The Mom Test: how to talk to customers and learn if your business is a good idea when everybody is lying to you

Rule of thumb: The more they’re giving up, the more seriously you can take their kind words.

Commitment can be cash, but doesn’t have to be. Think of it in terms of currency—what are they giving up for you? A compliment costs them nothing, so it’s worth nothing and carries no data. The major currencies are time, reputation risk, and cash.

Rule of thumb: If you don’t know what happens next after a product or sales meeting, the meeting was pointless.

Commitment is important. It tells us whether people are actually telling the truth. The more they give us, the more we can trust what they say.

commitment and advancement are separate concepts which overlap quite a lot and tend to appear together.

Commitment — They are showing they’re serious by giving up something they value such as time, reputation, or money.
Advancement — They are moving to the next step of your real-world funnel and getting closer to a sale.

Rule of thumb: “Customers” who keep being friendly but aren’t ever going to buy are a particularly dangerous source of mixed signals.

Rule of thumb: Give as little information as possible about your idea while still nudging the discussion in a useful direction.

Rule of thumb: If it feels like they’re doing you a favour by talking to you, it’s probably too formal.

Rule of thumb: There’s more reliable information in a “meh” than a “Wow!” You can’t build a business on a lukewarm response.

Talk less
You can’t learn anything useful unless you’re willing to spend a few minutes shutting up (even if you have something really smart to say).