The Mom Test: How to talk to customers & learn if your business is a good idea when everyone is lying to you
Why everything you know about customer feedback is secretly sabotaging your ideas
About This Book
Unlock the secrets of truly understanding your customers—even when they want to spare your feelings. This guide transforms how you approach conversations, helping you uncover the honest, actionable insights hiding beneath polite compliments and vague feedback. Through vivid real-world examples and concrete tactics, you’ll see how to avoid the common traps that sink projects and businesses. Whether you’re building a startup, launching a side project, or simply passionate about making things people love, this approach empowers you to ask sharper questions, dig for useful truth, and turn every chat—no matter how casual—into a goldmine of learning.About the Author
Rob Fitzpatrick is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur—a builder who’s lived the hard lessons he teaches. From nearly going broke and making every rookie mistake, to closing deals with industry giants like Sony and MTV, Rob brings deep empathy to founders and creators struggling to find product-market fit. He’s not a natural sales guy—he’s a techie who learned to thrive by asking better questions and surviving tough feedback. His work is informed by experiences across multiple startups and communities, and he’s known for clear, accessible writing that turns daunting concepts into practical skills.
Biggest Takeaway
You’ll leave with a practical toolkit for running customer conversations that reveal genuine problems and hidden opportunities. Expect to stop wasting time on misleading compliments, avoid building things no one wants, and feel confident separating nice words from real buy-in. Gain the skills to ask questions that cut through bias, understand the motivations behind feature requests, and structure your learning process so your entire team grows—faster and smarter. These clear action steps will help you make better decisions, reduce costly mistakes, and stay focused on what truly matters: building solutions people are eager to use.
Key Insights from This Book
Explore the most important ideas and learn how to apply them in your life.
Why asking for honest opinions almost always gets you polite lies
Stop chasing compliments and start uncovering trustworthy commitments
The seductive danger of fluff—why future promises are worth much less than you think
Zooming in too soon—how premature focus on trivial problems derails innovation
How to tell real market demand from nice words and polite stalling
Customer segmentation is your secret weapon—why specificity beats trying to please everyone
How to spot and fix learning bottlenecks—why hoarding insights leads teams astray
Face your scariest questions first—why loving hard news leads you faster to real success
Keeping it casual—the undervalued art of learning more in informal, spontaneous chats
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