Who to Talk To

Talking to everyone gives you mush: conflicting signals from people with different problems. Segment until you can predict where to find your customer and what they'll say. 'Consumers' is not a segment. 'Parents of young kids who already pay for tutoring apps' starts to be one.

Fitzpatrick's slicing method: keep asking 'which subset of these people wants it most, and what do they already do about it?' until you reach a group you can actually go meet. If you can't figure out where to find them, your segment is still too broad.

Also decide who in the room matters. In B2B, the person who feels the pain, the person who pays, and the person who can block you may be three different people. You eventually need real conversations with all three.