I believe that customer validation is a skill. There are two stages of validation: problem validation—determining whether the assumed problem truly exists—and problem-solution fit validation—confirming that the solution you propose is the optimal one.Product-wise, the most important hypothesis you’ll ever make during your startup journey is the problem hypothesis. If it’s wrong, it will be very hard to change later on, and the signals become more vague as you start to focus on other aspects of the product.I also believe that we learn different skills throughout life, and the best way to master them is through practice. Theory is great, but nothing can replace practice. I am a musician, and I’ve learned the hard way that knowing all the theory is useless if you don’t pick up your bass and practice; you’ll never truly play well. The same applies to programming. No matter how many design patterns you know, if you never encounter them in real-life programming, you will never internalize them. Now, I’m trying to apply the same methods I use in music and programming to my entrepreneurial journey.

Learning to Listen by Practicing
One of the main skills you need as an entrepreneur is the ability to conduct customer discovery calls. As simple as it might seem, these calls are very challenging, and it takes tens of calls to grasp how to do it effectively. The goal of these calls is to observe and listen carefully. This is especially challenging for a hyperactive person like myself because when a hypothesis turns out to be true, I get so excited that I want to share that excitement with the customer—to tell them, “This is what we found!” However, talking at this stage can cut short the customer’s chain of thought, and you risk losing the real data that comes when the customer validates your problem hypothesis and starts to elaborate. Learning to listen is a skill that must be developed; I don’t think people are born with it. I’ve worked with many talented product managers and it’s clear that the more interviews they conduct, the better they become at listening.

Focus, Focus and Focus!
Another challenge is maintaining focus. When you think about what you’re going to say next, you risk losing focus and missing important points said between the lines. Don’t misunderstand me—you will always lose focus to some degree. I believe that good entrepreneurs often have a “monkey mind,” able to juggle multiple thoughts simultaneously. Still, you need to concentrate on the data being shared in the moment. Focusing on the next question always detracts from what is most important right now. One piece of advice I received was to write down the question I want to ask on paper and then forget about it. Later, when you have time, you’ll revisit the paper and often find that many of those questions are irrelevant as the customer’s story unfolds.

The Most Important Question
Our mission as entrepreneurs is to create something people want. As simple as it might seem, this is a challenging idea.
First, we have many biases—we naturally tend to favor what we want rather than what customers truly desire. Moreover, what people want is often not clearly articulated; sometimes, even they aren’t sure what they want. I believe that guiding a customer to understand what they truly desire—and then having them reveal that information—is a skill that takes a lot of practice.
I’ve discovered that there are several questions which, when asked in the correct order, can lead customers to reveal valuable insights. The main problems we aim to solve—and the reasons users end up loving our products—are typically gaps in existing offerings. These gaps make customers struggle with what’s available and yearn for a solution that fills that void. Therefore, I’ve found that asking a simple question about an existing product—“What doesn’t work in _____?” (where _____ is the product or service you’re trying to improve)—is a golden question. If you listen carefully, you’ll be amazed to hear not only your hypothesis discussed but also the customer’s perspective, complete with practical examples. When the customer starts to elaborate and finishes their thought, one piece of advice I was given is to count to 10 in your mind before asking the next question. Often, the most interesting information emerges after that pause, when their brain takes a moment to process and analyze.

Document the Interviews and Read Them Again
I always document the interviews I conduct. Sometimes I use modern note-taking apps, and sometimes I write them down manually—I still haven’t decided which is better. While note-taking apps record the entire conversation with no information loss, I’ve noticed that some customers feel it’s rude to be recorded, and others don’t share all the details because they find it hard to reveal their true feelings, struggles with current products, or internal information when they’re being recorded. However, it’s always good advice to document the interview, review it, and compare it to others. You’ll invariably discover information you missed or didn’t have time to process during the conversation—information that is pure gold.