Custom Interviewing: The Trojan Horse Discovery Calls

First off, big shout out to Olga Bartnicki of Techstars for introducing me to this concept when we were in the final round of their FinTech accelerator.

This tactic turns cold outreach into warm intelligence. Instead of pitching your MVP or half-baked product, you reach out to your target demographic as if they're the expert, because they are. You're not selling, you're learning.

The email asks for 15 minutes to "pick their brain" about their job, workflow, and pain points in the space. But the genius lies in how you run the call. The magic? By the end, they're emotionally invested, hoping you build what they just described.

How to run it

Step-by-step flow:

• Reach out not as a seller but as a curious founder doing research
• Ask about their role, KPIs, and what makes them look like a hero
• Walk through a real-world use case that touches your product space
• Let them unpack every frustration, pain point, and inefficiency
• Ask: "If you could wave a wand and fix this, what would the dream solution look like?"
• Bonus: Ask how they buy software like this, what they'd pay, and who else you should speak to

Why it works

• You're flattering their expertise, not pitching
• You gain priceless voice-of-customer intel
• You generate pre-sales and warm intros without being pushy
• You build your roadmap with your market, not in isolation

Ideal for MVP-stage startups, B2B, SaaS, service design, even creators.