90% of the Startups Die on the Vine…
Try the Lean Customer Discovery Process to be part of the 10%
Most startups don’t fail because the founders aren’t smart or hardworking. They fail because they build something before truly understanding who cares, who decides, and why it matters. The Lean Customer Discovery Process exists to prevent that mistake.
This process helps startup founders slow down just enough to learn the right things first, so they can move faster later with confidence.
Start With the Idea or Major Problem You’re Solving
Every startup begins with an idea or a problem that feels obvious to the founder. Something is broken, inefficient, expensive, risky, or frustrating. That’s the starting point, but it’s not the finish line.
At this stage, the problem is still a hypothesis, not a fact.
You should be able to explain clearly:
- What is happening that shouldn’t be?
- Who seems to be affected?
- Is this nice to solve or a must-solve now problem?
Avoid jumping straight to your solution. The goal is to describe the problem in plain language and in the prospect’s voice, without buzzwords or features. If you can’t explain it, you probably don’t understand it well enough yet.
Founders who rush past this step usually fall in love with their solution and stop listening.
Identify Which Market Segments Experience the Problem
Most real problems appear across multiple markets, but they don’t manifest the same way or with the same urgency.
Your job is to explore where this problem hurts the most.
Ask questions like:
- Does this problem exist in every industry, or only some?
- Is it worse in small companies or large ones?
- Is it more painful in regulated environments?
- Does geography matter due to laws, supply chains, or customer behavior?
At this point, you are not choosing your final market. You are mapping the landscape and looking for patterns. Some segments will describe the problem casually. Others will tell it with frustration, urgency, or emotion. That difference matters.
Strong startups don’t try to serve everyone. They find the segment where the pain is frequent, expensive, and unavoidable.
Define the Decision-Maker Archetype
One of the most common startup mistakes is confusing users with buyers.
The person who feels the pain is not always the person who can approve a purchase. Lean Customer Discovery forces clarity here.
You need a clear decision-maker archetype, defined by:
- Job title or role
- Company size (employees and revenue)
- Level of authority or budget control
- Customer risk tolerance to early adoption
- Geographic or regulatory environment
- What they are personally measured on
- What risk do they face if the problem is not solved
This archetype is not a demographic profile. It’s a behavioral and responsibility profile.
If this person cannot say “yes” without permission, they are not your buyer. They may still matter, but they are not the decision-makers.
Clarity here saves months or years of wasted effort later.
Conduct Customer Discovery Interviews (Not Sales Conversations)
Now comes the most critical part: talking to real people who match your archetype.
These are customer discovery interviews, not pitches.
The rules are simple:
- Do not sell
- Do not explain your solution
- Do not try to impress anyone
- Don’t discuss the problem you are attempting to solve
Your only job is to listen, 90% of the time.
Good questions focus on past behavior, not opinion:
- “What is your typical day?”
- “What keeps you up at night?”
- “Tell me about the last time this happened.”
- “What went wrong?”
- “What did you try to do about it?”
- “What did that cost you?”
If you tell people your idea (and you shouldn’t), people are polite. They will most often say your idea sounds “interesting.” Ignore that… Or else you fall victim to confirmation bias. What matters is whether the problem recurs and causes real pain (hair-on-fire pain).
Patterns matter more than individual stories. Assess how often this comes up during conversations with your archetype.
Validate Pain Strength and Priority
Not all problems are worth solving as startups.
After enough interviews, you should start to see clear signals:
- Do people bring this problem up without being prompted?
- Do they describe workarounds they already use?
- Does the problem affect revenue, risk, time, or reputation?
- Is this problem competing with other priorities for attention and budget?
If the problem is occasional, mild, or easily ignored, it will be tough to build a scalable company around it.
Hair-on-Fire/strong problems force action. Weak problems get postponed forever.
Synthesize What You’ve Learned Into a Clear Problem Statement
Now step back and synthesize.
This is where learning turns into clarity.
A strong problem statement includes:
- Who (the archetype) experiences the problem
- When and why it happens
- Why do current solutions fail or fall short
- What “success” looks like from the buyer’s perspective
This statement should be grounded in evidence, not assumptions. One or two people are not evidence. 25 to 50 people are likely evidence of a problem worth solving. You should be able to point back to real conversations that support it.
If you can’t write this down clearly, you’re not ready to build yet.
Test a Small Solution Hypothesis
Only after the problem is clear should you introduce a solution.
This does not mean building a complete product.
Instead, test learning with:
- Mockups or wireframes
- Manual or concierge solutions
- Small pilots with one or two customers
- Limited trials focused on behavior
The question is not “Do you like this?”
The question is “Will you use it, or pay for it?” Develop an experiment and apply it.
Action beats enthusiasm every time.
Decide and Iterate
Lean Customer Discovery always leads to a decision:
- Narrow the customer segment
- Refine the decision-maker archetype
- Adjust the problem definition
- Or walk away entirely
Walking away from a weak problem is not failure. It’s discipline.
The goal is not to protect your ideas. The goal is to protect your time, energy, and capital.
The Mindset That Makes This Work
Lean Customer Discovery is not a checklist. It’s a way of thinking.
- Start with the problem
- Narrow your vision and target
- Know who decides
- Listen before building
- Let evidence guide direction
Founders who master this process don’t just build products. They build companies that scale.
And reality, not optimism, is what gives startups a real chance to win.