Learning library
A practical library for first-time founders
Start with one question, use a worksheet, and decide what evidence you need next.
A short learning path
- Reflect: use the quiz and its methodology to discuss a working habit.
- Find the right people: screen for a recent task and distinguish users from buyers.
- Listen: record what happened, what they already do, and what remains uncertain.
- Test: choose the smallest action that could challenge the riskiest assumption.
The interview screener creates a personalized recruiting brief in your browser. Other guides provide worksheets and labelled examples. These educational tools do not promise business results.
Worksheets and guides
Customer interview screener: find people with first-hand experience
Build a recruiting brief, separate users from buyers, and record interview evidence without mistaking compliments for demand.
Open the in-browser screener →Turn customer interview notes into a decision
A practical evidence review for separating what happened from what you think it means.
Read the guide →Turn your founder result into a seven-day experiment
A reflection result becomes useful when it changes a specific, observable action.
Read the guide →Customer interview worksheet
Separate accounts of real behaviour from polite encouragement.
Read the guide →MVP scope worksheet
Identify one risky assumption before expanding a feature list.
Read the guide →Understand the four styles
You can read every reference without taking the quiz. The labels describe response patterns, not proven abilities.
The Builder
Turn your preference for making things into a test of a customer problem.
The Visionary
Translate an attractive future into one falsifiable decision.
The Operator
Use structure to shorten a learning loop instead of delaying it.
The Hustler
Make outreach useful by testing commitments and protecting trust.
Cases: evidence before inspiration
These cases separate linked historical accounts from our analysis and practical exercises. Successful companies are selected examples, not evidence that the same choices always work.
Starbucks: Test the experience before expanding the business
A sourced Starbucks case study with a practical worksheet for testing a customer experience before committing to a larger business.
Airbnb: Learn from a narrow group of early users
Use Airbnb's documented early history to plan direct customer learning, with a reusable observation sheet and clear limits.
Alibaba: Define the first transaction before building a marketplace
A sourced Alibaba case study and a practical worksheet for identifying a marketplace's first customer task and transaction barriers.
HP: Use an early customer's request to test your product direction
HP's documented 200A-to-200B story, with a practical framework for deciding whether an early customer request belongs in your product.