Article

How Many Customers Should You Interview?

Justin Wilcox · Customer Dev Labs Free Beginner

Wilcox tackles this exact question head on, and rejects the tempting stop when you stop learning something new answer since you will always learn something from a conversation. Instead he gives a concrete test, the 3 of 5 rule: interview in batches of five and keep going until at least three of your last five are true early adopters, people who have the problem and are actively seeking a solution. Read it for a test you can actually run rather than a vague instinct.

• Stopping when you stop learning something new is not a useful test, you will always learn something from a conversation.
• Interview in batches of five and check how many of the last five are true early adopters.
• Three of five being early adopters, people with the problem who are actively seeking a solution, means you have found the right segment to keep talking to.