Article · medium read
A Practical Guide to Primary Market Research
Bill Aulet · VentureWell (Bill Aulet, MIT) Free Intermediate
Aulet, who runs MIT's entrepreneurship center, lays out how to do primary research properly: observe, listen, and interact with potential customers instead of trusting reports written by others. For an outsider this is the disciplined version of getting up to speed, understanding the customer rationally, emotionally, and economically. It gives structure to what could otherwise be aimless coffee chats.
- Go observe and listen in person, do not lean on secondary reports
- Understand the customer rationally, emotionally, and economically
- Inquiry, not advocacy, keep asking rather than selling
