Love the problem

It’s tempting to treat customer interviews as a box to check on the way to building. They’re not a phase — they’re a habit. The best founders never run interviews as a phase and stop. They keep a standing slot — I still do one or two a month, fifteen years in — because the problem keeps moving, and listening is the only way to stay ahead of it.

Here’s the mindset shift that makes all of it work: fall in love with the problem, not your solution. Founders who love their solution interview to confirm it — and hear only the yeses. Founders who love the problem interview to understand it — and hear the truth, even when the truth says pivot. The solution is disposable. The problem, and the customer who has it, is the thing worth being loyal to.

AI changed what’s cheap. LEANSpark will transcribe, synthesize, and structure every conversation you have. What it can’t do is sit across from a real human, notice the workaround they didn’t think to mention, and ask the question that makes them realize what they actually need. That’s still your job. It always will be.

Go talk to your customers.