Ask, Don't Survey
One person's six is another person's nine — look them in the eye instead.
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Time to result
- ~weeks to results
- Steps
- 6
- Confidence
- 85%
Fussman argues the bedrock question for any entrepreneur is what the customer is thinking — you can have the greatest idea in the world but if no customers want it, it won't fly. He is scathing about the substitute most founders reach for: a survey asking to rate something 1 to 10, where one person's six is another person's nine and you learn nothing. Instead, look someone in the eye and ask what they think, whether they like it, whether it bothers them in any way — then push deeper with a concrete A-or-B choice. He notes the payoff is often an idea you never asked for, and warns via the Steve Jobs Apple Store anecdote that shutting down the messenger destroys the mechanism.
Origin
Fussman says he repeatedly runs into entrepreneurs who simply don't ask their customers these questions. Watching brands like Life is Good stumble into their defining asset by accident — and watching Steve Jobs blow up at a trusted colleague who told him the Apple Store prototype was wrong, then quietly reverse himself — convinced him the asking is the whole thing.
Core principles
- 01Knowing what your customer is thinking is the single most important input for an entrepreneur.
- 02A 1-to-10 scale is uninterpretable — one person's six is another person's nine.
- 03Eye-to-eye questions produce reasons; surveys produce numbers without reasons.
- 04People are happy to tell you how they feel if you actually ask them.
- 05Offer a concrete A-or-B choice to go deeper than an opinion.
- 06The best answer may be an idea you never asked for, from a place you weren't looking.
- 07You cannot receive the idea if you punish the person for offering it.
How to run it
- 1
Accept that the customer's mind is the bedrock
Nothing is more important than knowing what your customer or would-be customer is thinking. The greatest idea in the world won't fly if no customers want it.
- 2
Refuse the scale-of-1-to-10 survey
A rating survey produces a number with no reason behind it, and the numbers aren't even comparable across people — one person's six is another person's nine.
Watch out Surveys feel like research and produce data, which is exactly why they're such an effective way to avoid the real conversation.
- 3
Ask eye-to-eye, in open form
Look somebody in the eye and ask: what do you think about this? Do you like this? Does it bother you in any way? People will be happy to tell you how they feel.
Pro tip 'Does it bother you in any way' gives permission for the negative answer you most need.
- 4
Push deeper with a concrete choice
Once you have their reaction, take it deeper using the options you're actually weighing: would you like it better if I chose A, or would you like it better if I chose B?
Pro tip Also ask whether they know somebody who'd be interested in purchasing — it tests the referral surface too.
- 5
Stay open to the idea you didn't ask for
They may have an idea that changes your life, because you're in one place and their idea will take you to another. Life is Good's entire brand came from someone putting a smiling face on the wall at a party.
Pro tip Give people something to look at and respond to — reactions to a concrete artefact beat opinions on a concept.
- 6
Don't punish the messenger
When someone you trust tells you it's wrong, the reflex is to shut them down. Jobs told his colleague to shut up, went silent the whole ride — then walked into the store and said no, this isn't right, we've got to reconfigure this.
Pro tip You can take the feedback later, but only if the person is still willing to give it. People have to help you.
Watch out Blowing up at the one person who tells you the truth trains everyone else to stop telling you.
In the wild
The founders had been trying to sell t-shirts on college campuses for six years — getting soaked in the rain, thrown off campuses without a licence, barely making it. It was their dream and it wasn't working. Then at a party at the owner's home, somebody put an image of a smiling face on the wall. As soon as they saw it they said: there it is, that's the centerpiece of our brand.
→ The whole brand was built around the image, turning six years of barely surviving into a famous consumer brand — an idea that arrived only because they had put something out for people to respond to.
After returning to Apple, Jobs pushed the Apple Store against internal pushback — colleagues said nobody would walk into stores in a mall, and he wanted to spend heavily on them. A prototype was built in California. On the drive to see it, a trusted Apple colleague told him it was wrong, the design wasn't right. Jobs went crazy, told him to shut up, and was silent the rest of the ride. Then they walked into the store, and Jobs — who was supposed to present it as the store of the future — said no, this isn't right, we've got to reconfigure this.
→ The store was redesigned before launch. Fussman's point: even Jobs needed the answer, and the answer only existed because somebody was willing to give it. 'People have to help you.'
Common mistakes
Substituting a rating survey for a conversation
'On a scale of 1 to 10, what do you think of this' returns a number that means different things to different people and carries no reason. It looks like research while actively preventing you from learning why.
Not asking at all
Fussman says he runs into entrepreneurs constantly who simply never ask their customers what they think. It's the bedrock, and it's the step most often skipped.
Shutting down the person who tells you it's wrong
Jobs's instinct was to go crazy and silence the colleague — and the colleague happened to be right. The feedback survived that time, but the behaviour reliably ensures the next person stays quiet.
Is it for you?
Best for
Founders validating an idea, product, or brand decision before committing money to it.
Not ideal for
Statistically-powered measurement at scale where quantitative instruments are the right tool.
From the transcript
“You can have the greatest idea in the world — if there are no customers that want it, it's not going to fly.”
“It's very different from putting out a survey that says on a scale of 1 to 10 what do you think of this. Is it…”
“It's very different from looking somebody in the eye and saying what do you think about this, do you like this, does it bother you…”
“Maybe they have an idea that's going to change your life, because you're in one place but their idea will take you to another.”
From the episode
Cal Fussman: The Power of Questions, Transform Your Life and Business with Authentic Connections
Cal Fussman