The stages and questions
The interview as it is asked, from finder.json 0.1.0: 7 stages in order, 24 questions, each with the reason it is asked and, for a choice, the signal each answer sets. A question marked only for or not for names the entries it applies to.
1. Where you are
Which of the five are you? There is no wrong answer; it decides which questions come next.
The finder is a spectrum, from the person who has not figured out their startup to the person with a good plan who is not shipping it. The route in is the first thing to know.
Where are you?
Picks the route in.
- I do not have a startup yet
entry=blank - I have several ideas and cannot pick
entry=many - I have one idea and have not shipped it
entry=one - I have a plan, maybe a company, and I want focus
entry=plan - I am shipping and want the next step
entry=shipping
2. You
What you naturally build, what you have shipped, how much time you have and who you can reach.
The person comes before the idea. A framework builder arrives at their product startup a few components later, and that is fine; the finder has to know who it is talking to.
What do you naturally build?
Where a person's work gravitates is where their first shippable thing is. A component builder's product is a component.
- Products that people outside tech use
builder=product - Components and tools that other builders use
builder=component - Frameworks, infrastructure, the thing under the thing
builder=framework - Writing, teaching, explaining
builder=content - Services: I do the work for people, with tools
builder=service
What have you shipped before that a stranger used on their own?
Shipped is a skill. Somebody who has done it once knows what it costs; somebody who has not needs the first time to be small.
- Nothing yet
shipped=never - Once, or a long time ago
shipped=once - Several times, it is what I do
shipped=often
How much time can you put in, and for how long?
Runway is time, not money. The finder sizes the first ship to the time available, not the other way round.
- Evenings and weekends
runway=evenings - About half my time
runway=half - All of it, for less than six months
runway=short - All of it, for a year or more
runway=long
Who could you hand it to this month, by name?
Five people you can reach is the whole of the first go-to-market. No onboarding, no invites, no seats: a key or a link.
- Nobody yet
reach=nobody - One or two people
reach=few - Five or more, and I know who
reach=five
3. The thing
The thing in one sentence, the first user and what they do on day one, what exists today, how wide it is.
Most people we meet have a good idea. The question is never whether it is good; it is what the smallest usable piece of it is.
What do you want to build, and how do you want to work? only for blank
For the person starting from zero this is the thing stage: before any idea, what you want to do and how you want to build it. The answer is the material the first ship comes from.
Say it in one sentence: who uses it, to do what. not for blank
If it does not fit in a sentence it is not one thing yet. The sentence is the first line of the record.
Who is the first user, and what do they do on day one? not for blank
Not the market: one person, and the first thing they do. Day one is the smallest thing that has to work.
What do they do today instead? not for blank
The alternative is the real competitor, and usually it is a spreadsheet, an email or nothing.
What exists today? not for blank
The honest state. A video of a demo is not a thing somebody can use.
- Nothing yet, or notes and a plan
exists=nothing - A demo, a video or a deck
exists=demo - A prototype I can walk somebody through
exists=prototype - Something a stranger can use on their own, today
exists=usable
How wide is it? not for blank
A platform is several startups. The finder looks for the one that ships first.
- One thing, for one kind of person
scope=one - A few things, for a couple of audiences
scope=few - A platform, a marketplace, an ecosystem
scope=platform
4. The ship test
Can a stranger use it on their own this week? What is stopping you? What does it cost to run?
Shipping is how you find out what is true. Not a demo, not a video, not a walkthrough: a thing somebody else can go and use. The excuses are listed so they can be named.
What is the smallest version a stranger could use this week?
Held together with tape is fine. Nobody using it cares how it was built.
What is stopping you from shipping that this week?
Every excuse in the book, listed, so the person can pick theirs and see it named.
- It is not ready yet
blocker=not-ready - One more feature, then it is ready
blocker=feature - I have not asked anyone to use it
blocker=nobody - I need money, people or permission first
blocker=money - Showing it before it is good
blocker=fear - Nothing. I could ship this week
blocker=none
What does it cost to run, with nobody using it?
