We speak to your customers, so you know what to build next.
You have a long list of ideas and no time to ask anyone about them. Send us your list of customers or leads. We hold up to 10 honest conversations, then show you what people said and which idea to work on first.
- Run by a former Head of Product
- Your report in about two weeks
- We write every email and chase every reply
Building the wrong thing costs far more than asking first.
Think of the last feature you built that hardly anyone used. Count the weeks your team spent on it. Then count the weeks they did not spend on the thing your customers needed.
Your team's time
A single month of a developer's time costs far more than US$299. Ten conversations can stop that month going to the wrong idea.
The customers who leave
While you build the wrong thing, the problem that annoys people is still there. Some of them cancel before you get to it.
The arguments in planning
Without their words, every planning meeting turns into opinions. With them, you can point to what people said and move on.
Their words, and a clear order of work.
What people really said
You get the main points from each conversation, with their own words kept in. You also see where people agreed and where they did not.
The problems behind the requests
A customer asks for a feature because something is getting in their way. We find out what that is, so you can solve the real problem.
A map of your options
We turn what people said into a simple tree that links your goal, their problems and your ideas. You can see why each idea is on the list.
A scored list of what to do next
Each idea gets a score, so you can see what to build first, what can wait and what to drop.
Mark runs every conversation himself.
Mark Ashworth has worked in product and marketing in Singapore since 2001. Deciding what to build next has been his job for most of that time.
- The sixth person to join Geniebook, a learning app for school kids. He ran its product as it grew into a company that raised more than $20 million.
- The first hire at Spiral, a UK classroom app that won awards and was bought by Discovery Education.
- Ran data analysis for TripAdvisor as it grew in Asia.
- Built most of the search tools the Singapore government uses to look up patents and trademarks.
- Has built and sold his own startups, and still writes the code for his own small online businesses.
How do you know what to build next?
Many founders score their ideas with a simple method called RICE. It is short for Reach, Impact, Confidence and Effort. It is a good method, but two of those four scores are often guesses.
Reach
How many people will this touch? Your own numbers can usually tell you.
Impact
How much will it matter to each of them? You cannot find this in a dashboard, so most founders guess.
Confidence
How sure are you about your scores? This should come from what people told you, and it is often just a feeling.
Effort
How much work is it? You and your team know this one.
Speaking to people fills in the two weak scores. If eight people bring up the same problem without being asked, you can give it a higher score and explain why.
RICE was made popular by the product team at Intercom, and many software companies now use it to plan their work.
What is an opportunity tree?
It is a simple map that starts with the result you want. Below that are the problems your customers have, and below those are the ideas that could fix them. It stops you from building an idea just because it is the latest one you heard. Here is a made-up example.
- Your goal: keep more customers after the first month
- Their problem: "I never worked out how to set it up"
- Idea: a setup call in week one
- Idea: a shorter setup with fewer steps
- Their problem: "I forget it is there"
- Idea: a weekly email with their results
- Their problem: "I never worked out how to set it up"
The tree comes from Teresa Torres, who wrote the book Continuous Discovery Habits. Product teams around the world use it.
Four steps, and we do most of the work.
1. Tell us what you want to learn
We agree on one goal and the group of people to ask. You send us the list and a short intro.
2. We reach out
We email the people on your list, follow up once and offer a call to anyone who would rather talk.
3. We dig into the answers
We ask follow-up questions, because the first answer is rarely the whole story.
4. You get the report
You receive what they said, the tree and the scored list, and Mark goes through it with you on a call.
Here is what you get for US$299.
- Up to 10 conversations with your customers, users or leads
- We write the emails, chase the replies and book the calls
- Their own words, sorted by the problem behind each request
- Your opportunity tree, from your goal down to each idea
- Every idea scored, so you know what to build first, what can wait and what to drop
- A call with Mark to go through it all
- A full refund if fewer than five people reply
About US$30 a conversation. Doing it yourself means writing the emails, chasing replies, holding the calls and writing up notes, on top of your day job.
Start the pilot →What happens next: you tell us your website and who your customers are, then pay on a secure Stripe page. Within one working day, Mark emails you to agree on the goal and the list. Once you send the list, we take it from there.
Not ready for ten? Try one for US$10.
We email up to five people on your list and send you the first reply's main problem in their own words, within seven days of getting your list. If nobody replies, we refund you. If you start the full pilot within 30 days, we take the US$10 off.
The short answers.
Who do you speak to?
Your customers, trial users, leads or people who cancelled. You choose the group and give us the list. We only contact people you are allowed to contact, and we tell them why we are getting in touch.
How do you reach them?
By email first. We offer a short call to anyone who would rather talk. You send a short intro, or tell us how to word ours, so nobody wonders who we are.
What if people do not reply?
We aim for up to 10 real conversations. A list of 40 to 50 people gives us a fair chance. If fewer than five people reply, we refund you in full.
How long does it take?
Most pilots take about two weeks, because people need time to reply. You get your report as soon as the conversations are done.
Why not ask them myself?
You can, and you should keep doing it. But people are kinder to a founder than they are to a stranger. They will tell us what annoys them, because they are not worried about hurting our feelings.
Could an AI tool do this?
An AI tool can sum up what people said. It still needs people who are willing to answer, and someone who knows which reply to chase up. That second question is where the useful answer usually sits.
Can I try it before paying for the pilot?
Yes. For US$10, we email up to five people on your list and send you the first reply's main problem in their own words, within seven days of getting your list. If nobody replies, we refund you. If you start the full pilot within 30 days, we take the US$10 off.
Who is it not for?
It is a poor fit if you have no customers, users or leads to speak to yet. It is also not a study you can publish. Ten conversations show you what to look at next, and they do not prove what everyone thinks.
Can I be sure the answers will be useful?
We cannot promise what people will say, or that a new feature will sell. We can promise you will have their words, and a clearer reason for what you build next.
Ask us anything first.
Type your question and your email. Mark reads every one and replies himself within one working day.
Find out what your customers would tell a stranger.
There are three places in this pilot. It costs US$299 once, and if fewer than five people reply, you get it all back.