ivangdavila_market-research/validation.md

Customer Validation

Pre-Building Validation

The Mom Test Questions

Avoid leading questions. Get facts about past behavior, not future intentions.

❌ "Would you use an app that does X?" ✅ "How do you currently solve X?" ✅ "What happened last time you faced this problem?" ✅ "How much time/money did that cost you?"

Jobs-to-be-Done Framework

Structure: "When [situation], I want to [motivation], so I can [outcome]."

Example: "When I'm preparing for a board meeting, I want to quickly assess competitor moves, so I can confidently answer questions about market positioning."

Finding Interview Subjects

Cold outreach:

• LinkedIn (filter by role + industry + company size)
• Twitter/X (search for people complaining about the problem)
• Industry Slack/Discord communities
• Relevant subreddits

Warm introductions:

• Ask existing network for intros
• Offer value exchange (share research findings)

Target: 20-30 conversations before any confidence in patterns

Validation Signals

Strong Signals (Worth Building)

Signal	Weight
Customer gives you money (prepayment, LOI)	⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Customer spends significant time helping you	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Customer introduces you to others with same problem	⭐⭐⭐⭐
Customer describes workarounds they've built	⭐⭐⭐
Customer articulates the problem in your words	⭐⭐⭐

Weak Signals (Keep Digging)

Signal	Reality
"I'd definitely use that"	Polite enthusiasm, not commitment
"Great idea!"	Compliment, not validation
Survey says 80% interested	Stated preference ≠ revealed preference
Lots of social media engagement	Attention ≠ willingness to pay

Survey Design

Question Types

Screening questions: Filter to your target audience Behavioral questions: What have they done (past tense) Preference questions: What would they choose (less reliable) Open-ended questions: Capture language and unexpected insights

Sample Size

Confidence Level	Margin of Error	Required Sample
95%	±5%	~400 responses
95%	±10%	~100 responses
90%	±10%	~70 responses

For early validation, directional insights from 50-100 responses are often sufficient.

Common Survey Mistakes

• Leading questions
• Double-barreled questions (asking two things at once)
• Social desirability bias (people say what sounds good)
• Too many questions (fatigue lowers quality)
• No screening for irrelevant respondents

Pricing Research

Van Westendorp Method

Ask 4 questions:

1. At what price would this be too expensive to consider?
2. At what price would this be expensive but worth considering?
3. At what price would this be a good deal?
4. At what price would this be so cheap you'd question quality?

Plot results to find optimal price range.

Willingness-to-Pay Interview

"If this product existed today and solved [specific problem], what would you pay for it?"

Follow up: "What would make it worth 2x that price?"

Competitive Pricing Analysis

Competitor	Pricing Model	Entry Price	Mid-tier	Enterprise
Competitor A	Per seat	$15/mo	$45/mo	Custom
Competitor B	Usage-based	$0.01/call	$0.008/call	Volume discounts
Competitor C	Flat rate	$99/mo	$299/mo	$999/mo

Position your pricing based on:

• Value delivered vs alternatives
• Target customer segment
• Competitive reference points