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The Jobs to be Done Mattress Interview

Jobs to be Done Radio Free Intermediate

A transcript of a real switch interview so you can hear what a great customer conversation actually sounds like. Reading it shows how a skilled interviewer follows the timeline of a purchase and keeps digging without leading. Much more useful than abstract advice when you are learning to run these yourself.

  • See a real interview unfold instead of reading rules about one
  • Notice how the interviewer follows the timeline of the decision
  • Small 'why did you do that' probes uncover the real motivation

It answers 4 questions

  1. What questions should I actually ask in a customer interview?
  2. How do I keep talking to users while I'm heads-down building?
  3. What are the questions that quietly ruin an interview by leading the person to the answer I want?
  4. How do I recruit and interview my competitor's customers without it getting weird or them shutting down?

Read with it

  1. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  2. A deep conversation on why direct questions fail and how story-based interviews surface real behaviour. Torres names the common... Lenny's Newsletter Podcast · ~75 min Teresa Torres on how to interview customers Lenny Rachitsky and Teresa Torres
  3. The standard modern playbook for keeping discovery continuous so roadmap decisions stay grounded in real customer input, not... Product Talk Book · ~240 pages Continuous Discovery Habits Teresa Torres
  4. A YC partner turns 'talk to users' into a repeatable 5-question interview script you can use this afternoon. It's The Mom Test... YC Startup Library Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky (YC / founder of Pebble)
  5. A short, practical field guide to customer discovery: who to talk to, how to find them, and how many. Pairs perfectly with The... talkingtohumans.com Book · ~80 pages (free PDF available) Talking to Humans Giff Constable
  6. Video · ~25 min How to Talk to Users Eric Migicovsky
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