the mom test

welcome to introspection ft. harsehaj! ⭐️ i’m harsehaj, and always up to something in social good x tech.

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onto today’s topic: the mom test 🧪 

i was recently recommended to read the mom test by rob fitzpatrick, and it was a fantastic read. surprisingly, it only takes 1-2 hours to read — it was the perfect airport activity.

to summarize, the book sheds light on the importance of validating business ideas by talking to (potential) customers. the key to this is administering the mom test: talk about the customer’s life and not yours, dig into specifics of the past and not hypotheticals of the future, and talk less in favour of listening more.

my 3 biggest takeaways:

1) risk killing your idea with each conversation 🔪 

people often avoid questions that might kill their business. they ask questions and direct customers in a direction that will validate their ideas; however, that validation is useless if the business fails in the real world. why fool yourself and face serious repercussions later? enter each conversation with a question prepared to invalidate the entire premise

2) commitment > compliments 🤝 

a throwaway compliment like, “this is a great idea!” or “i’d definitely use this!” means nothing unless a commitment of time, money or reputation has been made (perhaps pre-purchasing, or introducing you to their boss). a person will only put their own resources on the line if they truly are interested — words don’t mean much. i’m definitely guilty of taking compliments as positive signs, but i’ve learned those are just false positives and that commitment is the only valid compliment. a simple “thank you“ will do in response to a compliment, and then redirect the conversation back to digging into a problem space and locking in an action item by the end of the chat.

3) dig so deep into a problem that a solution is the only way to get out 🪣 

you should never come up with an idea built off assumptions or hope that a serious enough problem exists to fit the solution you’ve already developed. the best solutions are obvious ones once a problem space has been discovered with enough validation and customers with a desperate need have been identified. you want to dig so deep into a problem that you end up in the same boat as the customers experiencing it themselves — they’re the ones who will pay for a solution.

successful ideas make money because they solve problems people absolutely need solutions to.

i would highly recommend the read, even if you’re not into startups — talking to users/customers is a valuable skill across all functions.

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