To ship often the standing cost has to be near nothing. A server and a database is a cost; capital before a first user is a different kind of startup.
- Near zero: static files, no server, no database
cost=zero - A server and a database, a few pounds a month
cost=server - People: it needs someone doing work for each customer
cost=people - Capital: hardware, licences, regulation, before anyone can use it
cost=capital
A date for the smallest version to be in a stranger's hands.
A date is a decision. Without one the record has nothing to check later.
5. The miss test
The five people you will give it to, how, when you take it away, and what missing it looks like.
The only question that matters: when it is taken away, do they miss it? If they shrug, there is no why now. If they ask for it back, you have something to sell.
The five people, by name or by role.
The first users are people you can name. The trial is for them, not for a market.
How you give it to them: a link, a key, a file, a visit.
Giving it away should cost you nothing to set up. If it needs onboarding, the thing is not small enough yet.
How and when you take it away.
The part almost nobody does deliberately. The trial expired; nothing else changes; no apology. Decide the date before you give it.
What does missing it look like? What would they say or do?
Write down the signal before the trial so you cannot talk yourself into one afterwards. A shrug means no why now.
6. The money
Whether you can charge, in what shape, and whether you can reach the first paying user without raising.
Can you charge, and can you charge at a profit? Two questions, and the second decides whether you can wait, which is most of a negotiating position. Needing to raise first is a valid answer, and the finder says so.
Do you know what they would pay?
Is the price one they are happy to pay, inside the zone where they get more than they give up. A guess is fine; it is the first hypothesis.
- Yes, and I know why
charge=know - I have a guess
charge=guess - No idea yet
charge=none
In what shape?
A subscription is a discount for regular use, not rent on something ignored. Pay on demand is usually the healthier shape for both sides.
- Pay for what they use, on demand
shape=demand - Pay once
shape=once - A subscription
shape=subscription - Somebody else pays: a company, a sponsor, a grant
shape=other
Can you reach the first paying user without outside money?
The worst time to raise is before you are profitable. But some startups cannot reach a first user without capital, and the honest answer is to say so and plan for it.
- Yes, on my own time and near-zero running cost
raise=no - I need some: a few months of cost, which I can cover or find
raise=some - No. Without raising there is no first user
raise=must
7. Your focus
The record, in your own words: what you will ship, to whom, by when, what you are not doing, and the route.
The output is not our verdict. It is the person's own description of what they should be focusing on, written so they can read it back, correct it and act on it.
Your focus, in your own words: what you will ship, to whom, by when.
The person writes this, or the interviewer drafts it from the answers above and the person corrects it until it is theirs.
What you are not doing, for now.
Focus is mostly a list of things that wait. Writing them down is how they stop pulling.
The signals
What the answers set, and what the rules read. A signal is a property of the interview, not a judgement of the person.
| Signal | What it is | Values |
|---|---|---|
entry | Where the person is on the spectrum | blank, many, one, plan, shipping |
builder | What the person naturally builds | product, component, framework, content, service |
shipped | Whether they have shipped to a stranger before | never, once, often |
runway | Time available | evenings, half, short, long |
reach | People they can hand it to this month | nobody, few, five |
exists | The honest state of the thing | nothing, demo, prototype, usable |
scope | How wide the thing is | one, few, platform |
blocker | The named reason it has not shipped | not-ready, feature, nobody, money, fear, none |
cost | The standing cost with nobody using it | zero, server, people, capital |
charge | Whether a price is known | know, guess, none |
shape | The shape of the money | demand, once, subscription, other |
raise | Whether outside money is needed before a first paying user | no, some, must |
Changing a question is changing the file: the librarian keeps it, the test proves it, and the release note says what changed. Ids never change meaning, because they appear in records people keep.