Stop guessing. Start testing.
Get the data that proves you’re not wasting your time.
I’m sure you all know there’s a huge difference between asking people what they would do in theory, versus the decisions they would actually make in the moment. This process is about taking advantage of REAL people making REAL decisions in order to help you decide what to make and when.
Build what your customers want, and build towards what investors want to see.
The old way is broken. “Build it and they will come” is just a fancy way to say, “Let’s light some cash on fire and hope for the best.” Why not find out if your business will work—before investing hundreds of thousands of dollars? Aren’t you curious to know if people actually want your solution—before you invest endless hours of your time?
We’ll help you get those answers, saving you time, money, and a ton of grief and disappointment.
So what’s the old way?
Companies and entrepreneurs would have an idea for a product or service, and they would build a set of requirements to make their solution “work.” They would spend a lot of money building and testing a solution before knowing if someone would pay for it.
You might think this sounds ridiculous or wasteful, but this is still happening today.
Back then, they would assemble focus groups to bring people together in a room and ask them a series of questions or have them try a product and give their opinion.
Some people still do this (and even sell it as a service!), but behavioral psychology has taught us that there are some enormous issues with this approach:
- Groupthink – people will naturally go along with the crowd, especially if they’re the odd one out. This means that you lose the diversity of independent thought, and end up with overwhelming majority responses.
- Courtesy bias – people don’t want to make the interviewer mad or upset, so they try to give the answer they think the interviewer is seeking. This skews the results into supporting the product, rather than giving honest feedback.
- The Alpha – someone with a big opinion and a bigger mouth. They dominate, and the real insights vanish.
- The Naysayer – one person thinks that criticizing everything will make them appear the smartest and most discerning. They may end up influencing people who are on the fence—or even those who are big supporters—and will dramatically skew your results.
- Biased Questions – asking the wrong questions will give you the wrong answers. If you tell me how awesome your product is, and then ask if I’ll buy it, chances are I’ll say yes. But that doesn’t mean I will when the time comes for me to make a purchase.
- It’s Time for a Different Approach
Opinions don’t matter here. Not yours, not theirs. Only behavior counts. Unless someone has built the exact same thing as you (at the exact same time), they don’t know enough to offer more than a guess. It may be a good guess, but you still need to test it either way. Testing everything will provide the data you need to make the best decision you can.
This course is the first in a set of four that will show you how to leverage data through each step of building a product. It will take you through the validation of the problem, the market fit, and customer acceptance in a truly unique way.
As founders, we think we know our market. The reality is, we seldom do.
We’ve spent a years refining, building, testing, and updating this process. We capture assumptions, and then test and validate them with the market. We use the same terms as other programs but we only follow actual data, which is what sets us apart.
We’ll start with our unique approach for talking to your target customers and removing bias from the conversation. We’ll build an understanding of what they do (not what they say they do), including their pain points, how they solve problems today and their aspirations for tomorrow. Perhaps, more importantly, we’ll teach you what not to do.
Interviews can be time-consuming, but this is where our program shines!
We only need to talk to a few targeted groups to understand them, and then we leverage digital and traditional channels to test our assumptions at scale.
Five years ago, in the digital marketing world, we had to use Google Adwords and a series of keyword phrases to test ideas, assumptions, and pain points. A “pain point” test with Adwords could run anywhere from $300 to $1,500 per pain point. To add insult to injury, it could take weeks to validate and verify the pain point as well. There were so many variables in each test that the data was “good” at best, and it could be difficult to really find the true pain point a user may have.
We can go faster, spend less money, and get better data when we isolate variables.
When you are testing, it’s best to reduce the number of variables as much as possible. With most ads, you’re testing the headline, sub-heading, image, body text, call-to-action, and more all at once. Instead, we teach you how to test for one thing at a time to get great data, in as little as a single day.
Better yet, we use that data for far more than the old way. We leverage it to impact your product or service, your marketing materials, and even your overall business model. You’ll see a drastic difference in how the interaction between development, marketing, sales, and your business goals take shape. The data speaks for itself, resists emotional counter-arguments, and encourages collaboration and unification in direction. This is the best approach.
We’ll support you through the process by breaking it down into small, manageable steps. Start by following the steps and looking at the data, then do it again with another idea or move on to the next part of the process. When you finish this part of the program, you’ll have a proven idea and confidence in knowing what your customer wants and needs. Just as importantly, you’ll understand how to eliminate assumptions and test all your future ideas using data.
No more inflated opinions. No more hopeful maybes. Just real people, real tests, real data.
The old way doesn’t work. You end up spending a ton to build a product that people say they want—because you led them to say so—only to find that it solves a problem that no one actually cares about.
Our way is better—and not just because we said so. We force rapid iteration with data-driven decision-making to make sure that when you decide to spend money, your decision is supported by real data. By prioritizing your market over your opinion, you get results and build a product that people actually want and are willing to pay for.
What We Need From You
We know that this is an unconventional approach, but we also know that it works and so do those who have completed it before you. More and more people and institutions are adopting this method because it delivers. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. Don’t skip any of the steps and feel free to ask for help along the way. Here are some traits that we’ve observed in people who do well throughout this process:
- An ability to leave their preconceived notions at the door.
- A desire to see data and a process to validate and verify their assumptions.
- A distaste for spending time, money, and other resources based on guesswork.
- An openness to being wrong, and the ability to see the value in that and learn from it.
- A drive to build a product and company that can scale, and an understanding that eliminating assumptions will facilitate that.
- A capacity to test quickly without overthinking.
- The courage to take action.
- A willingness to see bumps in the road as part of the journey.
We are so glad to have you onboard. Get ready, this will be a ride.
“You are one major pain point, one message that resonates, one hungry audience, one optimized funnel, and one product away from millions of dollars. Just give the people what they want, and be sure you know what they want.”
– Russel Brunson
