SESSION 2: Knowing Your Customer

Customer, Problem, Alternatives, Idea Testing

Business Models vs. Business Plans

Why the Lean Startup Changes Everything

A new way of starting a business is taking the startup world by storm. Read this article to learn more about the lean startup and why it could be the new way forward on entrepreneurship.

Business Plans are a Historical Artifact
This short piece describes the value of an existing minimal venture over a written business plan.

Understanding Your Customer

The Mom Test
Rob Fitzpatrick works through how to get, structure, and maneuver through customer conversations in order to get the most complete and useful feedback to help you and your team move towards a more viable product or service.

What Is Customer Discovery?
This helpful and intuitive article applies the experimental method to market research.

The Moment You Speak to the World, You Speak to No One
Let’s bust the myth that your customer is “anyone.” Read this piece to learn about how to narrow the scope of who your customer might be.

11 Ways to Start a Conversation with a Potential Customer
Don’t start out talking about your product–try one of these openers instead.

Sizing Up the Market

Why Entrepreneurs Must Research Market Size
Do your homework on how large the market for your product actually is. You’ll thank yourself later.

Estimating the Market Size
A guide to estimating how many customers are even available for you to serve.

SBA Resources for Market Research
To help business owners access government data on prospective customer demographics, the Small Business Administration makes links to the different databases available with a short explanation of each.

CDIA
The Consumer Data Industry Association is the voice of consumer data, promoting the responsible use of consumer data.