Interview Approaches and Tips!

This is for founders who:

✅ Want to practice interviews

✅ Want validate their startup in 1 month

✅ Actually willing to implement a new approach

The 2 kinds of interviews you’ll encounter

1. WTP: You are collecting problems and Willingness To Pay. This will let you will pick the most best ones to test an offer.
2. Conversions: You have an offer in mind, and you’re trying to sell it. You want to hit conversions of 30-50% for your persona.

GOAL: You want to make a profitable startup, so you collect the WTP of different problems

Step 1. Ask to do needfinding interview

Hey Sarah, i wanted to do a needfinding interview with you. My startup died. I’m pivoting and I need your help, would take max 30m. No worries if you are busy.

Step 2. Extract Painpoint, Cost, and WTP

PAINPOINT:

❓What are your goals and challenges?

❓What is your biggest challenge?

❓What are you doing today to solve it?

❓Where could you use more support?

COST:

❓How much does it cost you to solve it? IN time, in money?

WTP:

❓If you could wave a magic wand, how much would you pay to solve it?

❓Is this something u would pay for to solve?  No worries if not

Step 3. Profit off people’s pain

Hey Bob, i was wondering if we can chat for 15. I was thinking about your sales problem, and was wondering if I can get your feedback on something. I wonder if this would help. No worries if you are busy.

Conversion

You want to achieve a 20-50% close rate with your persona

Step 1. Present sexy offer

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Step 2. Convert them on call

• I saw that you’re working on [ XYZ ]. What brings you here today?
• What are your current goals / challenges?
• Where are you at today?
• What have you been trying to reach those goals?
• Where could you use more support?
• How is this impacting you?
• Sounds like your problem is [XYZ XYZ]. Is that right?
• So what I do is I [Offer]. What I can do you for is [XYZ]. Would that help?
• Cost is $XYZ. Would that be okay?
• Great, want to onboard now? If not, we can we schedule another time

Here’s a script that you can use as your guide :D

Full Script: https://founderscafe.notion.site/Script-ffe0dad6aa194304856254f7c2175ab5

Step 3. Profit!.

Once you consistently hit your conversion rates (30-50%) with your target persona…

You can hand it off to someone else !

Biggest tip: Make ppl feel heard

If you actively listen to others, they will…

🌟Listen to you

🌟Trust you more

🌟Pay you more

🌟Spill more tea

Active listen = Paraphrase + Ask open question

Example:

THEM: “I prepped for my vc meeting until 4am last night”

YOU: “Sounds like fundraising has been stressful. What's been going on?”

I hope this approach will help you! Let me know if you have any approaches that you do or how can we overcome this fear of interviewing people XD

-Best of luck from founderscafe.io