The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you

It boils down to this: you aren’t allowed to tell them what their problem is, and in return, they aren’t allowed to tell you what to build. They own the problem, you own the solution.

Trying to learn from customer conversations is like excavating a delicate archaeological site. The truth is down there somewhere, but it’s fragile. While each blow with your shovel gets you closer to the truth, you’re liable to smash it into a million little pieces if you use too blunt an instrument.

Rule of thumb: You should be terrified of at least one of the questions you’re asking in every conversation.

The world’s most deadly fluff is: “I would definitely buy that.” It just sounds so concrete. As a founder, you desperately want to believe it’s money in the bank. But folks are wildly optimistic about what they would do in the future. They’re always more positive, excited, and willing to pay in the imagined future than they are once it arrives.

The only thing people love talking about more than themselves is their problems. By taking an interest in the problems and minutia of their day, you’re already more interesting than 99% of the people they’ve ever met.

When you hear a request, it’s your job to understand the motivations which led to it. You do that by digging around the question to find the root cause. Why do they bother doing it this way? Why do they want the feature? How are they currently coping without the feature? Dig.

The Mom Test: 1. Talk about their life instead of your idea 2. Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future 3. Talk less and listen more

Do you think it's a good idea?" Awful question! Here’s the thing: only the market can tell if your idea is good. Everything else is just opinion. Unless you’re talking to a deep industry expert, this is self-indulgent noise with a high risk of false positives.

Every time you talk to someone, you should be asking at least one question which has the potential to destroy your currently imagined business.

We go through the futile process of asking for opinions and fish for compliments because we crave approval. We want to believe that the support and sign-off of someone we respect means our venture will succeed. But really, that person’s opinion doesn’t matter. They have no idea if the business is going to work. Only the market knows. You’re searching for the truth, not trying to be right. And you want to do it as quickly and cheaply as possible. Learning that your beliefs are wrong is frustrating, but it’s progress. It’s bringing you ever closer to the truth of a real problem and a good market. The worst thing you can do is ignore the bad news while searching for some tiny grain of validation to celebrate. You want the truth, not a gold star.

Rule of thumb: People stop lying when you ask them for money.

While using generics, people describe themselves as who they want to be, not who they actually are. You need to get specific to bring out the edge cases.

The framing format I like has five key elements. You’re an entrepreneur trying to solve horrible problem X, usher in wonderful vision Y, or fix stagnant industry Z. Don’t mention your idea. Frame expectations by mentioning what stage you’re at and, if it’s true, that you don’t have anything to sell. Show weakness and give them a chance to help by mentioning the specific problem that you’re looking for answers on. This will also clarify that you’re not a time waster. Put them on a pedestal by showing how much they, in particular, can help. Explicitly ask for help. Or, in shorter form: Vision / Framing / Weakness / Pedestal / Ask

Zooming in too quickly on a super-specific problem before you understand the rest of the customers life can irreparably confuse your learnings.

best” means learning, not selling.

Long story short, that person is a complainer, not a customer.

Don’t spend a week prepping for meetings; spend an hour and then go talk to people. Anything more is stalling. Don’t spend months doing full-time customer conversations before beginning to move on a product. Spend a week, maybe two. Get your bearings and then give them something to commit to.

Talk about their life instead of your idea Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future Talk less and listen more It’s called The Mom Test because it leads to questions that even your mom can’t lie to you about.

Some problems don’t actually matter.

Given that people don’t know what they want, that wouldn’t be a terribly effective approach. Deciding what to build is your job. The questions to ask are about your customers’ lives: their problems, cares, constraints, and goals.

Regla de oro: hasta que no entiendas las metas y motivaciones de tus clientes, estarás disparando a ciegas.

Rule of thumb: Opinions are worthless.

They say that startups don’t starve, they drown. You never have too few options, too few leads, or too few ideas; you have too many. You get overwhelmed. You do a little bit of everything. When it comes to getting above water and making faster progress, good customer segmentation is your best friend.

Start broad and don't zoom in until you’ve found a strong signal, both with your whole business and with every conversation.

After a batch of conversations: With your team, review your notes and key customer quotes If relevant, transfer notes into permanent storage Update your beliefs and plans Decide on the next 3 big questions

Rule of thumb: Learning about a customer and their problems works better as a quick and casual chat than a long, formal meeting.

Anything involving the future is an over-optimistic lie.

search out the world-rocking scary questions you’ve been unintentionally shrinking from. The best way to find them is with thought experiments. Imagine that the company has failed and ask why that happened. Then imagine it as a huge success and ask what had to be true to get there. Find ways to learn about those critical pieces. You can tell it’s an important question when its answer could completely change (or disprove) your business.

Regla de oro: la gente sabe cuáles son sus problemas pero no suele saber cómo resolverlos.

Regla de oro: es muy difícil que alguien te diga con certeza lo que pagaría por tu solución. Sin embargo, la gente a menudo te muestra lo que les valdría la pena pagar o lo que ya están pagando.