newsletter
by Lenny Rachitsky
~12 min read
- Do the job by hand for one real customer before automating.
- Interview a wide set of potential users before committing.
- B2B signal looks different from consumer signal.
Open
lennysnewsletter.com →
📖 Book
✓ Link checked
Paid
Beginner
Why we picked it
The origin text for the modern MVP and validated-learning vocabulary every founder now uses. Read it for the mental model that a startup is a series of experiments, not a single bet.
From
theleanstartup.com
by Eric Ries
~330 pages
- Progress = validated learning, not features shipped.
- Run the Build-Measure-Learn loop as fast as you can.
- An MVP is a learning tool, not a cheap product.
Open
theleanstartup.com →
📄 Article
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Free
Intermediate
Why we picked it
The father of customer development argues that your plan survives contact with reality only after you leave your desk and test it on real people. It is the antidote to spending months building against untested guesses. Pair it with The Mom Test to keep your scope honest.
From
steveblank.com
by Steve Blank
10 min read
- Every assumption behind your MVP is a guess until you test it outside
- Facts about customers live in the field, not in your building
- Validate the problem before you invest weeks in the solution
Open
steveblank.com →
📄 Article
✓ Link checked
Free
Beginner
Why we picked it
The cleanest distillation of the one framework that turns a customer chat into a relationship instead of a survey. The three rules (talk about their life not your idea, ask about the past not hypotheticals, and chase real commitments of time, reputation, or money) are exactly how you get an early customer to tell you what nearly stopped them from buying and who else you should talk to. Rekhi is a product leader, so the examples are operator-grade, not book-report fluff.
From
Sachin Rekhi's Blog
by Sachin Rekhi
10 min read
- Never pitch your idea in the conversation; ask how they handle the problem today and what it costs them, so praise can't lie to you.
- The strongest signal is a commitment that costs them something: a trial, an intro to a colleague, or a pre-order.
- 'Would you buy this?' teaches you nothing; 'walk me through the last time you dealt with this' surfaces the real story and the referral.
Open
sachinrekhi.com →
Why we picked it
The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few customers. The cheapest, most honest way to validate demand is to go get it one person at a time.
From
paulgraham.com
by Paul Graham
~15 min read
- Recruit your first users manually, don't wait for them to come.
- A tiny group of users who love you beats a big group who like you.
- Manual, unscalable effort early is a feature, not a failure.
Open
paulgraham.com →
