How to avoid fake praise in customer interviews
Early product builders can hear plenty of positive and still get no buyers. The problem is that people often try to be polite, and often ask questions that invite friendly approval instead of useful truth.
Rob Fitzpatrick’s book focuses on getting real signals from . The practical idea is to stop asking whether people like the idea and instead ask about what they have actually done, struggled with, or paid for in the past.
It also matters to find people who truly have the problem being solved and may spend time or money on it. When everyone says they like a product but nobody pays, the customer method may be broken before the product is.
Key points
- Positive does not prove that people will buy.
- Better interviews ask about real past behavior, not whether an idea sounds good.
- teaches how to avoid polite but misleading answers.
- The right interview targets are people who truly feel the problem.
- If everyone likes it but nobody pays, the questions may need to change.