1. Customer development
(and how it's going to save
you money)
robftz@gmail.com

2. Lean is about eliminating waste

3. The biggest waste is building a product
nobody wants to pay for

4. Very few startups have trouble building
their product

5. The most common problem is an
absence of customers

6. Customer development helps in 2 ways
1. If you're building the wrong thing, it helps you
learn that sooner
2. Once you're building the correct thing, it helps you
find customers before you launch

7. It's very simple
1. Talk to lots of customers
2. Deeply understand their needs
3. Write down what you learn

8. But it's not sales

9. It's about learning
There are lots of possible ways to learn what your
customers want

10. What you need to learn depends on the
stage of your company
Illustration from custdev.com

11. 1. Discovery

12. Who is your customer?
How do they work?
How do they spend money?

13. What are their biggest problems?
How do they solve those problems?
How much are the problems worth?

14. Would your idea solve their problems?

15. 2. Validation

16. But they might be lying to you!

17. Build a simple version of the product
Prove they were telling the truth by
getting them to buy it

18. 3. Efficiency & scale

19. Figure out the sales channel
Start finding lots of customers

20. But companies who skip to this step
perform much worse
Create a solid foundation before
scaling

21. Tricky questions:
Money and ego

22. Understand how they spend money
Which budget does this type of purchase come
from?
What do you already buy that is similar?
Who would be most excited to buy this?

23. "Would you buy this product?"

24. "Would you buy this product?"
Avoid questions that make them feel guilty about
answering honestly.

25. You want find ways the business won't
work

26. Write down what you learn

32. You get interviews by asking and
wanting to learn

33. Not everyone is worth talking to

34. It's a casual conversation, not a sales
pitch

35. You're offering them the chance to be
an expert and learn what you're
working on

36. The founders and product owners
should do the interviews themselves

37. To summarize:
Who is your customer?
What is their big problem?
How do they spend money?
What else matters to them?

38. When you find something won't work,
update the business and keep learning.
Illustration from custdev.com

39. Thanks!
robftz@gmail.com
thestartuptoolkit.com