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sukidookie's review
informative
fast-paced
5.0
A short, effective and useful how-to book to refer to when having customer conversations.
bucketoffish's review against another edition
5.0
This has got to be hands-down the most useful business book I've ever read. Every startup founder I talked to who has read this book has also recommended it highly.
The basic premise of The Mom Test is that customers will lie to you and tell you that they like your idea, even if they're not doing it on purpose. Truth is, even if your idea is the worst business plan anyone's ever heard, people will still find a way to sympathize with you and tell you that there's a market for it. The title of the book refers to the goal of conducting customer interviews in such a way that not even your mom could lie to you in this way.
One major takeaway is to try to avoid mentioning your business idea during an interview if at all possible. Don't try to overly steer the conversation. Don't try to defend your idea. Learn something from the conversation even if it becomes clear that your interviewee would never use your product.
The author gives tons of practical advice about what kinds of questions not to ask (I had asked every single one in interviews before), about how to reach out to customers, and about what to take away from interviews. There is absolutely zero filler in this book, and no bullshit at all.
The basic premise of The Mom Test is that customers will lie to you and tell you that they like your idea, even if they're not doing it on purpose. Truth is, even if your idea is the worst business plan anyone's ever heard, people will still find a way to sympathize with you and tell you that there's a market for it. The title of the book refers to the goal of conducting customer interviews in such a way that not even your mom could lie to you in this way.
One major takeaway is to try to avoid mentioning your business idea during an interview if at all possible. Don't try to overly steer the conversation. Don't try to defend your idea. Learn something from the conversation even if it becomes clear that your interviewee would never use your product.
The author gives tons of practical advice about what kinds of questions not to ask (I had asked every single one in interviews before), about how to reach out to customers, and about what to take away from interviews. There is absolutely zero filler in this book, and no bullshit at all.
niniane's review against another edition
5.0
I recommend this book to many people! Very illuminating examples of testing one's ideas.
peppypenguin's review against another edition
5.0
An absolute must-read for entrepreneurs, sales professionals, and marketers. Well-written, easy-to-follow steps, extremely logical.
esthery_rn's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
Your mom wants to make you happy. She will give you answers designed to do that and boost your ego. The goal in doing customer research is to design questions and conversations that even your mom would answer honestly and give you good feedback.
I am not the kind of start-up company this author was writing the book for. I learned a few things and was reminded of other important things. I probably could have read the intro and chapter one then skipped to the very good conclusion and cheatsheet chapter which provides an excellent summary of the whole book. (I was on a kindle and didn't see this at first.)
Remember: Talk about their life instead of you. Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics about the future when determining what someone is likely to want/do to solve a problem. And talk less and listen more.
I am not the kind of start-up company this author was writing the book for. I learned a few things and was reminded of other important things. I probably could have read the intro and chapter one then skipped to the very good conclusion and cheatsheet chapter which provides an excellent summary of the whole book. (I was on a kindle and didn't see this at first.)
Remember: Talk about their life instead of you. Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics about the future when determining what someone is likely to want/do to solve a problem. And talk less and listen more.
optimisms's review against another edition
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
5.0
A truly fantastic book. Anyone interested in starting a business should read this before doing anything else. The techniques and advice in this book have completely changed the way I have customer conversations, the quality of the information I receive, and my ability to understand what is being said and act on it. I wish I'd read this a year ago, but better late than never!
panicstation's review against another edition
3.0
Dobar prirucnik sa idejama i primerima kako komunicirati sa klijentima, nista vise od toga.
nakedsushi's review against another edition
4.0
A short and to the point business-type book that's extremely helpful in conducting customer research. I heard about this book through an IndieHackers podcast episode and while one could get the gist of this book by just listening to the podcast, the details and examples in the actual book were worth the price of admission.