The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you
- Downloads：5784
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-09-01 09:55:07
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Rob Fitzpatrick
- ISBN：1492180742
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
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Summary
The Mom Test is a quick， practical guide that will save you time， money， and heartbreak。
They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea， because she loves you and will lie to you。 This is technically true， but it misses the point。 You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea。 It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little 。 As a matter of fact， it's not their responsibility to tell you the truth。 It's your responsibility to find it and it's worth doing right 。
Talking to customers is one of the foundational skills of both Customer Development and Lean Startup。 We all know we're supposed to do it， but nobody seems willing to admit that it's easy to screw up and hard to do right。 This book is going to show you how customer conversations go wrong and how you can do better。
They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea， because she loves you and will lie to you。 This is technically true， but it misses the point。 You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea。 It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little 。 As a matter of fact， it's not their responsibility to tell you the truth。 It's your responsibility to find it and it's worth doing right 。
Talking to customers is one of the foundational skills of both Customer Development and Lean Startup。 We all know we're supposed to do it， but nobody seems willing to admit that it's easy to screw up and hard to do right。 This book is going to show you how customer conversations go wrong and how you can do better。
Reviews
Archit Singh
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This book should be a definite-read for anyone conducting user interviews for understanding product-market fit。 This will ensure that you do not create a product no one wants。 Think about what would happen if you burned through a lot of money just to create a product no one wants。The uniqueness of the book is certainly and most simply， the MOM test。 Every question you ask the user needs to be subjected to The MOM Test。“The Mom Test:1。 Talk about their life instead of your idea2。 Ask about specif This book should be a definite-read for anyone conducting user interviews for understanding product-market fit。 This will ensure that you do not create a product no one wants。 Think about what would happen if you burned through a lot of money just to create a product no one wants。The uniqueness of the book is certainly and most simply， the MOM test。 Every question you ask the user needs to be subjected to The MOM Test。“The Mom Test:1。 Talk about their life instead of your idea2。 Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future3。 Talk less and listen more”They say you shouldn't ask your mom whether your business is a good idea， because she loves you and will lie to you。 This is technically true， but it misses the point。 You shouldn't ask anyone if your business is a good idea。 It's a bad question and everyone will lie to you at least a little。 As a matter of fact， it's not their responsibility to tell you the truth。 It's your responsibility to find it and it's worth doing right。“It boils down to this: you aren’t allowed to tell them what their problem is， and in return， they aren’t allowed to tell you what to build。 They own the problem， you own the solution。”This book should serve as a framework for you to conduct user interviews。 It's a HOW-TO guide， so its quite heavy on a lot of specifics， hence it would be better to go through multiple iterations of:1。 skim the book， make notes2。 apply3。 review your process4。 skim the book， make notes， make a mind map5。 apply6。 review your process7。 skim the book， refine notes， refine mind map。。。。。I hope you get the idea:） 。。。more
Ivan
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Clear nice overview on customer talks。
Arta
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Straight forward and to the point。
Tejas Niphadkar
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Pithy。 To the point。 No fluff。 Covers everything from good questions to ask during interviews， finding folks to interview to interview process， customer commitments etc。While author could have made it a longer read by adding fluff， he chose not to。 The fifth star well earned。
Huascar Miranda Martinez
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A practical guide， I love it
Jacek Królikowski
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An excellent book - short， practical， to the point and （important for me） optimistic。 A great counterbalance to some of the other stuff that tackled the subject of talking to the customers by repeating "get out of the building" every other page。 I always really appreciate when experts share their knowledge with the "look how simple it is" approach instead of the "look how smart I am"I really appreciated the breadth of the contents - not just "how to talk to customers"， but also where to find the An excellent book - short， practical， to the point and （important for me） optimistic。 A great counterbalance to some of the other stuff that tackled the subject of talking to the customers by repeating "get out of the building" every other page。 I always really appreciate when experts share their knowledge with the "look how simple it is" approach instead of the "look how smart I am"I really appreciated the breadth of the contents - not just "how to talk to customers"， but also where to find them， how to structure the process， how to get warm intros and friendly connections， and also talking to other types of advisors。I made the most highlights in this book of all the non-fiction pieces I've read recently - I think that's a great recommendation。 It turned out I didn't even need some of the highlights - the book ends with a nice， short， and itemized cheat sheet。 I wish adding a cheat sheet like this one was more of a standard practice - it's insanely useful， especially in ebooks， where it's more difficult to "find that one passage you're looking for" quickly。Good stuff。 。。。more
Visnja Zeljeznjak
