The Interviews

September 22, 2024

Once I finished the landing page and had a mini business plan, the whole project was clearer to me. Well, the time came to think about the next step to move forward. I considered two options:

• Launch the landing page (where people can sign up for a newsletter) and make the project idea visible through marketing.
• Hold off on launching the landing page for now and do a series of mini-interviews with potential sports fans, asking them some questions using the method from the book "The Mom Test".

I chose to go with option number 2 and put the landing page on hold for now. I wanted to talk directly with potential users of the platform, specifically sports fans. I wanted to understand them better and learn a bit from our discussions about how they view various things regarding their experience as fans and connecting with athletes.

I believe this approach can give me even more clarity about the project and help me test the waters a bit to see the project's potential.

I haven't mentioned this about myself yet, but I was also a high-performance athlete. I was a professional basketball player for 12 years. That's why this project is so close to my heart. I, too, had gaps in my opportunities for development as an athlete, and a project like Athlete Paths would have definitely been beneficial for me.

Since I still have some connections in the basketball world in my hometown, I figured I could use them to get in touch with 5 basketball fans and do mini-interviews with them. Said and done.

On September 4th, I did the first interview. And on September 16th, I did the fifth one. So, up to now, I've spent 25 days on this project (August 23rd - September 16th).

Now, let me tell you some details about the interviews. As I mentioned, I used the approach from "The Mom Test" book.

A few words about The Mom Test

The Mom Test by Rob Fitzpatrick is a practical guide on how to ask the right questions when seeking feedback about your startup idea, product, or service, particularly in the early stages. The book focuses on how entrepreneurs can avoid common mistakes in customer conversations, where they often receive inaccurate or overly positive feedback due to poorly structured questions.

The key concept of the book is that asking the wrong questions, those that are too vague or inviting only supportive, non-constructive responses (like what your mom might give), can mislead you into thinking your idea is great when it might not be.

Key Principles of The Mom Test:

• Avoid talking about your idea: Don't ask users what they think of your idea upfront. People often try to be polite, making their feedback unreliable.
• Focus on their problems, not your solution: Instead of asking whether they like your product, ask about their existing behaviors and challenges.
• Dig into past behaviors: People often don't know what they'll do in the future, but they can tell you what they've already done.
• Stay specific: General questions lead to general (and often useless) answers. The more specific the question, the more actionable the insights.

The questions that I asked in the interviews

Here is the list with the questions I asked the fans I interviewed:

• Tell me about a time when you felt particularly connected to a basketball player's journey. What made that experience meaningful?
• How do you currently support the players or teams you follow? Walk me through your most recent experience doing this. What motivates you to do this?
• How do you stay updated on a player's career progress? What works well and what doesn't in this process?
• Describe your ideal way of interacting with basketball players. How does that compare to your current experiences?
• What's the most frustrating part of being a basketball fan right now? Can you give me a specific example of when you experienced this?
• Tell me about a time when you wanted to support a player but couldn't. What stopped you?
• Have you ever donated money or supported a crowdfunding campaign for a sports-related cause or athlete? If so, what prompted you to contribute?
• What rewards or benefits would make you feel more inclined to support an athlete financially?
• What would make you hesitate or feel reluctant to financially support an athlete you follow?
• How important is transparency in the way your financial support is used by athletes?

It was a really cool experience to talk with basketball fans who are also potential users of the Athlete Paths platform. I learned some things from them and it helped me, for the most part, to clarify some "unknowns".

In the next update, I'll write about the conclusions and analyses I made after the interviews and most likely, the next steps I want to take with this project.

Thanks for reading / listening, and I will see you in the next one! 👋