Understand what moves customers— before committing the investment.
For market entry, ICP, product, and GTM questions, we speak directly with the customers, buyers, and practitioners involved. We dig into the progress customers want to make, their current alternatives, and the conditions that move a purchase — and connect it to your next decision.
A hypothesis that held in Japan won't necessarily hold elsewhere.
A large market and customers who actually buy are different things.
When the problems, current alternatives, competitors, buying methods, decision makers, budgets, and business practices differ, a product and GTM that worked in Japan won't transfer as-is.
Before committing to full sales, marketing, and development investment, it's worth confirming locally who needs what — and why they would pay.
Before deciding the interview count, decide what to confirm.
We organize the current hypotheses and the decision they feed, and confirm the assumptions that swing the investment first.
- The hypotheses currently held
- The assumptions that swing the investment decision
- The questions to confirm
- Who to speak with
- The mix of interviews, market, and competitor research
- The decision criteria
- The options available after the research
Beyond the complaints — the progress customers want to make.
Interviews confirm more than surface requests and frustrations. We dig into the situation customers are in, and the progress they are trying to make when they adopt a product or service.
- SITUATION
- What situation is the customer in now?
- STRUGGLE
- What is blocking their progress?
- CURRENT ALTERNATIVE
- What do they use and how do they cope today?
- DESIRED PROGRESS
- What state are they ultimately trying to reach?
- TRIGGER
- Why are they considering a change or purchase now?
- BUYING CONDITIONS
- Who decides, who uses it, and where does the budget come from?
Finding the people who can answer the hypothesis.
Rather than asking every customer the same questions, we identify the people who can answer the specific assumptions from lived experience.
Meeting people in Silicon Valley is not the goal itself. We access the people who can answer the necessary questions firsthand.
Customer words, handed over in a form decisions can use.
A list of quotes doesn't support the next decision. We organize the common patterns — and the dissents and exceptions — and hand over the following.
- The progress customers want to make
- Problem intensity and urgency
- Current alternatives
- Buyers, budget, and the buying process
- The priority ICP, and why
- Hypotheses to revise across product, positioning, and GTM
Not a report handed over at the end — we organize what is now known, what still isn't, and what to decide or validate next.
Connecting the research to the next action.
The point of customer discovery is not to prove the hypothesis right. Its value is being able to correct course before the investment proceeds — including when the hypothesis turns out wrong.
Not just go / no-go — we propose what to change to move forward.
For example: considering US market entry.
This is an illustrative engagement, not an actual client case.
Organize the hypotheses
Who the customer is, which problem, and why they would buy — confirming the assumptions that swing the investment first.
Confirm with the local people
Interviews with prospective customers, buyers, competitor users, and local practitioners.
Connect to the next ICP, product, and GTM decisions
Who to prioritize, what to change, and what to validate next.
Research designed around where the question starts.
Customer discovery sits with different departments and budgets depending on the decision involved.
Market entry & expansion
GTM & positioning
Product validation
New business
Customer experience
For participant research in education programs, see Education & Talent Development. Education & Talent Development →
A proposal for what to verify first, built around your current hypotheses.
Share the market, customers, product, or GTM you are considering, and the decision you want to make.
Based on the information you share and publicly available information, we will outline the assumptions to verify first, who to talk to, and a first research or validation plan — and send it by email within three business days.
If it fits what you are exploring, we can run the actual customer discovery together.
There is no fee for the initial proposal. It is prepared from the information you share and publicly available information.