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Practical， already used it to learn a lot from a single conversation with a client。 Took plenty of notes。
Jack James
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The book basically takes one core idea and says， this is probably what you’re doing wrong， big picture， and it's great advice。 Sort of like， ok if you do one thing， do this。 And that’s enough to up people’s game significantly。 But I would say this leans a bit too far in the "be scrappy" direction。 There's not much in the way of encouragement to become highly disciplined about user research， when in fact that limits the effect of bias and makes the process more scientific。 The book basically takes one core idea and says， this is probably what you’re doing wrong， big picture， and it's great advice。 Sort of like， ok if you do one thing， do this。 And that’s enough to up people’s game significantly。 But I would say this leans a bit too far in the "be scrappy" direction。 There's not much in the way of encouragement to become highly disciplined about user research， when in fact that limits the effect of bias and makes the process more scientific。 。。。more
Pia Trinidad
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Extremely practical。
Gloria
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Primero， está escrito de forma muy dinámica， por lo que se lee fácil y rápido。 Tiene partes bastante útiles para hablar sobre algo importante con cualquiera， no solo con futuros clientes de tu idea de negocio， hay consejos que sirven para obtener una información verídica en diferentes situaciones。 Por ejemplo， si llevas unos capítulos de una novela y se la das a leer a alguien para que la valore， siguiendo estos consejos puedes recopilar información muy útil， y no solo cumplidos。 Así que。。。 bast Primero， está escrito de forma muy dinámica， por lo que se lee fácil y rápido。 Tiene partes bastante útiles para hablar sobre algo importante con cualquiera， no solo con futuros clientes de tu idea de negocio， hay consejos que sirven para obtener una información verídica en diferentes situaciones。 Por ejemplo， si llevas unos capítulos de una novela y se la das a leer a alguien para que la valore， siguiendo estos consejos puedes recopilar información muy útil， y no solo cumplidos。 Así que。。。 bastante recomendable。 。。。more
Hugh
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The first part of the book provided some original and interesting insights on how to perform good customer interviews （roughly the first 40% of the book）。 The second part （covering topics like segmenting customers， approaching contacts for meetings and taking notes） didn't provide new info and felt like 'filler material' to convert this writing into a book rather than a series of interesting blog articles。 The first part of the book provided some original and interesting insights on how to perform good customer interviews （roughly the first 40% of the book）。 The second part （covering topics like segmenting customers， approaching contacts for meetings and taking notes） didn't provide new info and felt like 'filler material' to convert this writing into a book rather than a series of interesting blog articles。 。。。more
Andy Walner
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This was a quick read packed with useful information。 The book repeated the same few themes with plenty of examples to help understand the right way to talk to customers。 Although I had already seen many of the ideas in this book before， the author does a good job introducing a structure that is easy for any entrepreneur to follow。
Ray
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Great book on how the questions you ask others massively shapes the responses you get and how easily you can dig yourself into a ditch of believing all your ideas are good when they're in fact a bit crap （a problem that I'm all too familiar with）。 Great book on how the questions you ask others massively shapes the responses you get and how easily you can dig yourself into a ditch of believing all your ideas are good when they're in fact a bit crap （a problem that I'm all too familiar with）。 。。。more
Aleksander Dytko
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Great book about customer feedback， worth to read！
Akhil Ramolla
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The first 2 chapters are goldThe last 2 chapters are gold
Asma
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این کتاب کمک میکنه بفهمید هرسوالی که میپرسید چه منظوری رو منتقل میکنه و هر جوابی که میگیرید چه معنی داره از طرفی کمک میکنه تواناییتون توی سوال جواب کردن بقیه افزایش پیدا کنه :） البته خوندنش به تنهایی فایده ای نداره و باید توی روزمره به کارببرید تا کم کم یاد بگیرید چیکار باید بکنید موقع مصاحبه کردن。
Joseph Arcila
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Very good insights but it is missing some important infoI really liked the book， I learn many new things I didn't even think about previously when talking to users。 Although I think I will need to repeat it in text version， because there many things that the book mention that are better absorbed through text。I do not give this book 5 stars just because it doesn't talk anything about talking to users through WhatsApp which I have found very powerful， it meets all the criteria of the mom test。 Wha Very good insights but it is missing some important infoI really liked the book， I learn many new things I didn't even think about previously when talking to users。 Although I think I will need to repeat it in text version， because there many things that the book mention that are better absorbed through text。I do not give this book 5 stars just because it doesn't talk anything about talking to users through WhatsApp which I have found very powerful， it meets all the criteria of the mom test。 WhatsApp interviews are casual and yet very informative， and there is no need to take notes or all the other hassles you can get mistaken when talking to users in person。 I expected to learn something new about this interviews but they were missing in the book。 。。。more
Pankaj Gupta
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This is one book， I believe this is a must-read for people who are starting on their entrepreneurial journey。 Talking to customers is an art， and this book clearly lays down the framework for that。 Highly recommended。
Hayley Leibson
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A frequent re-read。 Highly recommend to every entrepreneur。
Tom Greulich
