A founder’s working session
Your business profile
Start with the service you can actually deliver.
A small shortlist
Inspect fit and exclusions before spending more time.
A useful first question
Use a specific observation to prepare a conversation.
Illustrative process. Review public evidence and your own circumstances.
Turn the hypothesis into criteria
A founder often has a view of who might need the product. Translate that view into observable customer criteria, then inspect the matches. A shortlist can help test the hypothesis; it does not prove demand.
Understand one business properly
Read the public offer, the intended customer and a small number of relevant sources. Use the research to improve your questions. Keep assumptions about budget, urgency and purchase intent clearly separate from observations.
Make the next step manageable
Choose whether to learn more, record a note or start a conversation through your own account. A smaller set of well-understood businesses can be more useful for early learning than an unreviewed list.
Example founder workflow
A fictional founder explores a customer profile, reviews why each company matches, then reads a cited dossier for one business. They use it to prepare questions for an interview. No response rate or conversion outcome is implied.
Illustrative review process. This does not represent a real prospect or customer outcome.
Before you move on
- Write a testable customer hypothesis
- Inspect the match explanation
- Use evidence to improve questions
- Record what you learn yourself
Public information can be incomplete or out of date. Check sources and your own circumstances before acting. This guide explains a review process; it does not guarantee a result.