Did you know that admitting ignorance is a relatively recent phenomenon?

You’ll say you didn’t know that.

Before the scientific revolution, the default human stance was certainty. Religion declared truths. Governments didn’t invest in R&D. Exploration was rare.

Then came Copernicus and Columbus. They showed Europe what it didn’t know and opened its eyes to hidden treasure. It ignited a wave of discovery that enabled it to dominate the modern world. That shift wasn’t just scientific or geographic. It was mental.

The most powerful idea of the modern age may be this:

“I don’t know, but I bet it’s valuable to find out.”

Bring that mindset to your startup. There’s a good chance you know less about your customers than you think. I’ve been there. At one company, I built a hypothesis, tested it on a few folks, heard “sounds great,” raised money, built the product…

And I failed.

Why? Because I didn’t do enough customer discovery. I did some initial exploration, and after that I just breathed my own exhaust.

Important: customer discovery isn’t just for consumer apps. Even if your product is part of an arcane B2B supply chain, there are still humans deciding whether your invention gets adopted. The principles of customer discovery are the same as for good journalists: talk to real people, don’t ask leading questions, and challenge your hypotheses.

Start here:

1. Get Out of the Building

Steve Blank’s signature phrase is timeless. Talking to customers is awkward. It’s slow. It feels small when you’re trying to build something big.

Do it anyway. Real insights come from real conversations—not spreadsheets or secondhand research.

2. Talk About Them, Not Your Idea

If you say, “Let me tell you about this thing I’m dedicating my life to,” most people will smile and say it sounds great. That’s not useful.

Instead, ask about their problems. What have they tried? What’s worked? What hasn’t?

If they agree there’s a problem but haven’t done anything about it, it’s probably not urgent. Or maybe there’s an even bigger problem that’s stopping them (which is either a threat or an opportunity).

3. Ask About Behavior, Not Opinions

“Would you buy this?” is a trap. People are bad at predicting their own behavior—and worse at being honest when they're feeling social pressure.

Instead:

“Walk me through the last time you faced this issue.”

“What did you do?”

Concrete past behavior is far more valuable than hypothetical interest.

4. Shut Up and Listen

Wiz co-founder Assaf Rappaport put it perfectly:

“When you meet with customers you’re not coming to convince them; rather, you’re there to learn from them. If you’re the one who spoke for more than a quarter of the meeting, it wasn’t a good conversation.”

Wiz just sold to Google for $32 billion. Coincidence?

5. Avoid Leading Questions

Don’t ask: “Wouldn’t you like to use this product?”

Ask: “How do you handle this today?”

Neutral questions lead to useful answers.

6. Use the “5 Whys”

When something interesting comes up, dig.

“Why?”

“Can you tell me more?”

Do this up to five times to peel back layers. That’s how you get to the root of the problem—not the symptoms.

7. Beware The Feature Trap

When someone isn’t sold on your core product, they often pivot the conversation to brainstorm features or additional use cases. It feels collaborative—but it’s often just a polite way of saying “I’m not that interested.”

Don’t chase those tangents. They distract you from validating the core problem and building your minimum viable product for your first real customer group. Stay focused on the pain, not the wish list.

8. Talk to All Stakeholders

Most B2B products have more than one critical stakeholder group. Invented a new tool for surgeons that they say they love? Great. But success also depends on hospital procurement, supply chain partnerships, hospital CFOs, and maybe the insurance companies. Misalignment or conflicting priorities between stakeholder groups is one of the main reason suboptimal products or practices persist.

9. The Best Stuff Comes at the End

People loosen up when they think the meeting’s over. Close the notebook. Lean back. Their guard is down and often they’ll say what’s really on their mind. Another way to trigger insight is to ask:

“What should I have asked you, but didn’t?”

Five Minutes

Take five minutes now. Write down the biggest thing you don’t know about your customers.

Then go find out. Don’t be medieval. Curiosity is your competitive edge.

Want to dig deeper?

Check out The Mom Test and Talking to Humans—two of the best guides ever written on this topic.