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Short and to the point。 Pretty good book。
Stacy
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Great advice for budding entrepreneurs。
Michal
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Great reading for anybody who want and should talk to users oh his products。 Recommended
Nikki
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Book intended for start ups but this has some good guidance for anyone doing product management。 I think it's so easy to get wrapped up on solutioning that we miss the actual pain point。 Book intended for start ups but this has some good guidance for anyone doing product management。 I think it's so easy to get wrapped up on solutioning that we miss the actual pain point。 。。。more
Paula
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This is a must read for entrepreneurs in the early stages of their startup。 One could question if you really need an entire book about how to talk to customers， but most of us are actually doing it wrong （！）， so the answer is yes， and furthermore， the author has made it not only practical but also really enjoyable to read。
Sonia
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Very helpful
Cedric Chin
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I skimmed this a few years ago and recently doubled back because I was writing a set of posts on product taste。 This is a good， short book about something I had to learn the hard way。 Recommended。
Zumrud_Huseynova
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before we can start doing things correctly， we need to understand how we’re doing them wrong。I can’t teach you how to make your business huge。 That’s up to you。 But I can give you the tools to talk to customers， navigate the noise， and learn what they really want。 The saddest thing that can happen to a startup is for nobody to care when it disappears。 Until we get specific， it always seems like a good idea。The Mom Test: 1。 Talk about their life instead of your idea 2。 Ask about specifics in the before we can start doing things correctly， we need to understand how we’re doing them wrong。I can’t teach you how to make your business huge。 That’s up to you。 But I can give you the tools to talk to customers， navigate the noise， and learn what they really want。 The saddest thing that can happen to a startup is for nobody to care when it disappears。 Until we get specific， it always seems like a good idea。The Mom Test: 1。 Talk about their life instead of your idea 2。 Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future 3。 Talk less and listen moreWhile it’s rare for someone to tell you precisely what they’ll pay you， they’ll often show you what it’s worth to them。It boils down to this: you aren’t allowed to tell them what their problem is， and in return， they aren’t allowed to tell you what to build。 They own the problem， you own the solution。 While using generics， people describe themselves as who they want to be， not who they actually are。 You need to get specific to bring out the edge cases。Ideas and feature requests should be understood， but not obeyed。If you slip into pitch mode， just apologize。 You’re excited about your idea。 That’s good！ Otherwise you wouldn’t have taken this crazy leap in the first place。 But suddenly， you find yourself five minutes into an enthusiastic monologue while the other person nods politely。 That’s bad。 Once you start talking about your idea， they stop talking about their problems。 Cut yourself offWill you be able to do that？ It remains to be seen。 The only thing people love talking about more than themselves is their problems。 By taking an interest in the problems and minutia of their day， you’re already being more interesting than 99% of the people they’ve ever metWillpower is a finite resource。 The way to overcome difficult situations isn't to power through， but rather to change your circumstances to require less willpower。Before we can serve everyone， we have to serve someone。You can’t get the data you need if you’re talking to the wrong people。 There are 3 ways to end up fall into this clearly unhelpful trap。 1。 You have too-broad of a segment and are talking to everyone 2。 You have multiple customer segments and missed some of them 1。 You are selling to businesses with a complicated buying process and have overlooked some of the stakeholdersPrep questions to unearth hidden risks: If this company were to fail， why would it have happened？ What would have to be true for this to be a huge success？Cheat sheet Just in case you like lists。 Key skills: Asking good questions （Chapters 1 & 3） Avoiding bad data （Chapter 2） Keeping it casual （Chapter 4） Pushing for commitment & advancement （Chapter 5） Framing the meeting （Chapter 6） Customer segmentation （Chapter 7） Prepping & reviewing （Chapter 8） Taking notes （Chapter 8） The Mom Test: 1。 Talk about their life instead of your idea 2。 Ask about specifics in the past instead of generics or opinions about the future 3。 Talk less and listen more Getting back on track （avoiding bad data）: Deflect compliments Anchor fluff Dig beneath opinions， ideas， requests， and emotionsResults of a good meeting: Facts — concrete， specific facts about what they do and why they do it （as opposed to the bad data of compliments， fluff， and opinions） Commitment — They are showing they’re serious by giving up something they value such as meaningful amounts of time， reputational risk， or money。 Advancement — They are moving to the next step of your real-world funnel and getting closer to a sale。Asking for and framing the meeting: Vision — half-sentence version of how you’re making the world better Framing — where you’re at and what you’re looking for Weakness — show how you can be helped Pedestal — show that they， in particular， can provide that help Ask — ask for help 。。。more
Shubhankar Yash
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Pros:* Really useful insights。 A must read for product managers and budding entrepreneurs。 * A lot of examples to make concepts more comprehensible。Cons:* Book is a bit longer than it needs to be。 Same points/concepts come up a number of times。
Michael Gunnulfsen
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Incredibly good book on how to talk to users， both for researching a new business idea， or new features to a product。 Short， precise and super hands on。
Aditya Nihal
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