[anandkulkarni]

Lots of digital agencies do this for you, but splashy agency launches aren't usually how startups get off the ground (with a few exceptions). They're how bigger companies release new products because they have ample brand awareness and budget.

The conventional wisdom in the last ten years for new startup products are that you should open discussions with initial customers yourself.

This kind of early customer development lets you prove your hypotheses around the product having demand before investing in expensive promotional spending.

[tchock23]

I'm torn on whether this 'conventional wisdom' is any good. Founders are the most biased when it comes to customer discovery interviews.

I have listened in on quite a few customer discovery conversations where founders took the lead and been amazed at what they think they heard. Small signs of enthusiasm turn into 'they loved it!' while negative comments are often ignored (classic confirmation bias).

However, outsourcing it to a digital agency and waiting for a report is bad for different reasons (expensive, likelihood to ignore the findings, hindsight bias, etc.)

As an advisor to quite a few local startups, I still haven't found what the 'right' approach is...

[thr0waway1239]

In other words, there is very little demand for "Busting confirmation bias via Objective analysis of customer discovery interviews" as a service, even though you might think it should be profitable.

There is some kind of lesson for both founders and "founder advisors" somewhere in there. I think it goes something like this: "The market is an irrational, complex beast and people who post-rationalize don't even know what is going on until WhatsApp has already been acquired by Facebook for a gazillion dollars" :-)

[anandkulkarni]

I recommend founders end customer discovery interviews by asking for a purchase (or a preorder/letter of intent, depending on the situation). This is the most immediate way to testing whether a customer's really willing to pay.

[tchock23]

While I agree this is an excellent form of validation (perhaps the ONLY form of validation), this has to be done with extreme precaution.

Most customer discovery interviews are agreed to under the guise of "sure, I'll share some of the issues I face and give you some feedback on your concept."

When you turn the tables at the end and ask "wanna buy now?" you can instantly destroy any semblance of credibility and rapport you may have built over the course of the interview.

There is a very nuanced way of doing it that (in my experience) very few founders have the capability of doing...

[agorabeta]

i completely agree! when we were asking discovery questions, people tend to want to talk about the pain point and that gives you an illusion of validation. as soon as we ask, so how much would you pay for this? the conversation shifts and the true priorities come out.

[tchock23]

Take any answer to a question phrased as "would you do XYZ" as essentially worthless.

It's all reported behavior and can/will differ vastly from actual behavior - especially in regards to willingness to pay.

Instead focus on behaviors they are already exhibiting (e.g., what are you buying now in this space/category, and why?).

[btown]

On top of this, if you want to be agile, even if there were intermediaries that would find your first "influencer" users and coordinate them for free, it would be even better to have personal contact and unfiltered feedback in most cases.

[wheelerwj]

well said.

i like to go with, get someone to give you money before you build anything.

[amygdyl]

I'm deliberately threadjacking here to reply to this first helpful comment, because I cannot see any evidence that the OP ever responds to any of the replies they have sought, e.g. this one here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12967272

I get it why there can be helpful info on discussions like this, for others...

But when the person who asks never goes into any detail, I am sorry, but it just wastes so many people's time. Furthermore, the earlier Ask HN, indicates there's lots to be done, prior to any launch, and that many services that are geared to product launches, would probably not be affordable to this person, because they seem in too early a stage, being quite generous as to their other circumstances.

This sort of thing really is probably best done by paying LinkedIn to search the detailed skills / services in a database like that, instead of trying to make HN a personal, but not at all personalized (for nothing about the specific needs is given, at all) commercial meet and greet / help wanted board.

edit: typo/clarity