Customer Discovery and Validation
Inside the third session of Professors Eisenmann & Bernstein’s new HBS class on Ideation and Prototyping for Innovation.
This week’s session with Tom and Shai turned the spotlight on field research—the hands-on process of engaging with people outside the classroom and off-screen to sharpen problem definitions and test assumptions. At the zero-stage startup level, this kind of disciplined discovery work is what separates guesswork from grounded insight.
The professors emphasized that customer discovery is not about proving a pre-baked idea, but about learning with humility. Students were pushed to refine their problem statement, persona, and interview questions, then pressure-test those by engaging in a simulated conversation. To make it practical and easier, in addition to office hours with practitioners, HBS has built a set of AI-powered bots that role-play as interviewees. These bots allow students to:
Refine a problem statement, persona, and discovery interview questions.
Pose those questions to a simulated customer or expert.
Extract insights, then loop back to improve their framing.
The process forces iteration—an uncomfortable but essential rhythm of hypothesis, test, and refine.
The discussion also broke down how discovery and validation look different depending on the startup’s maturity. In the pre-product stage, discovery means testing whether the problem is real, urgent, and painful through interviews, observations, and early research. Validation comes through signals of demand—landing page sign-ups, prototype interest, pre-orders, or any evidence that someone is willing to commit ahead of a finished product.
The professors also highlighted that these early signals are often fuzzy, but the discipline of distinguishing discovery from validation is what prevents founders from fooling themselves.
Touchstones in Field Research
Field research is not just about talking to “customers.” The richness comes from engaging a variety of Stakeholders at different levels:
Experts – academics, thought leaders, industry analysts who can frame the problem space.
Practitioners – frontline operators and managers who know the workflows and feel the pain points directly.
Customers – both buyers (decision-makers) and end users (daily operators) whose perspectives may diverge.
Ecosystem Players – suppliers, distributors, channel partners, and consultants who see adoption patterns across markets.
Investors, Wall Street and industry analysts.
Peers – other founders or entrepreneurs who have tested similar ideas and can share hard-won lessons.
In addition, there are indirect Signal Sources like publications, podcasts, forums, and social media, which—while not substitutes for live conversations—offer valuable cues and context.
Together, these Stakeholders and Signal Sources provide a 360° view: from broad market dynamics down to the micro-frustrations of daily users.
The Challenge of Access
A recurring theme in this research process was the difficulty of reaching the right experts. Classifying and engaging them is tricky:
They’re often hard to access directly.
Tailoring questions to their expertise usually depends on indirect signals—published papers, interviews, or even podcasts.
Security and intellectual property concerns can make open sharing off-limits.
In practice, this means referrals, personal networks, and warm introductions become the most reliable path. Cold outreach has its place, but credibility and context matter enormously when asking for time and insight from domain experts.
The professors stressed that this challenge isn’t a reason to avoid the work—it’s a reminder that great founders combine persistence with creativity in sourcing conversations.
One Standout Concept
The AEIOU concept is outstanding: when conducting interviews, consider these dimensions:
Activities – the goal-oriented actions people take
Environments – the physical or digital context
Interactions – how users engage with others, objects, and their surroundings
Objects – the tools and artifacts involved
Users – the people you are observing
Takeaway
Field research is the bridge between founder intuition and market reality. Whether you’re at the zero stage—validating a problem that is worth solving and has a big market—or further along, listening to experts and potential customers is a critical success factor. It provides proof that your solution addresses a real market need that scales, and lays the foundation for building a sustainable business.