SalesProduct
The Mom Test
Rob Fitzpatrick
2013
Summary
The Mom Test solves a universal founder problem: customers lie, even when they mean well. Your mom will say she loves your idea to protect your feelings — but that feedback is worthless. Fitzpatrick shows how to ask the right questions so you get honest, useful data from customer conversations. The book teaches you to focus on past behavior (not hypothetical future behavior), dig into real problems, and avoid leading questions that fish for validation.
Key Takeaways
- 1Ask about people's lives, not opinions about your idea — past behavior beats future promises
- 2Good customer questions: "Tell me about the last time you dealt with this problem"
- 3Bad customer questions: "Would you pay for something that did X?" — too easy to say yes
- 4Compliments and vague encouragement are not signal — dig until you find real commitment
- 5The goal of a customer conversation is to learn, not to pitch or validate
- 6Pre-selling (asking for money, a letter of intent, or real commitment) is the ultimate validation