How to find people for problem validation in a post-COVID world
How do you perform problem validation in a post-COVID world? The preferred discovery/validation is done in person through long form interviews. You want to talk to people outside of your personal network to remove as much bias as possible. But now it is harder than ever to arrange long form, in-person meetings with strangers.
I’m not sure about you, but my personal and professional networks have grown at a much slower pace over the last few months. I have not had an in-person meeting for work since social distancing policies started. I used to take any coffee meeting anyone requested, but now everything is virtual. How do you make new connections and perform long form interviews if you can’t meet with people?
Here are some options for how to find people for problem discovery and validation based on business type. If you sell to other businesses (B2B) it’s different than a consumer focused company (B2C). Mainly, it is different where you start.
B2B — If a B2B, hopefully you can start with your LinkedIn or professional network. If you don’t have that, then checkout trade publications or Facebook (social network) groups. There may not be a large congregation of target customers anywhere, but if you can get your seed audience (2–5 people) then you can grow from there.
B2C — If a consumer product, start with your personal network. You will likely have to throw away any responses from your first level of connections. They will be baised towards overly supporting your idea or thinking it won’t work. But, take their feedback, build the trust, and then ask for referrals from your immediate network. When you get to a level three connection, the bias should be well removed.
Multiply
After your first round of interviews, it is similar across business types for how you find more people to interview. Ask every person you talk to for a minimum of 2 other people to talk to. If you have 2 or more referrals per person, your survey base will grow exponentially. I prefer to ask for 3 people because it leaves room for 1 or 2 of those referrals to be dead ends.
Here’s how that math plays out:
Round 1– 5 people from your network. Each refers 2 good leads. 5 people interviewed.
Round 2– 10 new people interviewed. Each refers 2 good leads. 15 total people interviewed.
Round 3– 20 new people interviewed. Each refers 2 good leads. 35 total people interviewed.
Round 4– 40 new people interviewed. 75 total people interviewed.
Starting from just 5 people that you know in the target market, you can grow to 75 people interviewed in 4 rounds of interviews. Note: Keep in mind that you’ll probably throw away your first round of interviews because their personal bias from already knowing you is too strong.
By this point you should start to see trends for how people in your target market are associating and referring each other. How did the people from round 3 know the people in round 4? Were they all related in the same way or were there multiple ways that they associated with each other? This informs you about potential marketing strategies to discover more people in your target market in the future without depending exclusively upon referrals.
Times have changed. I used to recommend going to events/public spaces and rubbing elbows with as many people as possible. My personal favorite was attending trade shows and not leaving until every exhibitor and hundreds of attendees knew my name. That is still an option, but depending on time of the year and where you are, the experience is highly variable. Now is a good time to take advantage of the rapid adoption of virtual meetings to meet people where they are most comfortable.
So, who are the 5 people you know already in the target market? Start there, ask for referrals, and in a few rounds you’ll have more people to talk to than you have time for.
Are you ready to start something?
I hope you found this article helpful to you on your entrepreneurial journey. If you would like to talk more about this overview or the practical application of it, let’s talk. You can find me here on medium or you can connect with me over on LinkedIn.
