Framework · Rob Fitzpatrick
The Mom Test — stop pitching, start collecting last Tuesdays
People will lie to be nice. Your mom will lie the most. So you do not ask 'would you use this?' You ask what they did last time the problem showed up — names, dollars, workarounds, and how badly it hurt.
7 min · educational exit planning
Compliments are not data. Last-time stories are. Write their words, not your translation.
The three rules, without the TED talk
Talk about their life, not your idea. Ask about specifics in the past, not hypotheticals. Talk less than they do. If you catch yourself demoing, you already lost the interview.
- Bad: 'Would you pay $49/month for a meal-prep planner?'
- Better: 'Walk me through dinner last Tuesday. What did you actually do?'
- Then: 'What did that cost — money, time, or a fight?'
Use the script we already have
Do not invent a survey. The Customer Interview Script in the template library is ten open questions built for this. Five conversations beat fifty Typeform replies from people who will never buy.
What to write down
Exact phrases. Frequency. Current spend. Who else they blamed. What they already tried and dropped. Those phrases become the sales page later. Your clever headline does not.
When to stop interviewing
Stop when the stories rhyme and you can name the job in their language. If every conversation is a new persona, you do not have a market. You have a networking hobby.
This week
1. Book five
Name five humans (not 'SMBs'). Message them today. Offer 20 minutes. Do not attach a pitch deck.
2. Run the script
Use the Customer Interview Script. Ask the last-time question first. Pitch never.
3. Mine the phrases
After each call, copy three sentences they said. Those are next month's copy.
Related in the archive
- Customer Interview Script
10 open-ended questions already in the YEP template library. Use these instead of inventing a survey.
- Customer development (Steve Blank)
Get out of the building. The first job is learning who pays, not polishing slides.
- Action over theory (About)
Day 1 is not 'meditate on your customer avatar.' It is find 10 real humans who might pay, and message them.
- A.C.P. — Audience / Community / Product
YEP scores ideas on audience, community, and product fit — not vibes. Weak A.C.P. is why most 'cool products' stall.
Next: score the idea or return to all guides.
Educational exit-planning material. Not legal, financial, tax, or investment advice. Talk to real buyers. When the stakes are formation, contracts, or money you cannot lose, talk to a licensed professional — not a webpage.