How founders can crush customer interviews using the mom test

You're a first-time founder. You know you need to talk to customers. But what do you ask?

The most useful skill in entrepreneurship is asking good questions. But most of us suck at it because we don't know how to ask questions that get us the data we need to build valuable products — particularly without introducing bias.

I've helped hundreds of first-time founders design their first customer interviews. The "mom test" is the easiest way to 10x your question game the moment you learn it. Why?

Customers will lie right to your face — as a favour.

You eat a mediocre meal at a restaurant. What do you say when they ask, "how was it?"

You probably lie: "good". The waiter probably doesn't care, and yet you still won't tell him the vaguely uncomfortable truth that the food was just okay. When a startup founder talks to customers, they know she cares. So what are the chances they tell the truth?

Ask questions in a way that even your own mom tells you the truth.

Hey, mom, what do you think of my startup idea? "It's wonderful, honey! You're going to be so successful. I'm so proud of you."

It feels good, but it's useless. If you want data, you have to ask questions that give you the information you need without asking the questions you can't ask:

• Tell me about a time when you experienced difficulty doing X?

• When was the last time that X happened? Can you tell me about it?

• How often do you X?

• When that happened, what did you try? Why didn't it work?

These all pass the mom test because there isn't a particular answer that will make you feel good.

But they do more than that. They tell you their wants, needs, and fears.

And that's how you find a valuable opportunity.