How I Tested That

Maura Mitchell, a lawyer and MBA at the Women's Business Development Center, discusses her passion for supporting women-led micro businesses. She highlights the significance of the Lean Startup Method, market research, and customer interviews in validating business ideas. Through real-world examples, she demonstrates how structured conversations can enhance entrepreneurs' confidence and clarify their visions. Mitchell also emphasizes the importance of community support and mentorship in navigating early entrepreneurship challenges, aiming to foster collaboration among women entrepreneurs.

Janna Bastow, founder of ProdPad, dives into the complexities of testing pricing strategies and the B2B purchasing landscape. She shares her journey of evolving pricing models and the crucial role of customer feedback in shaping them. Janna highlights the importance of understanding different decision-makers in the procurement process and emphasizes the integration of AI to enhance efficiency in product management. Tune in for insights on balancing customer needs with business goals while leveraging technology for smarter product strategies.

Andi Plantenberg, experienced in testing for NASA missions, discusses early-stage idea testing, challenges in perfection and safety culture, fluidity in uncertainty, simulated mission control, iterative software design, and holistic problem-solving.

Aaron Eden, an expert in experimentation at Intuit, shares insights on adapting testing approaches to fit company culture, challenges of internal marketing, success with SnapTax, and the importance of continuous learning. He emphasizes understanding customer behavior, driving innovation, and reigniting the innovation catalyst group. Aaron discusses the recent success of a workshop called Speed, focusing on AI and velocity mindsets for business impact.

Brandy and Craig discuss their collaboration and the challenges they faced in teaching entrepreneurship and de-risking startups. They highlight the importance of testing and iterating through customer interviews, surveys, and landing pages. They also emphasize the need to overcome biases and consider counterfactuals when evaluating risk. The success stories they share include students winning funding at Draper University and turning down investments to pursue their own vision. They discuss the process of scaling their program and providing support to entrepreneurs through events and resources. They also touch on the importance of questioning assumptions and guiding entrepreneurs to discover the gaps in their understanding. The conversation explores the importance of feedback and testing in entrepreneurship. It emphasizes the need to be open to feedback and willing to challenge assumptions. The hosts discuss the concept of being right versus being successful and the value of honest feedback. They also touch on the importance of understanding the problem and the customer before jumping into activities like advertising and landing page optimization. The conversation concludes with a discussion on the founders' initiatives, including Founder Fridays and Help a Startup Out. Is your team guessing which experiments to run? Discover proven ways to test your ideas before you invest. With the Precoil Experiment Library, you’ll find the right experiment for every assumption. 👉 Explore the library at precoil.com/library

Entrepreneur Kate Hopkins discusses building OneGuide for PE and VC firms, pivoting from startups to firms, challenges of selling to firms, importance of testing and adapting, and patience in business evolution.

Aaron Slessinger, a product leader at HP, discusses challenges of testing hardware and software together in hot desking and hybrid work environments. He highlights importance of end user needs, low-fidelity prototyping, and collaboration between hardware and software teams. Topics include adapting hot desks post-pandemic, analyzing feedback on physical prototypes, value propositions for buyers and end users, and shortening feedback loop through customer interviews.

Markus Müller, co-founder of Flinn, shares insights on testing ideas in the healthcare industry. Topics include using LOIs for commitment, co-creation with customers, and balancing risk. He stresses the testing mindset for building a successful business.

Janina Urbach from the Hansgrohe Group shares how they developed a dog shower through customer interviews, pretotyping, 3D printing, and data-driven decisions. They learned from mistakes like over-engineering the MVP and applied their learnings to new projects.

Dave Masters, Director of Product at Realtor.com, shares insights on testing in big companies. Topics include breaking out of the feature factory mindset, customer interviews for testing new product ideas, using customer quotes in experiments, concierge vs Wizard of Oz experiments, and tips for product managers championing experimentation.