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Michael Margolis has been a UX research partner at Google Ventures (GV) for nearly 15 years. He has developed a unique approach to helping startups identify their “bullseye customer”—the specific subset of their target market who initially is most likely to adopt their product. Michael has conducted over 300 hands-on research sprints with GV portfolio companies across various industries and helped develop the “design sprint” process made famous by the book Sprint. In our conversation, we discuss:

• The step-by-step process of running a bullseye customer sprint

• The most common mistakes founders make when picking their first customers

• Practical tips for conducting effective customer interviews

• How to create simple but effective prototypes for user research

• The power of “watch parties” in aligning teams around customer insights

• How to apply these methods beyond typical tech startups

Find the transcript at: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/finding-your-bullseye-customer-michael-margolis

Some takeaways:

1. Instead of a long, drawn-out research process, you can identify your ideal customer by doing a one-day sprint with your whole team. The process involves five qualitative interviews with your bullseye customers and watching them as a team in real time. This speeds up learning and ensures that the whole team gets aligned around the same insights.

2. The bullseye customer is more specific than a typical ideal customer profile (ICP). It’s an even more narrow subset of your target market most likely to initially adopt your product. Focusing on this narrow group helps you prioritize product development, align teams, and accelerate learning.

3. When validating your ideas, don’t get stuck on perfecting a single prototype. Instead, create at least three different versions to test. This helps you see what resonates most with your bullseye customer and allows your team to avoid getting too attached to one concept.

4. One of the biggest advantages of doing the bullseye sprint is learning how to recognize rejection early. Pay attention to signs of indifference during customer interviews. When you hear, “Oh yeah, I guess that would be nice,” or something similarly noncommittal, that’s your cue to move on. You’re looking for customers who are ready to say, “Take my money—where do I sign up?”

5. The way you approach customer research should differ from sales. Practice humble inquiry—ask questions as if you’re learning, not selling. Be vulnerable and embrace the fact that you don’t know everything. Your goal should be to learn, not to pitch.

6. Before diving into interviews, get everyone to predict what they think they’re going to learn. Make the predictions specific: what you actually expect will happen, not just what you hope to uncover. Then, after the interviews, compare those predictions with what you learned. This helps you avoid hindsight bias and gives you a clearer picture of how much you actually learned.

Where to find Michael Margolis:

• X: https://x.com/mmargolis

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mmargolis/

• Website: https://www.learnmorefaster.com/

• Medium: https://medium.com/@mmargolis

In this episode, we cover:

(00:00) Michael’s background 

(09:11) Bullseye customers vs. ideal customer profiles (ICPs)

(12:32) An overview of the bullseye customer sprint

(20:56) When to use the bullseye customer sprint

(22:19) Step one: Agree on goals and key questions

(23:48) Step two: Define your bullseye customer

(25:52) The importance of a narrow target audience 

(29:00) An example of step two in action

(38:24) Narrowing attributes and exclusion criteria

(43:28) Step three: Recruiting and compensating participants

(56:11) Step four: Creating effective prototypes

(01:01:10) Step five: Drafting your interview guide

(01:08:49) Step six: The watch party method

(01:19:40) Common pitfalls and final thoughts

(01:24:43) Closing thoughts and where to find Michael

Referenced:

• Learn More Faster: How to Find Your Bullseye Customer and Their Perfect Product: https://www.learnmorefaster.com

• Alcoa: https://www.alcoa.com

• Dupont: https://www.dupont.com

• Ericsson: https://www.ericsson.com

• Google Ventures: https://www.gv.com/

• Kate Aronowitz on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katearonowitz/

• Vanessa Cho on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/veecho/

• How to kickstart and scale a consumer business—Step 2: Identify your super-specific who: https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/consumer-business-super-specific-who

• When enough is enough | Andy Johns (ex-FB, Twitter, Quora): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/when-enough-is-enough-andy-johns

• Zipline for health care: https://www.flyzipline.com/solutions/healthcare

• Jobs to Be Done framework: https://www.christenseninstitute.org/theory/jobs-to-be-done

• User Interviews: https://www.userinterviews.com/

• Respondent: https://www.respondent.io/

• Flatiron Health: https://flatiron.com/

• How to identify your ideal customer profile (ICP): https://www.lennysnewsletter.com/p/how-to-identify-your-ideal-customer

• Gong: https://www.gong.io

• Linear: https://linear.app

• Gusto: https://gusto.com/

• Humble Inquiry: The Gentle Art of Asking Instead of Telling: https://bookshop.org/p/books/humble-inquiry-second-edition-the-gentle-art-of-asking-instead-of-telling-edgar-h-schein/14739375

• Figma: https://www.figma.com

Production and marketing by https://penname.co/. For inquiries about sponsoring the podcast, email podcast@lennyrachitsky.com.

Lenny may be an investor in the companies discussed.