Interview guide (Old)
The interview is about collecting demand data in a way that makes it the interview feel more like a conversation and storytelling, versus an interrogation or fill-in-the-blank questionnaire. There are two main guidelines:
- Collect the data in order of the Demand Profile: Desired Future, Catalysts, Constraints, and Supply.
- Do it in a story format. Specifically, we want to capture the story of their purchase.
Intro
- Check that the answers from the screener are correct
- Describe the process and rules of the interview: timing, permission to record audio, impersonal, they can refuse to answer any question (if it’s not appropriate)
- No right or wrong answers
- It is important for us to go back to the past, to remember the chronology of events as best as possible
- Tell me a bit about yourself: What do you do?
Subject info
- Name
- Role / Job title
- Experience
- Decision making
- Purchase summary
Company info
- Name
- Size
- Type
- Maturity
- ???
Decision-Making Timeline
- What are the key factors you consider when deciding to invest in a startup?
- Can you describe the process you followed the last time you evaluated a potential startup investment?
- Which of these stages were the most difficult for you?
- Can you share an example of a difficult investment decision you had to make and how you navigated it?
- …
- Can you walk me through the typical timeline of your investment decision-making process?
- How much time do you usually spend on each stage of the decision-making process?
- How does the timeline differ when you are considering different types of investments?
How decisions to invest are made
The aim of this part of the interview is to figure out what intentional change if any, the consumer was hoping to make. You also want to gather info on events and things that happened that helped bring those desires to the surface.
- Learn about what they bought and when. Discover the circumstances of that purchase
- Ask about when they first heard / learned about that product
- Ask about relevant events that happened in-between learning about the product and actually buying it. If it took 1 day or less, why do fast? If it took 6 months, why so long?
- Ask about how they shopped. Did they look at reviews, talk to other people?
- How did they know it was the right solution - at the time - for them?
- When they used the product, how/when did they realize it was “working”?
- What were they hoping to change as a result of using the product?
- Did the product help deliver that change? Why / why not?
- When was the last time you changed how you gather due diligence and make decisions?
- Ask for the trigger, pain of the old, hope for the new
- How would you rate your overall experience with the solutions you currently use?
- What was hard about changing to what you have today?
- Is it living up to your hopes? What’s still missing?
- What challenges or frustrations have you experienced with these solutions?
Decision-making step 1
Decision-making step 2
Decision-making step 3
Decision-making step 4
Decision-making step 5
To understand how [a solution] was first used and why, go to Switching section below
- If we don’t know what solutions were hired, but we know for what job / problem, then we ask what the customer used to [solve the problem].
- If we know what solutions were hired, then we ask to describe the order of purchases, pick the most interesting story and ask to talk about it in more detail (in the context of hiring this solution).
Switching between solutions
To understand the usability of [a solution] in particular situations, go to Hiring section below
- Regular usage: in what situations do they normally use the solution? Write out specific situations of different types, and look into the most interesting one…
- Most recent situation: when was the last time they used the solution? And before that? Describe the situation in detail…
Hiring situations
Making decisions together
- Who are the key stakeholders involved in your investment decision-making process? Why those people? What roles do these individuals play in the process?
- How do you manage communication and collaboration among these stakeholders during the decision-making process?
- How do you handle disagreements or differing opinions during the decision-making process?
- When was the last time you had to resolve disagreement or conflict among stakeholders? Can you tell me more about it?
- How do the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders change depending on the type or size of the investment?