founders paras chopra, chapter by chapter
60. Customers Don’t Necessarily Want What You Want
Founders are often outliers and make dangerous models for mainstream customers.
Mind-projection fallacy fills gaps in our knowledge of other people with our own values and preferences. Entrepreneurs are unusually risk-tolerant, driven, and willing to try new products, so “scratching your own itch” can mistake an outlier’s desire for a broad market.
Assume you are not the model customer. Build a profile from observed budgets, goals, fears, decisions, and constraints, and keep it separate from your own. When a customer choice seems irrational, treat the surprise as evidence that your map is incomplete rather than that the customer is wrong.
Original sketch and model by Paras Chopra. Read the source chapter.